Hi all, This is my first post. We brought home our 8 week old lab puppy yesterday. His name is Barney and is very cute. We had a great day with lots playing and fun stuff. Im an illustrator and will be at home all the time so Barney will be great company. We bought a crate and all kinds of things that we set up in the kitchen. However he found a comfy spot in my studio to sleep in. i didnt mind as I was working next to him. All was going really well, until the evening. My studio is very bright, so from about 10 pm onwards every hour he kept waking up and wanting to play or do a wee etc. He then went under my desk where it was a bit darker. At 12:30am he just started crying and barking. Despite being with him I just couldnt stop him. By 1am I was finished with work and turned off the lights but he just howled. My wife and daughter were awake upstairs. Eventually my wife came down and I went off to bed. My mind was racing as the day just seemed to turn to chaos. He carried on crying until about 2am. At 3:45 i was still awake and he woke up again. He barked and cried. This time my wife went back down and took a couple of cushions off the couch and layed beside him. After that he slept until 7:30, which I assume is pretty good. Today he has been knackered and slept most of it. Sleep 2 hours then wee play for about an hour then asleep again. We have managed to get him to sleep in the crate in the kitchen and I think that has helped. Its now 9pm and he has been asleep for about 30 minutes, so i expect he will be up again at maybe 10 or 11. Thats fine as I will be up working. I know its early days but I am really worried that my daughter will be really tired at school (she is 8). Im also really concerned that my nose has been running sinse yesterday afternoon. Ive got a horrible feeling I might be allergic to him. It feels a bit like hayfever (which I also get) Im not wezzing at all or coming out in a rash. I dont think I have had problems in the past but we have only had cats or been with friends dogs. If I am does it ever get better or will I just have to get used top it ?? It would break my heart to have to tell my daughter that Barney has to go. Thanks for reading chris
With Axel when we first brought him home I was allergic. so we gave him a bath the next day because he smelt of urine and wood chips, probably from sleeping with all 14 litter mates! So after that bath I was a lot better with my allergies. But I still got stuffed up but I just let my immune system build up a tolerance. Which didn't take too long. Axel is now 6 months old and the only time I have issues is when one of his coarse hairs pokes me or he licks me excessively on my inner forearm, I get tiny little bumps. But that's it! As far as the sleeping issues I'm sure others will have much better advice than I can offer. The crate we keep in our bedroom. From the moment we brought Axel home if he started to want to nap we brought him to his crate and he was so tired he would just fall asleep right away. This way I felt he was getting used to his crate. That first night he slept 3 hours straight. But then every two hours he whined to go piddles. Then was a struggle once back in his crate for about a half hour, crying and howling. But to reassure him I was still in the room I would say calmly "go to sleep Axel" and it would help. This happened for 2 weeks every single night. But then literally on the 15th day he slept through the night and has ever since.
Thank you for those replies, I will give Barney a bath tomorrow and see if it helps, he does smell a bit !! Its good to hear that you have developed an immunity ! He has spent most of his naps today in his crate. He really enjoys being in it. With the bed he made on my studio floor, he kept rolling out ! He is back in my studio now after his last wee break. Hopefully by midnight he will be ready for a proper sleep. Fingers crossed. I paint architecture and portraits etc rather than Poultry. Barney is a good looking little chap so I can't wait to paint him !!!
Hello and welcome from Millie and I, when we brought home Millie I put her crate in the living room and it been there since. I always have the crate door open during the days unless my daughter is herrassing Millie when she try to nap. I always gave Millie a piece of banana every time I put her in the crate to make it a fun place to go to. I don't know if that is how it works but it worked for Millie, I guess it's a bit bad since now 5weeks later she won't lay down at 9 pm when I put her in the crate for the night unless she gets a piece fruit. Don't forget that if you come running as soon as the pup makes a noise in the crate he will learn that you will let him out doing so. Enjoy the sleeping period, so cute when they are so small and snore. Do you got a yellow/black or chocolate?
Hi Millieboo, Barney is black and snores like a beast !! He is fast asleep in his crate at the moment, but I will stay up until he wants to go out for a wee, then if doesn't settle down I will grab a couple of sofa cushions and setup a makeshift bed next to him ! thanks for taking the time to reply !
I love puppies, Millie is already 30 pounds at 17 weeks ;( growing too fast. I hope you take tons of photos since this small period is so short, I wish I took more if I put it that way. Hope you have a nice night without too much crying.
Hi Chris and Barney from me and my boy Bailey. When we brought Bailey home we had him in a crate next to our bed, and we have been so lucky as he has never cried at night and not needed to go out at all during the night. He had now progressed to a big dog cushion/bed and still sleeps beside our bed. When he was tiny he also slept lots during the day - I think its the way they process all that exciting information from their new world. I hope Barney settles at night for you very soon, and never worry about posting on here, there are a load of people that give really good practical advice, comfort and assurance about anything that concerns you. Oh there are also a lot of recommendations of having a large drink or two after a particularly hard day! Any photo's of Barney?
Haha, what a random question, Kate! Made me chuckle Welcome, Chris, to the forum, from me and my two brutes, Willow (black girl) and Shadow (yellow boy) who will be 2 in August. It sounds like Barney might have been missing his mum and litter mates that first night; this is perfectly normal, so don't worry about it. It sounds like you have a great environment for him, so he should settle down in time.
Hi and welcome to the forum from me and Harley Puppies do tend to sleep a lot and get worn out very quickly. I slept on the floor for a few days when Harley came to us as she wouldn't settle in her crate. I ended up relenting and letting her sleep upstairs with us .........but that is personal choice and not everyone likes that.
Hello from Sally and 7 month old Jessie. I gave up and slept next to Jessie for first few nights as I also have kids and was worried about her disturbing their sleep! She soon got the hang of being on her own and was sleeping quietly through without me gettting up to let her out. They learn far faster than human children! Enjoy the small puppy stage, we now have a large, wilful teenager!
