Hello everyone please excuse me if I'm duplicating this as we are new to the forum. We are due to pick up our 8 week old bitch labrador in the coming weeks and we have rad various books one being Gwen Bailey perfect puppy. My question is this during our first week in the night it states in the book and on YouTube to being the crate to your bedroom (for first week) and let her out every 2-3 hrs gradually leading her to the kitchen dinner in week 2 where she will sleep? Is this the correct option or do we put her in the kitchen with crate door open and paper on the floor checked no every 4 hrs??? We would really like some help over this conflicting topic as we don't mind either but want to start positively and make her new home enjoyable. Thank you
Hi and welcome to the forum from me and my 9 month old boy Bailey. When we brought Bailey home at 8 weeks old we had him in a crate beside our bed so that we could hear him and let him out to toilet. We were very lucky and Bailey has never woken for a nighttime pee or poo. We also decided we wanted him in the bedroom with us and now he has a cushion bed in our room and moves between that, bedroom floor, landing floor and our bed - that's our personal choice, and apart from a couple of socks that have been chewed he's been really good (if you don't count pinching all the duvet!). Enjoy your girl when she arrives, and look forward to some photos of her
Hello and welcome. You will get many different views on this and how you decide to manage it is really personal choice. Sometimes you think you have made the right choice then your pup makes you adapt your plans. We had a crate downstairs and let her out when she needed to go overnight every few hours until she slept through. I have done this with all 5 of my dogs. I think it's tiring to start with but then over quite quickly. The paper on the floor method can take a bit longer but that may not matter to you....good luck...this is the first of many choices about how to manage your pup. Make sure you post some pictures Emma and Meg.
Many thanks Samantha that's very helpful, I was hoping to avoid the bedroom but it does seem very popular to crate the puppy in this environment. You have been extremely lucky with Bailey. Thank you
Many thanks both, in reference to the crate I assume you would close the door and let the pup out when crying to go out? Would you leave food or water in the crate overnight?
It really does depend on the puppy as to what is best (and you, different people are prepared to do different things). I'm not prepared to get up at night for a puppy, plus I think having them in a crate at first - when they are not crate trained - just leads to a human worrying about letting them out before they need to wee or poo. So the human responds to noise just in case..... Not a good idea if you want a quiet puppy! I've had both my puppies in pens overnight on washable floors - I don't bother with paper, they just chew it up anyway. So my last puppy was on a large sheet of safety flooring with a puppy bed in a pen. She never had a wee inside! So it did not take any longer to toilet train her than any other puppy. She was dry overnight from day one. The day I brought her home, I played with her and fed her in the area where she would be spending the night. Come bedtime, she tucked herself up in her puppy bed, and went to sleep. I waited 20 minutes, but she was fast asleep so I went to bed myself. Never had a peep out of her, and she's been as good as gold that night and every night since. If I had a puppy that was upset though, and loads are, I'd sleep downstairs with it. I wouldn't have a puppy in a bedroom until it was toilet trained. Loads of different ways to do it, none is the right way for every puppy and person. You just have to choose what's best for you and your pup. Best of luck with it.
We always put the crate in the bedroom so we knew what Tilly or Cooper needed. It only took a week or so before we could sleep all the way through the night. They were only really crated at night. They seldom if ever messed in their crate, unless they were sick. In the day time they were in a doggy pen in the kitchen, unless we could watch them closely and they we would turn them loose in the kitchen. We have a pet door and fenced back yard, so once the pups were dependable we did not confine the most of the time. We tried to close off the parts of the house that weren't reasonably puppy proof, but that was only moderately successful. None of our dogs have every chewed furniture, but all, especially Cooper have gotten into things we did not expect from time to time.
With Willow, I had her in a crate and let her out every few hours. She was very good and only cried for a few minutes and didn't really cry to go out, so I didn't have to work out whether it was attention crying or needing the loo. When she had an upset tummy, I slept on the sofa next to her crate, but other that that, she was fine. I'm about to get another puppy, and I've decided to try option B with this one - the crate (with open door) inside the pen. That's not because I necessarily think it's "better", but my set-up is a bit different this time. I didn't have a pen with my first two, but need one this time as I'll need to be able to give the adults a break from the pup. It will be a case of seeing how she gets on as to whether I sleep with her to start off with. I imagine I will for the first night anyway, and see how it goes beyond that. I don't think there's a "one size fits all" answer. You just have to see how you get on.
Thank you for your advice, it's seems very divided relating to the crate being in our bedroom or lounge. Would you set your alarm every 2 hrs to take Tilly and Cooper out or wait until they cried? Thanks
Thank you for your advice, it's seems very divided relating to the crate being in our bedroom or lounge. Would you set your alarm every 2 hrsto take Tilly and Cooper out or wait until they cried? Thanks
Thank you, would you suggest setting my alarm every couple of hours or waiting for her to cry to let her out? We just don't want to start on the wrong foot and find we have fought her bad habits. As for the day during the 2nd week I will have to leave her for 2-3 hrs in the day for work but only live 5mins away so I can call back. Would you then suggest leaving the door open as she will have ample space. I have been advices not to bother with newspaper.
Thank you, would you suggest setting my alarm every couple of hours or waiting for her to cry to let her out? We just don't want to start on the wrong foot and find we have fought her bad habits. As for the day during the 2nd week I will have to leave her for 2-3 hrs in the day forwork but only live 5mins away so I can call back. Would you then suggest leaving the door open as she will have ample space. I havebeen advices not to bother with newspaper.
Neither of my recent puppies, or the puppies we had as a family when I was a kid were at all distressed the first night or any night after that. Lots of puppies are though, and there are lots of reports on the forum of puppies getting upset if they are left alone for even a few seconds (which is perfectly understandable, it's a terrible upheaval for them). So I think you just have to see what kind of puppy you get really, in terms of what will or will not be ok for it. I personally am not a big believer in the whole 'start as you mean to go on' thing (apart from training, there you definitely should start as you mean to go on) and I've never really worried about making pups sleep alone and things like that because they have to 'get used to it' - so if putting the crate by the sofa suits you, I'd do that. I think new puppies are tiny babies, and if they are upset, then they need comfort and company. You can always move the crate away slowly to where you want it to be if your puppy has trouble sleeping without a human. Just do it gradually. Having said that, maybe I have just been really lucky, but neither of my dogs have any problems with much. They both turned out happy go lucky dogs. I suspect that's how they came though, and a large part of how confident and comfortable puppies are is genetics, and you just get the dog you get and have to work out what seems best. By the way, if the tiles in your kitchen/diner are slippery, it might be an idea to invest in washable non slip flooring or play mats etc. until the puppy has grown. Slippery floors are not good for puppy joints.
I sit by Mollie's pen for a few minutes while she settles at night. If she shouts I go to her, but always wait for a lull in the shouting. No interaction - just straight out to the loo. She wants a wee/poo when she shouts then settles again. Same routine, I sit by the cage a few minutes.
I would certainly try every time to be the one to go to her her, rather than having her get in the habit of crying for you. If she's crying to go out, it means she's in some distress, and I think it's best to avoid that if you can. So, if you go with the crate approach, definitely set your alarm. It's tiring, but it doesn't last long. Just pick her up, take her to the toilet spot, and then carry her back, without talking to her. If you let her walk, she'll be more inclined to wake up and want to play. I would just quietly praise for going to the toilet, then pop her back in the crate, say "good night" again, and go back to bed with no fuss.
Many thanks Julie, much appreciated any suggestions on non slip flooring? I think i may try the lounge and see how we go. I shall post some pictures up soon.
Many thanks Julie much appreciated. Any thoughts on washable non slip flooring? I think we will go with the lounge to begin with just to ease her into the home.
My breeder advices the following and this confuses me, it sounds like making half the crate area ok to do the business and leave them all night until early morning? Or should I just listen to my breeders advice?
My breeder advices the following and this confuses me, it sounds like making half the crate area ok to do the business and leave them all night until early morning? Or should I just listen to my breedersadvice?
