Hello folks, Our gorgeous puppy, Gunner is 14 weeks today and he’s been home with us for 4 weeks exactly. He’s been a joy and a terror as every labrador pup is. We’ve laughed at his cunning and boisterous antics every day. We lost our last beloved black lab Harvey who was 12 a few months ago. And so, although we are seasoned lab owners, we are not sure how to get the new pup through the toilet training. Harvey was clean and dry very early. Gunner is really good at going to sleep in his bed. He has a wee and generally a poo at 11pm and then will go until 5.30am without a sound. But, at 14 weeks we have at least one poo and a wee in the morning when we come down. (During the day he will only go outside in the garden), So, we're not quite sure how to break the habit. If we get up in the night, would he just get used to us doing that? He’s so clever and bright, this is our only stumbling block so far. Sorry for long messsge, but if expertise and guidance would be appreciated.
No puppy experience here, but I'd set an alarm to get up in the middle of the night & take him out. No other interaction, just take him out to toilet & put him back to bed. This period won't last too long. Someone with real puppy experience will come along soon.
Thank you. I was thinking that might be the next step. He’s so happy he’d just love the extra time with us, but no interaction might be the key.
I too would set an alarm and put it back each week until you no longer need to get up to take him out.
Like you, we recently lost our first lab and decided get a pup. Our experience was that the first dog, unlocked crate, went on a puppy pad at night until he was 16 weeks. We did not get up to him to let him out as we needed the sleep more and the mess was contained. Pup, now 12 weeks goes from 11 through to 7, as he was crated properly at night. As others have said letting him out in the small hours might solve the cleaning up problem, but you already get up quite early so if you can contain the mess he might be very close to growing out of the need to go at night. I was worried about nighttime interaction, too, when I was having to get up (until 10 weeks). Boring as possible is key. Good luck!
Thank you. I didn’t think that he might just be about to grow out of it. That might be true. I think I might try letting him out at 3am tonight/morning (with no interaction) and see how that goes. Fingers crossed!
My boyfriend and i used to set an alarm at 3am every night to take her out, regardless of if she wanted to go out or not! then again at 6:30 when we woke her up for breakfast. she hasn't had an accident since she was 11 weeks, she's almost 15 now! good luck!
Thank you for your reply. We’ve had w bit of s breakthrough with the boy. He’s going right through, he seems to have just grown out of it. Nearly 15 weeks so maybe that’s a good age for them to hold on. It’s a lovely age isn’t it? Still puppyfied but not so much biting and keen to learn. In fact, I think aginner must have known what I was typing and is trying to eat my shoe! Hope your puppy is still good.
no worries!! that is great! yes the biting/nipping at hands has subsided and she LOVES to play fetch! we are having a blast with her and she's doing a great job at puppy school too!
Not sure why I’m updating this post but we’re so happy that our boy Gunner has been clean at night for 5 nights now! Pups are all different of course, but we’ve got there hopefully. We never told him off, but really made a huge fuss when we went to do his business outside, maybe they just ‘get it’ with their age. But, we’re chuffed, and he’s stopped biting so much too, just mouthing. Not sure the cushions are safe yet, but hopefully not too long now! If you’re in the first stages of puppyhood, the work you put in is so worth it.
I don't know if it was a coincidence or not, but when we changed to a 4.5 rated puppy food, our puppy went from 5 hours to 7 hours at night. And recently at 14 weeks he is now sleeping 8 hours. Actually he would sleep longer if he could hold it, because after I take him out, and feed him, he generally goes back to sleep for another hour. He is now having 4-5 Poo's a day, and a pee every 2 hours or so.
