Hi all, this is my first post, however stumbled across this wonderful site a while ago when researching about getting a lab puppy. My partner and I live in Australia and picked up our gorgeous little chocolate lab puppy 6 days ago and we have named him Hugo. All is going pretty well, except for night times! We cannot get him to settle! I understand it's totally normal for a puppy to cry at night, however I feel we might be doing something wrong and would really appreciate some advice please! At the moment Hugo is pretty tired during the day with spouts of energy as all puppies have, but he does sleep a fair bit. We try to keep him busy but he of course sleeps when he needs to. We do short 3 minutes training in the mornings and in the day as well as play. At night around 11pm we try and wear him out and play and run around and he goes to the toilet. Then we wait for him to fall asleep, we go inside and he sleeps until about 3.30am where he will scream/howl/bark and cry. As he is outside he toilets out there too. On the first day we tried to introduce Hugo to his crate, he would go in quite easily. When it came to sleeping in it inside our house in the laundry he hated it and would scream and cry until we took him out. So we thought he would be happier in our sheltered patio outside our bedroom door on blankets (we then have a large lawned area adjoining this), which he seems to be until 3am. When he is crying it is heartbreaking, we try and leave him for a few minutes but it gets worse and I worry the neighbours will get mad eventually. I end up going out with him as the noise is too much but I only go out when he has a break in barking. Then the only way to settle him down is to play around before he eventually falls asleep again. So I guess my question is how do we deal with this, should we be continuing trying the crating inside the house? Or should he stay outside on the patio and ignore him? I'm just so confused and worried I have ready ruined this training process. Thanks in advance for advice. Elise and Hugo
The sounds they can make are heart-rending, aren't they. Hugo is a tiny baby who, until this point, has known only the 24/7 security of his mother and littermates. Being separated from them is very distrssing to him. In fact, in his head, he thinks he's lost and in danger, so he's calling for help. To be honest, giving him company and a sense of safety at night is the best thing to do. That probably means having him in a human bedroom in his crate, at least until he begins to see your house as familiar and as his home. It doesn't have to be a permanent arrangement but it is best at first. Would that be possible, do you think?
And, don't worry, you haven't ruined things And everything else you are doing sounds great. I should add: If he's inside in his crate you'll need to set your alarm to wake up and take him outside to the loo. If he wakes at 3 I'd be getting up at 2.30am. Over time you can gradually extend this out and eventually he'll be able to hold on for the whole night (when he's old enough to have the required bladder control etc).
Hi Elise. The first few weeks can be a bit of a test while you all establish a routine. We've been through it a few times now. If you respond to his crying he will quickly learn that crying brings him the reward of your company. Hugo needs to learn that crying does not bring any rewards. If you need to take him out during the night (usually a good idea as his bladder won't last) then go and see him when he'snot crying. Hugo needs to get used to being separated at night. We did this by sleeping with Holly on her first night. On the second night we slept with a barrier between us (child gate) but in sight. The next night we moved around the corner so she could hear and smell us, but not see us. The next night we slept upstairs, and not a whimper was heard!
My intention was that Juno would sleep in her crate in the kitchen from day 1. Well that was until we turned the light out in the kitchen and she cried straight way. Juno,ended up,in the bedroom in her crate with a trip outside for a wee during the night She settled every night without any problems. On day 11 her crate stayed in the kitchen and so did she without a murmur. As you can see from responses we all take different approached=s and it is what works best for you. You have a very young puppy who has just left the comfort and security of mum and siblings, there is nothing wrong in having him close if it helps him to settle in his new home.
I was in your shoes a month ago. My Ajax was not happy with his crate so I put him in a large plastic storage container (tupperware) with a towel close to the bed so my hand could drop down onto him when he was upset. Seemed to help him settle after a few days then I moved him to his crate in our bedroom. Not happy with the change and would chew the metal on the crate. I lay on the floor and stroked him till he would go to sleep. This lasted about a week. Note my pup was 9 weeks when I brought him home so you may have different results. And yes they sleep a lot. I'd say 18 hours a day at first. Just know it will improve. Something you should try not to do and that is to remove him from his crate when he cries. I know it's tough but they are smart little creatures and will figure that if they cry they will get out. Try to remove him only when he settles then tell him nice words and give him a treat. Good luck.
I agree letting him be in the room with you may really calm him. I tried letting Myles "cry it out" in a room across the house (this is just how I grew up and how we did with our dogs). But it wasn't working so out of desperation I just put him in his crate in the same room with me. He just needed to know I was there. And I would set my alarm to let him out. He still cried when I went to work, but he got over that after another week or so. Next time I get a puppy I will start them out in a crate in my room with me. They really are just babies and need to know they are safe. But definitely follow the advice to resist letting him out of crate while he's crying. Even if you have to wait for the slightest break in crying, that's when you should go to him. Good luck to you, this will pass!
Thank you for all your advice, much appreciated! We will try the crate in our room tonight. He isn't really a fan of the crate at this point but I will try and do more encouraging for this today. Any special tips for this process? So far we have been treating him when he goes in and not closing the door fully. He stays in there for a short time however quickly escapes after a few minutes! Thanks again
Just stopping by to welcome you to the Forum,love Hugo's name.....I can see you have lots of great advice from other members....its such an unsettling time for them but it passes ,as do the puppy months,too quickly so enjoy him as much as you can,in between pulling your hair out and wondering why you thought it was a good idea to let a boisterous labrador bulldoze into your heart xxx Enjoy the Forum,there's lots of advice, info and even just ears if you want to pop by for a bit of reassurance on something. Bye for now Angela and Dexter,3 year old Yellow Fellow x
Hi and welcome from me and 2 year old Harley I tried the crate in the living room, feeding all of her meals in the crate, putting random treats for her to find in there, but she just did not take to the crate overnight. When I was at work she settled in her crate with a Kong! At night we ended up putting her on her bed next to ours. She stayed there until about 4 months old when hubby put her on the bed for snuggles......she has stayed there ever since It's a matter of personal choice. If you want to use the crate I would perserve (I gave in too easily I think!). Good luck. Would love to see photos of Hugo when you get a min
Believe it or not, but she didn't like tennis balls until she was about 5-6 months old! Nowadays it would definately work
I was very lucky with Willow. She cried for about 15 minutes the first night, a little bit on the second night and after that was fine. I set my alarm to get up regularly to take her out to the loo overnight, extending the time every night. This got messed up a bit when she had a tummy bug, but in general, I had it easy with her. Like the others have said, though, there are options and other ways, so I'm sure you'll find a solution that's best for you and your puppy.
We went to puppy preschool for the first time yesterday and the instructor there mentioned trying Hugo in the laundry just on blankets and some shirts that smell like us. We tried this and put him in when he was ready asleep at about 10.45pm, he cried a fair bit but we tried to ignore this. We then took him out for toilet at 1am, and put him back and he settled straight back to sleep. At 4am we took him out and this is where he carried on a fair bit. After toilet he would not settle again at this time. We ignored but it went on for a long time. Hopefully this will improve tonight. Fingers crossed! Thanks again for your advice, he is getting to like his crate a little more each day. I will try and upload a couple of photos shortly. Puppy preschool was pretty funny, of course Hugo was the bouncy crazy puppy wanting to wrestle all the others! He had a blast!
Here's Hugo, thanks for the instructions on how to upload - don't think I would have worked it out otherwise!
