Hello All, I am a new Lab Mommy. I have raised and bred English Bulldogs until recently, and I decided I wanted a another lady around the house, so I found Abbigail-Abbie for short. Wow, have I been in for a treat. The seller will not get back in touch with me for pics of her parents, all I know at this point is she was born on May 26th, and they claim she is a Labrador Retriever, I purchased her on July 21st, and that is all I know. I have not been able to potty train her, I take her out, we go for 1/2 hour walks and she doesn't potty, I open the door hang the leash up and turn around and she has used the bathroom immediately after coming in the house. The only time she uses the potty outside is in the AM when we wake up. I have tried everything, treats, potty pads, kennel training, and I even went as far one evening before bed to try and sit and wait her out and I fell asleep in the chair outside waiting, she came in and immediately used the bathroom on the floor. It always in different spots, so its not that she is marking the same spot, I am at a loss. I have been breeding and raising dogs for over 20 years and I have never had an issue like this. Before English Bulldogs I had Pit Bulls. When I crate her at night for bedtime she pees in her bed, if I let her sleep with me, she will sleep all night without using the bathroom, which is 8 to 9 hours. My next issue is she will not stop tearing up this corner of the carpet in the basement. When I am at work she is locked in the bathroom with her potty pad, toys, and her bed. I am always at home when she does it. Yesterday it was about 30 minutes after our half hour walk, which is about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile. She has the normal puppy issues like digging things out of the garbage, hiding laundry under the bed, she is the wash cloth queen, and of course biting, but all that I can work with, the continued pottying in the house and tearing up the same spot of carpet everyday is driving me insane. She knows when she is naughty, she goes and lays down either on the floor in front of the couch or under the bed, she lays to where she can see me still, so when she think I am no longer angry she comes back to say hi. I do not punish her by locking her outside or in her crate, I do spank her bottom every once in awhile but I try not because I do not want her to be frightened of hands as she grows up and to be timid. Please help!! Once I figure out how to post a pic, I will post and I can get your opinion if she is all Lab, Lab Retriever, or mixed with something else. I appreciate any advice!! My bullies were never this hard, not even the boys...Thank You!!
Welcome to you Labs are very hard pups, but worth every minute Don't spank her, ever, It will teach her nothing and - as you say - make her wary of your hands. Anything you don't want her to have, keep out of her reach so that chewing it doesn't become a habit - this for pups, most adult Labs can be trusted, not all, of course. When you have to leave her alone, use a pen or crate and make sure it's not for too long. Read the potty training articles on the main site here - all excellent advice, it works! http://www.thelabradorsite.com/house-training-your-labrador-puppy/ In fact, read and use all the puppy advice - it's brilliant! ...
Thank You so much! I have Crate trained every puppy I have ever owned, and they trained so well but I cannot get her to catch on, I know she is smart cuz she knows when she does something wrong. I work for 8 hours a day so i am gone for approx. 9 hours, so I don't crate her when I work. I leave her in the bathroom where she cannot hurt herself or anything else. I do leave her with plenty of toys, food, water, and her bed, should I crate her during the day instead? When I get home we clean up her mess in the bathroom and immediately go for her walk or I let her play with Bulldogs, which she just loves.
Hi and welcome! So is your puppy three months old? As you must know, leaving a 3 month old puppy alone for 9 hours a day is far, far too long. She is like a human toddler, and desperately needs interaction with you. You need to find a way of shortening that time to a maximum of four hours alone - either you come home at lunch, or you get a dog walker or friend or neighbor to play with her and give her the attention she needs. Please do not spank her, she does not understand what for.
Please don't leave her alone for 9 hours! That's too long even for an adult dog. You need to find day care or a dog walker. She'll become toilet trained with time, but only if someone's around to take her out frequently. Puppies do tear things up but they grow out of it and you can distract them by playing with them. Please don't smack her - she's a baby and needs human contact and gentle training.
Hello there, and a warm welcome Your puppy is alone in a bathroom for 9 hours and you wonder why you can't toilet train her...well, she is probably pretty used to have to go to the toilet inside. Puppies need company, stimulation, playtime, training, walk time. They won't play with toys when alone. You really need to find another solution and provide care for your puppy while you work. To be honest, I think I'd go nuts and toilet inside if I were shut in a bathroom for 9 hours a day.
I would ask your family and friends if they can help out. I'm sure you have a few family members and/or friends you can trust that don't work or only work part time? I too was like you and leaving my little in for a long period of time until I was kindly informed on here that it was to long. It went from an average of 5 hours now down to 1 hour. I leave really early in the morning so my father who has to pass by my place comes over before he leaves for work and lets him out to play for about 30 minutes and do his outdoor business and then I have a friend who comes over and hangs out who I trust and she sits with him for a few hours. There are days when schedules don't meet up so he is alone for an extra hour at the most but for the most part it's no more than an hour. If you can't find somebody you trust enough to enter your home, maybe a suggestion would be to get a walker who has access to your yard where you can put him (Weather dependent) until you can build enough trust for them to enter your home(?)
She must be one little confused puppy. She is in one room for nine hours and so HAS to go in there, so in her mind, this is the place to go to the loo, so then you go home and take her out, she waits until she is back to the place she feels she has been trained to go. Puppies do not know "I have done wrong" so when she hides, it is not because of this, but because of your cross body language. Would you spank a baby for wetting its nappy? It takes time for a pup to understand what you want. Do buy Pippa Mattinson's The Happy Puppy, it is informative and helpful, if I had a pup now, it would be my bible.
Hi Bernadette, Here is some additional recommended reading for you. How To Stop Your Labrador Chewing Things Crate Training Your Puppy I'm not sure from your post how long the pup is being left alone during the day, but the following might be of some help too: Raising A Puppy When You Work Full Time Day Care For Labradors
Thank you Stacia and Lucy, I appreciate the help, she is starting to understand, and its been great!! Shes a smart puppy!!
I also know many people have family and friends to help but unfortunately i have niether and coming from a very abusive relationship I do not trust anyone but my dogs. I had English Bulldogs the last ten years and kennel trained them all while I worked full time because my husband refused to help, so it may not be the best way, i wasnt asking to be judged, only to find the trick with lab puppies versus staffordshire terriers and english bulldogs. I do thank everyone for the reading suggestions, i am following those and she is doing great! She had only a few accidents this weekend and i put a lock on the basement door so she does not have access to carpet. I am a firm believer that you have to puppy proof your house just like baby proofing. I am sure her and I will be okay even with me working a full time job.
I don't think anyone is 'judging' you. You're probably a really nice person and take good care of your dog when you're there. I just don't think you've imagined life from your puppy's point of view. The fact that you've left previous dogs for as long doesn't mean it was a good life for them. There are professional dog carers and you can check them out carefully (references etc) and IMO this is what you need to prevent your puppy being lonely and bored.
Absolutely, I second Joy. Nobody is judging you; how can we, we don't know you or your situation - but we can tell you pretty clearly that we don't think it is ok to leave a puppy locked in a bathroom all day by itself, and that finding a puppy walker or dog sitter would be the responsible action to take.
Hi Bernadette, just wanted to say welcome. Its pretty tough being a single Mom to dogs. At least for human babies there are established child care routes. I hope Abbie and you are doing okay, and you have found a way around leaving her so long.
I'm just stopping by to say hello .You sound like you have many years of dog experience...I don't as Dexter is our first dog so the Forum has helped me immensely when I've faced challenges along the way.Dogs are social animals and labs as a breed are generally very sociable ,they want to be with us and enjoy being with us.Maybe English Bulldogs /pit bulls are a little more self sufficient ? That doesn't mean at all that working folk can't enjoy owning a lab/dog it just takes a bit of organising to fill the gap until you can be there to give them company.Reading through your thread I'm really glad to see you've made progress Best Wishes Angela
