Hi all! We just picked up our new baby 4 days ago, so we're still in the early stages of getting to know our little guy. He is 8 weeks old. My question is, how can I help him sleep through the night? The first night was okay, as he slept in a box beside the couch where my boyfriend slept. But then he began to get uncomfortable, as I think it got too hot for him, and he likes to stretch out. So we went and purchased a crate but I don't know how to go about training him to use it. We tried it out and he just whined, barked, howled and cried. I know you're supposed to ignore the whining, but how?! It's heartbreaking, not to mention we have a four year old daughter who really does need to sleep! I'm so happy I found this forum! I've never owned a lab before but am excited to learn all there is about them!
WE did the clock and hot water bottle trick with ours. Not too hot, and wrapped securely in a blanket. Oban did whine the first night. When I couldn't stand it any longer I found the poor wee guy was soaked in pee and so was all his bedding. Two things I decided then, never ignore him again, it means something. And never follow that advice to use a crate so small they can only stand up, lie down and turn around because it means they are stuck lying in their own pee, poop or puke.
I think that your BF did the right things staying with him for the first night. Poor little fella has just been wrenched away from everything that he knows so its great to give him some reassurance. It'll help him to settle. What we did, and its worked for two Labs now, is to move away slowly over a few nights. The first couple of nights we stayed close. The next night we moved outside the kitchen where we kept the dog, but she could see us through the child gate and know that we where there. After that we moved around the corner so she could hear and smell us, but not see us. The next step was to leave the dog on its own. We had very few problems with whining. Importantly, we didn't pay attention to whining. Dogs learn very quickly. If you come to them every time they whine then you will never get any sleep. Your dog will have learned that whining is rewarded by your attention, and they will quickly train you to come on command! You have to steel your heart and ignore the dog when it whines. You'll feel absolutely rotten but you must do it. The other thing we did is to go and see the dog every time it woke up, provided that it wasn't whining. We'd immediately take it out to the garden for a widdle or poop, and praise it lavishly when it performed. The first few nights/weeks are exhausting, but its worth the effort. We've never used a crate but have given dogs some space near the back door behind a child gate. We have nothing against crates, its just not how we like to raise our dogs. So what's your dog called, and when can we see a picture of the little fella?
Hi Kelsey We are at the same stage as you. We picked up our little black lab puppy Freddie on Sunday. I think we have been lucky as he as taken to his crate very easily and we can leave him in it at night without any crying. We do have an older dog though so I wonder if having him nearby helps to reassure Freddie. He did cry after an hour the first night and I went to him and took him in the garden where he did a wee. Last night I woke him up at 2am and took him out he did cry a little when I left him again but not for long. Have you tried feeding your puppy in the crate so he gets to associate it with something good? Also when Freddie falls asleep on our knee we pop him in the crate he is so sleepy he just curls up and goes back to sleep. Hope he settles soon it is horrible when they cry .
We bought a large teddy bear that went in the crate with Mole from 8weeks. He snuggled up to teddy and I'm sure it settled him (we did the same with our last lab). Teddy is now the only toy that doesn't get shredded. He still sleeps snuggled up to teddy! ❤️
My little guys name is Titan And I'm not quite sure how to add pictures on here yet... I don't love the idea of a crate either, so I'm wondering if maybe the bathroom would work. We have a bathroom in our bedroom, and if I put a baby gate up at the door, he would still be able to see both of us in bed. The teddy bear idea is a good one too! He has taken a liking to one of my daughters old bears, so maybe I will ask her if she would like to let the puppy have it to make him feel better. Thanks for all the input! Here's to hoping our little family can get a little more sleep in the coming weeks.
Gorgeous pup! Don't write off the crate yet, mine both loved their crates, it was their safe place - when little I put a blanket over the top part so it felt more cosy (and teddy to snuggle up to!!) They both loved going in there (lots of help on this forum for crate training) and personally I only used at night til they were about 8 months old. Used a baby gate in the kitchen in the daytime with the crate open. A biscuit at bedtime in the crate helped. We still do this now with no crate!! Good luck, they are only little for such a short time Sam and Mole
Ohh he's gorgeous. I'd never had a puppy before we got Stanley and all my advice was to let him cry and he'll get the message & stop. So I did and guess what.. He didn't stop. Then he ended up with negative associations with his crate that ended up taking a while to overcome. He loves it now though. I'd definitely take it slowly, introduce him to it throughout the day. Lots of treats and fun in the crate, feed meals etc. I'm sure he'll settle enjoy your new family member!
He actually slept pretty good last night. Came to bed with me around 9pm, slept until 1am when I took him outside to go to the bathroom. He took a bit to settle when we came back inside, but did eventually lay down and sleep until about 7am this morning. He slept on the bathroom floor last night, as I think it is nice and cool for him. I think maybe we will slowly try to make the crate seem like a fun place and see how it goes. I'm also going to try putting a blanket over the top, as I've heard that might help a few times Another question, I have is how much should I let him nap during the day? I know he is a baby and needs a lot of sleep, but do I try to keep him awake after he eats his dinner? We try our best to tire him out before bedtime, and he does go for a (short) walk once everyone is home in the evening, but some nights he wakes up at midnight or 1am and thinks it's party time!
It didn't seem to make much difference to my two how much they slept during the day to when they woke up. I say let sleeping pups lie and enjoy the peace when you have it
Okay, good to know! I'm constantly trying to play with him and keep him active after he eats his dinner haha but maybe I don't have to worry so much!
What a beautiful boy. We let Bailey sleep whenever he wanted (still do) and he settles at night with no problems. When he gets overtired that however is a different story! At 8 months old (tomorrow) he doesn't sleep as much anymore, but around 10pm each night starts to settle down - after some rough play with the OH which they both love - then its snuggle up to me and snooze until we go up to bed. We don't use a crate anymore, but Bailey's bed is next to ours. We were lucky and he went into his crate next to our bed on the day we brought him home and settled right away with a cuddly toy and a blanket in a fluffy bed.
Good to know I don't have to be such a fanatic I think eventually I would like Titan to sleep just on a bed near ours, but for now I need to keep him contained somehow. Just until he's potty trained. I'm going to try adding his big bear and covering his crate and see if that makes him feel any better. Thank you so much everyone!
With some puppies, you can put them in a crate, or a confined space, from the get go and they are fine. Other puppies are not fine. It makes no difference what the confined space is (although the size of it can make a difference). The puppy does not know whether it is in a crate (or a cage), in a pen, or in a small room. So put all ideas about 'not liking crates because they are cages' out of your mind. That's a human perspective, not a dog perspective. That's not to say a puppy might not find a larger pen easier than a crate - but they would find a very large crate the same size as the pen exactly the same. Anyway. The point is that if your puppy has trouble being confined, or being left alone, you have to train them to be ok with this. Some puppies are just not ok with it, and you have to go through a training programme. Here is an article: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/crate-training-your-labrador-puppy/
