Hi lovely people - i'm after a bit of advice. So our gorgeous golden lab puppy, Buckley is 8 weeks and 2 days and we have had him for 9 days. He is doing brilliantly, but we are unsure how to handle something at night. Buckley has shown that he is able to stay dry all night. We started out by letting him out every time he cried (the first few nights) and this extended until we managed to let him out at 11:00, then we heard nothing from him and let him out for a pee (he was still asleep) at 5, and then he slept tiill past 7. Then 2 nights ago, he went out at 11, and then cried at 3:30. We tried to let him out, but he didn't even want to come out of his crate. We then left him, and he slept til 7. Last night we tried leaving him when he cried at 3:30 but because it went on for a little while and he had been put to bed at 10, so it had been quite some time since a wee, we decided to let him out, but although he went out, no wee. He then cried again at 5, but wouldn't come out of his crate. I guess my question is should I be responding to him in the night, or should I be leaving him? I know, in theory, that he can go long enough, but I'm worried that by ignoring him that he'll have an accident in his crate and then cause problems for onward potty training. Any and all advice gratefully received! Heather x
Hi Heather, it sounds as if Buckley is doing well at night already, he sounds gorgeous! When Cassie (now 18 months) was tiny I used to leave her crate door open at night and puppy proofed my kitchen so she had the run of it, and I just used to clean up in the morning. By the time she was 12 weeks there were no pee's or poo's over night, although I was then coming down at 6, and gradually got up later. I guess this hasn't answered whether you should respond to his crying, because I'm not sure, so I don't have any advice, but could the above method work for you? They are all different I know.
Try leaving him and see if he settles with just a few cries. It’s a difficult one if they don’t need the loo! I think @selina27 ’s advice sounds good - it may be that he needs more room. My Gypsy soon decided she didn’t want to sleep in the crate so we got her a puppy pen and she was fine - but puppy proofing the kitchen is another good idea.
