Hi everyone, So got our fox red 1 week ago. We had him in our room first 4 nights and then been crate training downstairs ever since. First night we crated him he cried for about 15mins then was fine rest of time. Second night not a whimper. 3rd night I had a small protest as I closed the door then he went to sleep. Problem I have is that tonight he was crated and was fine but I came in from late shift and woke him up. I took him outside to let him pee when he wasn't crying and didn't talk to him just put him straight back. But I think perhaps I should of just went straight to bed as he is continuing to howl alot longer and at 2am. My partner let him back upstairs because we live very close to our neighbour. He immediately Did a poo in the bedroom. am worried we just put the crate training back alot. Anyone got any advice. I usually get in later 4 days a week so just wondering how we should approach the situation. What's the best thing for me to do in that situation when i get back from work. Thanks for your help.
Welcome to the forum! Don't worry, your puppy is still very young and settling in. Letting him out for a wee was the right thing to do when you came home, as he will have definitely woken up when he heard you arrive. In fact many new puppy owners will set an alarm for 2 or 3am for the first few weeks to make sure that the puppy keeps their crate clean. Letting him come back into the bedroom when he howled will have rewarded the noise, but it's only on one occasion so you will hopefully be able to get back into the normal routine again pretty promptly. As for the neighbours, i'd pop over with some wine and flowers, explain that you are getting the new puppy used to his crate and apologise in advance for any nighttime disruption over the next few weeks. Then you won't have to feel worried every time he's a bit noisy at night. There is some advice on crate training which you might find helpful here: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/crate-training-your-labrador-puppy/ and night barking here: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/dog-barking-at-night/ Best of luck and let us know how you get along!
Thank you so much for the help. He went in his crate tonight no problems so hopefully when I get in from late shift tomorrow it will be better. If he awakes ill let him up and just put him straight to bed again then go straight upstairs. Thanks for the tip with the neighbour was already planning a bottle of gin so hopefully that's well received! The puppy book has been a great resource as well!
