Hi, we brought our 8 week old black Labrador home on Saturday. She was extremely cars sick on the journey home and we took her to the vet on Sunday because she had many bouts of watery diarrhoea during the night. The vet has sent a stool sample off just incase there is anything wrong with her gut. She is very bright and playful but gets stressed very quickly and refuses to go in her crate at night. If left she cries and howls until she is sick. The breeders used a crate for the litter Bella came from so she is used to a crate albeit not on her own. She goes in the crate during the day if treats are put in there but hates the door being closed. Any help would be very much appreciated.
Welcome!! You will get so much good advice here. This site has been a godsend to us. I know there will be lots of other advice from people far more experienced than me as I am a first time puppy owner to Jessie 15 weeks, we got her at 9 weeks. Her tummy was pretty upset by the move and was a good couple of weeks before it calmed down. As far as the crate, I think all you can do is build up crate time gradually, making it a nice positive experience. We gave Jessie her food in her crate and started closing the door when she was eating and opening straight away when she had done, gradually building up the time with the door closed. A kong also worked well at helping her ignore the closed door! She's fine now! They learn really quickly! Good luck. X
Hello there, and a very warm welcome. Your puppy is a tiny baby, and has just left her mum, her litter mates and the only family and home she has ever known. I'd sleep with her for a few nights, until she adjusts, and starts to feel more at home with her new home and family. It must be a tough time for tiny pups, full of joy for humans, but scary for small baby pups. Don't leave her alone. Get her used to being alone in a new place very, very gradually. Give her some smashing food in a kong, and leave her for a minute. Then two minutes - go back before she finishes the food. Then 5 minutes....you get the idea.
Hi there and welcome! I second what Julie says - you have a baby in your house, who is desperately worried by being left alone - you have to build that up gradually, using positive associations with her crate, so she learns it is safe to be on her own for a while.
Hi and welcome to this great forum. I'm a first time puppy owner, my boy is coming up to nine months now. I can't offer advice as Dexter loved his crate from the day we introduced it. What I can say is, follow the advice given and you'll more than likely have Bella loving her crate very soon. I do hope Bella's poorly tummy settles soon.
We have a new lab puppy, she is now 11 weeks old. We got her at 8 weeks, and a long journey too,which made her pretty miserable and grouchy for the first couple of days. One of us slept downstairs with her for the first few nights on the sofa, and had the crate close by. We let her out every few hours for a wee. We fed her in the crate, gave her chews, she loves dried fish, puppy kongs with a few bits of kibble with a teaspoon of Millies Wolfheart wet food to soak in. We would pop the treat, toy, chew in the crate, making lots of excited noises, but left the crate door open. Whenever she got sleepy we would pop her in there too. We also have quite a small crate, just enough puppy wiggle room, and covered it with a blanket so it nice and cosy. It has taken about a week tbh, but now she merrily runs to her crate when she sees I have a kong in my hand!
Thanks for the advice Karen. She is a bright little thing so I am sure she will get used to the crate.
I feel awful that we have rushed things with Bella. Thank you to everybody who has taken the time to reply to me. I will be sleeping on the sofa next to Bella tonight and she will, hopefully, have a better night.
Don't feel awful - it's a learning process for you and her The puppy section of this site is full of wonderful advice. I am on puppy 3 and still refer to it all the time. http://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppies/ .
Hi and welcome I have Harley who is now 2 and a half and she is my first ever dog. She never took to the crate when we were home.....even if we were in the same room. She would happily go in when I went to work for short periods and we used the crate until she was 7 months old during the day. Personally I didn't mind her not sleeping in the crate as she came and slept upstairs with us I love waking up with her snuggled up to me, but I know not everyone likes dogs upstairs. Just remember that she has just come into a new home, left her mum and siblings and probably feels very scared. Her tummy will settle in the next week - it's usually a bit runny until they are more settled in their new home. What's your girls name? Any photos?
Hi and welcome. Great advice already given to help you and your puppy to settle. If you haven't already read it best advice id to buy a copy of the Happy Puppy Handbook which is full of information and advice to get you through the early months of living with a puppy.
Don't feel awful, many of us are new to having puppies and are all learning along with them. Our pup Dexter has never been upstairs and is usually happy to sleep in his crate on his own downstairs. The odd time he has been unsettled or when he's been unwell, I just sleep on the sofa in the same room.
Hi did you have a better night with Bella? We only moved our pups crate into a different room and she practically howled the place down!
Have you given Bella a cuddly toy to cuddle up to at night? A teddy would do, so she doesn't feel that she is on her own.
Oh no, not much fun for you and OH. juno,only ever emitted a couple of little howls on the first night and that was me done for Did she have the boys close by or was she by herself?
Yes, we did have a slightly better night although Bella still seems to hate the crate despite me laying on the sofa by the side of her. She whined and cried on and off most of the night. I put an extra soft fleece in with her as well as the vet fleece plus two of her soft toys. She seems to prefer the cats bed to the crate!!! Have tried moving her this morning into the crate but she woke up immediately and ran out. I will try keeping her in the crate for very short periods and see what happens.
Juno used to love the cat bed to curl up in during the day. Does your cat sleep in the bed? Mine didn't. If they don't can you put the cat bed in the crate and see if she is happier like that a night? it may be that the cat bed has smells that she finds comforting.
I put a cardboard box beside my bed and slept with my hand dangling into it, my puppy fell asleep as he then felt he wasn't alone. With the crate, make it cosy, but a blanket over the top like a den, leave the door open and even put the cat's bed in there. You will probably find the puppy will go voluntarirly into the cage to sleep during the day; do not shut the door - yet! It will all fall into place sooner or later!
