Hi everyone! My bf and I adopted a 12 weeks yellow lab a week ago and his name is Casper and this is my first time having a dog in my life. I didn't really realize what I get my self into. I'm very new with this kind of situation and I have a lot of questions. Here are my questions: 1. Why is he pooping in the middle of the night? - we're feeding him in a regular basis 7-8am and 4-5pm. We're giving him a walk before he goes to bed. 2. Why is he peeing on the carpet? Sounds dumb I know but we follow all the articles and advices that we can get. We have all the training pads and when he pees we used this natures miracle advanced formula and I was told to put a pad on top of it so dogs will be aware that they won't pee on the same spot. He actually doesn't pee on the same spot and on a different spot. Am I expecting too much? 3 how long does teething ends? - we bought him different kinds of toys and still chewing tags. 4. Is it ok to put towels at night? 5. When we give him a walk he eats everything that he find. 6. How can we potty trained him on the training pads? My bf and I work schedule is basically the whole day. Well technically MWF and Saturday and Sunday for sure he eats between 4-5pm. Tuesday and Thursday is a little bit tough we don't get home not until 6pm. I hope I'll get some advices because I do not know who else to ask I'm a little bit getting frustrated and tired I know it's only been a week and he's still a puppy but we don't know what else we should do. Thanks a lot!
Hi and welcome! A that your little lad in the avatar? He's gorgeous! I think your puppy is still going during the night because he's a baby and he can't hold it yet. Is he in a crate? If he is you'll have to get up every few hours at this stage and take him out, if not you don't need to take him out but just be prepared that you're going to come down to accidents. If you and your boyfriend are out all day, this is probably why he isn't toilet trained. Me & OH took alternative time off work when our little man came to try and set the groundwork with toilet training. We didn't use puppy pads, didn't see the point of training him to go in the house to then train him to go out of the house. We used to just take him out every 20-30 minutes and wait. When he went there'd be huge cheers off "wee wee" or "poo poo" and he'd get lavished with praise and treats. Hes 7 months nearly now and we let him out every few hours - now I can just say wee wee or poo poo and he'll go. If you're not in to guide him, he's never going to learn. I'd recommend taking some time off to spend training him - also a puppy can't be left alone all day, it's not good for him mentally. Have you got anyone coming in? My FIL comes to sit with Stanley if we're at work or he goes to daycare. He's not left alone for more than 3 hours ever. Labradors are notorious chewers and biters. Stanley can still be a bit bitey now, you just have to stop interacting with him if he bites you or give him something he can chew. He'll settle down eventually (here's hoping). Good luck!
Hello and welcome to the forum. Puppies are certainly a lot of hard work, and it's easy to get a bit sleep deprived, which doesn't help your emotional state. Let's see if I can address your questions one by one. 1. He needs the toilet in the night because he's a baby. Just like human babies go to the toilet all the time, so do puppies. You can deal with this in one of two ways: you use a crate for your puppy ad set your alarm to get up every couple of hours to take him out to toilet. Every night, you can push this back by 15 minutes, if that schedule was successful. In no time, you'll have a puppy that sleeps through, as he gets more able to hold himself. Alternatively, you can use a pen arrangement overnight, with puppy pads at the opposite end from the bed. If he is forced to soil his bed, toilet training will take far, far, longer, so you want to avoid that at all costs. It also sounds like you're not feeding him regularly enough. At 12 weeks, puppies should be fed four times a day, not twice. Their stomachs are too small to cope with that much food in one go. This should help with scheduling toileting, too. 2. Puppies like to pee on carpet. It's one of those things. If possible, it's best to take up your carpets or put some linoleum or somesuch on top while he's a baby. Other than that, you should be taking him out to toilet every twenty minutes or so, as well as after every time he eats, every time he drinks, every time he wakes up and every time he finishes playing. That's a lot of taking him out, I know, but it's the only way to ensure your house stays clean. Again, he's only a baby and can't hold his bladder, so don't tell him off when he goes inside, but heap on the praise and treats when he goes outside. He'll learn in time. http://www.thelabradorsite.com/house-training-your-labrador-puppy/ 3. Teething won't have started yet, but it varies for all puppies. I think mine started at about 5 months and it lasted a few weeks. The biting you have now is just normal puppy biting. Here's some information on teething, and on teaching them not to bite: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/teeth-and-puppy-teething-ages-and-stages/ http://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppies-biting/ 4. Do you mean put towels in with him for snuggling? Yes, if he doesn't eat them. Again, it varies from puppy to puppy on how destructive they are. The best bed is probably vet bed, which you can buy on eBay. 5. At 12 weeks, he shouldn't need to be taken on walks. He won't have finished his vaccinations yet, and it's important for his safety that he's not exposed to parvovirus. You should talk to your vet about this. Until then, you can carry him around outside, to show him all the sights and sounds. http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-socialise-your-labrador-puppy/ But, puppies do explore the world with their mouths. Your best bet here is to start teaching a "leave" cue. In the meantime, carry lots of tasty treats with you and teach your puppy to swap what he shouldn't have with what you have. 6. See the article above. It sounds like your puppy is being left for a long time during the day. I'm afraid that's not acceptable at his age. You really need to ensure he has company for most of the day until he's a bit older. This can be friends or family, or you can take some vacation time from work, or get a puppy sitter in. I recommend you get a copy of The Happy Puppy Handbook, which will answer all your questions, and more. Also, have a look around the rest of thelabradorsite.com for lots of information. Good luck, and let us know how you get on.
Welcome to you. I strongly recommend the Happy Puppy Handbook - being a puppy mum is very rewarding and a VERY steep learning curve
Hi and welcome to the forum. You are at the start of a wonderful journey - exhausting, frustrating, at times painful experience but in my opinion the best one of my life! You have had some really good advice above - Pippa's Happy Puppy Handbook is a great help taking you through raising a puppy to become the wonderful companion we all strive for - but we are pretty much always a work in progress! Good luck and come back to the forum often - even if it is just to read other's posts - I have picked up so much by doing just that, everyone is really helpful and a great support, and there are loads of training tips, health tips etc. If Casper is your avatar he looks adorable - please post some other pictures of him...we love puppy pics
Excellent advice above! I was also a first time dog owner, thought I had researched loads and still found it a massive shock just how stressful puppy ownership can be. Please be reassured with a bit of initial effort,it gets better fast. Follow the above advice and he'll be house trained before you know it. Good luck. X
Hi there, and thanks for your questions. It is so very hard to have a puppy, there's just no two ways about it. Just like a human baby, they require a huge amount of time and training to turn out right . The good thing about puppies (aside from the fact that they are adorable) is that they grow up faster than humans. You have gotten some great advice, so I won't add too much to it but I just wanted to reinforce that for your pup's sake (and your own) it will be so much better if you find a way to get someone to help with puppy care throughout the day. It's harder with both of you working but many people on the forum have made it work. Enlist friends, relatives, hire a puppy sitter, or whatever, but you are going to find toilet training, specifically, very difficult without this. Not to mention that there will be all sorts of other behaviour problems that will result from the pup being left too long by himself. As he gets older you can gradually leave him for longer periods of time but right now he needs more interaction and supervision. Good luck, and keep in touch!
Welcome to the forum, it will be so useful to you as it is for me, and everyone is very supportive. I can't add any better advice than you've had above but I, too, would like to stress how important it is not to let the pup bring himself up. If he makes the rules because he's alone as a puppy, he will not grow up to be the pleasurable dog you want. Time invested now will reap rewards in the long term.
Hi and welcome to the forum. Think 'toddler' with your puppy and you wont go far wrong. He needs company and stimulation, just like a toddler does. He isn't toilet trained, because he is a baby. He needs small meals often, just like a toddler. And so on. Above all, if you leave him alone all day you will end up with a frustrated, untrained, possibly destructive dog that you will likely re-home because you cannot handle him. Sorry if that sounds harsh, it is just the sad truth about puppies that are left on their own for too long. But there are plenty of ways to overcome that - family and friends, or a good puppy walker, or puppy daycare.
