Hello all Our Labrador puppy is now 9 weeks old and been with us for 1 week and although he has settled in really well, we would really appreciate a bit of advice/help with a couple of behavioural issues. 1) When he whines in the night (was initially at around midnight but now around 4am) we do attend to him and take him outside as he always needs the toilet, however, during the day he gives us no signal at all when he needs the toilet. We take him out regularly and praise him when he has been to the toilet in the garden but he still continues to go indoors, both wee and pooh. We live in a maisonette with the main living area upstairs and a stair gate separating the two floors. His cage and living area is all upstairs so he can't show any signs of wanting to go out by standing next to front door etc. so the only other way is to stand near gate etc. How soon after drinking water from his bowl, which he drinks from frequently throughout the day, should we be taking him outside? and how soon after his food should we be taking him outside? Also, is there any training we can do which would encourage him to whine or give a sign that he wants to go outside? 2) As I mentioned, he is now 9 weeks old. He weighs 4.7kg which the vet said was absolutely fine when we took him for his first jabs last Friday, however, we can't help but feel that he needs more food as although he does not look very skinny, a couple of family members have commented that he looks a bit too slim. Also, we do find at times that he has more of a tendency to perhaps nibble on our toes etc. and be a little more naughty but when fed more food he is calmer. Is this a healthy weight and would this change in behaviour be due to needing more food? Many thanks for any help given
Congratulations on your new puppy! For toileting puppies need to go: As soon as they wake up After they have eaten After they have been playing Every 20-30 minutes while awake (but this could be as little as every 10-15 minutes) About every 2-3 hours during the night And after they have been very excitable As this age the puppy has no control of being able to know when he needs out and they don't gain control until about 6 months. You will need to watch his body language to gauge when he needs to go and take him out. As soon as you see it, pick him up and carry him outside to your toilet 'spot' Are you able to upload a photo of you puppy? He will be nibbling as he will be teething but could also be a sign that he is bored. Try doing some training with him with some of his food allowance, puppies need physical and mental stimulation to keep them happy. Good Luck!
At 9 weeks you still have a lot of accidents ahead. They just don’t have the bladder control. We accept a mess on the floor in the morning so our pups don’t learn to wake up at a particular time during the night to go out. If you think he is too skinny then increase the food, he should be getting 4 small meals a day at 9 weeks. Yes, it does feel like you are feeding all the time. Toe nibbles are perfectly normal, puppies playing by biting each other, get him some toys to play with and play with him. Just wait until he is teething, when that starts you need some strong, durable toys. Pigs ears are good too. Keeps them occupied for a while once they work out what to do with them. My now 6 month old still barks and dances around meaty bones. Such a goose.
We have ours in a pen still quite a lot and he was in a pen in the house all the time when we had him, from 7 weeks. We took him out every 20 mins. That helped stop the shrieking to go out as I had been taking him whenever he shrieked which made him do it even more! We have then been increasing the time and are now up to 55 mins at 14 weeks. With a few times having to drop time back down again. And some days he needs to go out more often, if he has tummy ache from food disagreeing with him, which has happened a few times as we trial different training treats and kibble. It was exhausting to begin with but really works! And we wake him up to take him out during the day. As that was easier than waiting until he wakes up cause if you blink and miss it, then he cries a little and that then makes him cry more at other times. At nighttime we also do it by a timer to avoid responding when he cries and so started off setting the alarm for 30 mins before he normally cries to go out. And then increased by 15 mins a night. He had been sleeping up to 7 hours through from about 9 weeks but recently started waking much earlier again so we started the same process. It was something recommended by Pippa Mattinson in her books and web articles. Good luck! I’m sure it’ll get better and with fewer accidents and with more sleep everything seems easier! We had such a problem with shrieking we had to accept we may get some accidents by misinterpreting his cries to go out, but we now haven’t had any in two weeks and he is much quieter
