Good morning, First poster to the forum here! We have been lucky enough to get an 8-week old labrador named Musto on the 19th of March. He is settling in well to his new home and my wife and I, aside from general sleep deprivation are loving things. During his first few nights, he was going to bed at 2245 or so and making no noise from his crate until he needed the loo. We'd then get up at 0130 and 0500 or so and let him out. He would go back to sleep between these times and also for an hour or so after the 0500 slot. He then started sleeping all the way through to 0300 and then not waking up until 0600. We thought this was great progress and then on Saturday night he reverted back to waking up at 0130 (needing to go for a pee and a poo) and then a further pee at 0430/0500. I try to make sure he has no water after 2100 or so and he goes for a poo as close to bedtime as possible. Not sure what we can do at this end to lengthen out the times....a bit more unbroken sleep would be a godsend! He has plenty of exercise in the day (both physical and mental) and we usually try and have a final play at 2030 or so for 20-30 minutes and then give him an hour to wind down. Any tips for getting that night-time sleep patterns more regular. He is 10 weeks tomorrow and I have a voice in the back of my head saying he is changing sleeping patterns as he is still young...that said... it's rather stressful once you think you are making progress! Any thoughts hugely appreciated. Best, Toby
Morning all, A bit of an update at this end. I moved his supper time back by 30 minutes and we stopped the more active playtime by 1930 so give Musto a few more hours of wind down. He is sleeping well in his crate down stairs without any crying. On the first night this worked a charm. He slept through from 2245 until 0430, went to the loo, back to sleep and then woke up at 0630. We did exactly the same last night and he woke up at 0130, 0400 and 0530.... Is there any consistency with 10 week old Labrador puppies! Sometimes he can hold his bladder for 5 hours...other nights only 3.... Any tips and tricks would be much welcomed to get us a few more precious hours sleep!
