Juno snuck upstairs at around 14 weeks and demolished the cat food but we don't encourage to use stairs and used a stair gate to stop her going up and down unless we were there. Even now at going on 14 months she isn't allowed up and downstairs (her ED management says no stairs but for us that's not an issue). Also one thing to remember about the crate is that we also use it when puppy is left alone to prevent them from chewing and destroying .....
Yep we use the crate for that too so won't be getting rid of it for a while yet. We have a stair gate which helps prevent her from chasing the cats up the stairs! Cats still hate her, only because they are scared. Once they figure out she only wants to lick them and that they still rule the roost they won't be so scared! Not sure how long that will take. We have her new crate cover which arrived today so fingers crossed that helps for tonight.
Ha! Cats! Chepi would sleep with my siamese (now sadly passed away) but she still chases my ginger cat. So upstairs remains off limits for her.
I used Feliway with my cats when we brought Juno home. Sprayed quite a lot over the first 10 days or so but then life began to settle down. The cats rule the roost and Juno just loves to lick them as they walk past
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feliway-Phe...e=UTF8&qid=1438717367&sr=8-3&keywords=feliway I've used this for the cats when we moved and tried it for in the car (without too much success) but helped last year
I looked it up and we do actually have a plug in one for our cats already as our older one didn't take too well to the younger one They are getting braver but think it will take time....
For me there was no rush. The cats and Juno aren't best buddies but they happily settle in the same room and no hissing, shouting or claws so it works for me
Morning all, so we kept Bella awake yesterday evening and moved her walk to 7.30pm, we kept her up until 10.45 before a final toilet trip. She slept until 5.50am, which would be great but the reality is we just went to bed much later than normal so I am still exhausted! The other problem I have now is after weeks of broken sleep I still woke at 4.30am and didn't really fall back to sleep after that. Sleeping tablets are calling me...
If the lack of sleep is really getting to you, I would buy or borrow a puppy pen - make sure it is on a washable floor and provide newspapers. Buy some ear plugs and get your sleep. Don't go down to Bella until it's get up time, and put her to bed when you go to bed. Sure, you might have to stick your head under the pillow if she starts making a noise but she just has to learn that humans don't come if you bark. I honestly don't think keeping a puppy up late makes much of a difference to anything. They can sleep whenever they want during the day, not sure they need an 8 hour slug of sleep like we do....
I agree. I have always put my pups to bed when I go (10pm) and got them up when I get up (7am). If they are crated and need a toilet break, take them out really calmly - but then sit out the shouts (which is worse than lack of sleep (!) But, if you don't stick it out, you end up with a 2 year old dog, like my friend's dog Zaba, who starts shouting when he wakes up and doesn't stop He stays with us when my friend is on holiday and drives us round the bend!
Not sure which is worse the barking or the lack of sleep! We tried doing the calm toilet break at 5am and putting her back to bed a few weeks ago but she was just so excited to see us that she wouldn't settle down, it never worked
That's why we suggest a puppy pen and newspapers - so she can move away from her bed to toilet if she is desperate. Don't do the toilet break. Do nothing (apart from put your ear plugs in ) until you are ready to get up.
So it's been a few days, we completely blacked out the room on day 1 and she still woke at 5, the next evening we took her out for a later walk and tried really hard to keep her awake in the evening, I woke before her at 6.15!! I so wanted to fall back to sleep but it was a great opportunity to go downstairs without her barking for us. The next night she did till 6, and then last night till 5.30 but she slept more yesterday evening as we had people round. So, keeping her awake as much as possible definitely seems to help we have our neice babysitting tonight so we will give her strict instructions to play with her lots! Fingers crossed
From day 1, I took Bailey outside to do his business at 11pm and then went to bed. I set an alarm from 3am to take him out, then I woke up at 6.30, showered and came downstairs to feed him at 7. He has always been silent over night; I've been really lucky! Every night since, I extended the middle of the night toilet-time by 15 minutes. This morning was a 6.30 alarm, so I didn't things in a different order. I came down, he was still lying down and took a while to stand up! We went outside and I gave him his breakfast in the Kong Wobbler, while I went and had a shower. 20/25 minutes later, he was still chasing the Wobbler around the kitchen. When I'm back at work in 3 weeks, the plan is to get up at 5.45 take him for a morning walk, come back for breakfast and so that I can get ready for work and go out at 7.15. Any advice on whether to put him back in his crate when I go out, or to let him have the run of the kitchen? He loves his crate, but I'd like him to have the kitchen as he'll have been in his crate all night. I'm just worried he'll do his business in the kitchen if I'm not there to open the door. It's been 2 weeks since he's had an accident in the house.
Hi, definitely sounds like you have been luckier with Bailey. Bella has been great the last few days, my husband has gone down at 6.15 and she has been quiet which is progress. I've definitely noticed a difference with her bladder over the last week, she doesn't go as much during the day and when she wakes up its not the first thing that she has to do. Guess now she's 4 months her bladder is getting stronger. I work part time from 9-1 during the week, we put Bella back in her crate with a stuffed Kong. The only time we have left her in the kitchen is for less than 15 minutes. I think us humans worry the crate is now enough space but for a dog as long as they are safe and have room to sleep and stand etc then they are fine. She just sleeps when we aren't here and then we play in the afternoon and evening. I would worry about her toilet training going backwards if I left her out of it. She's been clean for a few weeks now and she doesn't ever seem stressed by being in her crate. We have a large size one and because she isn't a destroyer of toys we leave a few in there with her. The ultimate aim will be for her to be out of the crate but again I think she would just sleep the day away - after all they do say Labradors like to sleep lots!
Hi, I'm a little slow and just catching up on this thread! I'm glad you've been able to stretch it out to 6.15 and fingers crossed it continues to improve. My 16 week girl Ella has presented us with many challenges but thankfully sleeping has not been one of them. As this is our first dog I think I was a little naive and have managed to dodge a bullet! We put Ella to bed (well, she often takes herself off to bed) by 10pm and haven't heard from her before 6am ever. Most mornings we wake her when we get up and this can be any time between 6am and 8am! Must have a bladder of steel at night! Unfortunately she seems to catch up on all of her wees during the day... Emily ☺
Hi Boogie, Did you use a large crate or a puppy pen for night time toilet training with pads? We have a large 36inch crate that I thought may be too big and would confuse puppy if we were simultaneously garden training and pad training in the crate, we have a smaller crate (24inchese) in our amazon basket and are umming and ahhing about whether to purchase for first 16 weeks. I wondered if in your case you used a puppy pen for over night and that's why puppy wasn't confused between the two? But i'm hoping you used a large crate for both daytime and night time and removed puppy pads in the day time so puppy knew to go outside instead of in the crate? I hope this question made sense! Daniella
@Daniella if it's any help I had a 24" crate for Juno when she was tiny. We collected her from her breeder when she was 10.5 weeks old and she was in the crate until around 15 weeks when her 36" crate arrived, I preferred the option of the smaller crate than larger with a partition for when very small. I also found it easier as I use to take the crate upstairs to my bedroom at night for the first coupe of weeks. I got up once in the night with her to take her out in the garden and didn't use any puppy pads or newspaper and never had any accidents in the crate. From the 36" crate she moved up to the 42" crate
