I am a new Chocolate lab owner and I need help

[Chocolate Lab]

I am a new chocolate lab owner he is 11 weeks. We just got him last night and we were not able to sleep. I am pretty sure some of you guys have gone through this, the puppy keep barking and crying all night long while he was in the crate. My husband and I did not know what to do and we let him out of the crate about twice. Does anybody have any suggestions that will help the puppy sleep at nigth?

Also we will have to leave the puppy alone during day about 7 hours while we are at work will it be a good idea to leave him in the crate for these hours, unfortenately we do not have any family near buy that can take him out during the day.

Any suggestions will be helpful and greatly appreciated.

Thank You

[FurryAngel33]

NEVER Go to a puppy when they are crying! that is a bad mistake.

You are rewarding his behavior for whinning when you go to him.

Get a water bottle thing(they are soft) put really warm water in it, and put it in his kennal with him at night.

My little toy poodle puppy does fine holding his bladder threw the night.

He goes to bed at 8:30-9:00 wakes up at 7:00am to go potty and has never had an accident in his kennal.

Everyone says puppies can't hold there bladders a long time but 10hrs is a long time.

But all puppies are different.

have him go to bed with a full stomach and play with him a long time before goign to bed.

[fireworksinjuly]

Originally Posted by FurryAngel33

He goes to bed at 8:30-9:00 wakes up at 7:00am to go potty and has never had an accident in his kennal.

Everyone says puppies can't hold there bladders a long time but 10hrs is a long time.

But all puppies are different.

10 hours sleeping is very different then 10 hours awake. During the day dogs are awake for the most part.

I dont think a puppy should be forced to not go to the bathroom more then 3 or 4 hours.

As for the crying at night, you up-rooted his world. All of a sudden his brothers and sisters as well as his MOTHER are gone. He has no idea why. Hes sad over this. Hell get used to it. My parents used to give their puppys a stuffed animal to sleep with. We have one that even had a "heartbeat".

[paramount]

My dog is incredible staid and calm, even when she was a pup. Because of this I never went through the sleepless nights, however I have to agree with the uprooted statement. For the past 11 weeks all he has known is the world he was brought into at birth. Because of this, the pup is going to need time to transition. My recommendation is to initially follow his normal itinerary that he has he has known for the past 11 weeks. This will help him ease into his new home.

[WingedFoal]

I had a "Momma Bear" that I would put in with the stray pups that would wander up to my porch in Augusta (no strays in B'ham so far). That would keep them nice and quiet for the most part.

As for the crying at night, you would be reinforcing that behavior by letting the pup out while he is crying. In other words he thinks, "If I cry long enough, they'll let me out." Therefore, he will learn to cry, even for longer periods of time, to be let out. There will definitely be a few sleepless nights at first, but that is better than having a crying puppy every night. So, if you can, ignore him while he's crying, and praise him when he's being quiet, like if he decides he wants to play with a toy.

But do give him a potty break from his kennel every few hours during the night. You can set your alarm clock to go off every few hours (once he's stopped being a personal alarm clock), and take him out for a potty break. Some puppies may be able to hold it all night at such an early age, but most can't and end up peeing in their cage instead if not let out enough.

Like Fireworks has said, it's not quite fair to a pup to not have a potty break at least every three to four hours. At least two would be ideal, but sometimes it's just not possible. Is there a neighbor or a dog-walking service you could use to give your pup a break?

[Carrie]

I agree with the others. More than 4 hours in a crate is way too long to leave a pup. And if you put the crate in your bedroom at night, along with the other suggestions, that will help. Dogs like to be with their family... really, need to be. I hope all will work out. Good luck.

[gaddylovesdogs]

It stinks, but the best thing to do is get up every few hours in the middle of the night to let the puppy out to go to the bathroom. They have small bladders and can't hold it for too long.

You try an exercise pen for when you're gone. They're larger than crates, so there's more room for the puppy to romp around in. You could hire someone (like a neighborhood kid) to let the puppy out once or twice while you're gone.

[Angel_baby]

I agree with everything everyone has said, don't leave him in there for more then 4 hours and get up atleast 2 times during the night to take him out potty. ignoring the crying may sound cruel but that's what is going to work.