New Puppy - Stressed Owner - Crate Training/yelping

[suziwong66]

My routine with my two labs has been/is to start them off in their travel crates at bed height next to my bed until they grow out of their travel crate. This is usually around the 12 week old range and then i move their large wire crate out in the lounge room. My last lab slept in the kitchen (you'll need lab proof bins) on a mat.

I also train mine to evacuate on command so I need them to wake me up to take them out to evacuate at night on lead to establish the behaviour right from the start...and having them beside me allows for that. Plus you get waaaaay more sleep when they know you're right next to them My boy never made a whimper; first night included. My girl did whimper a bit the first night or two, but it wasn't howling or barking - she was just needy as she'd left a very large litter of her own, a small litter of cousins and a very large breeding pack; she was used to having lots of others from her pack around her. I was able to poke my fingers through the crate door in the middle of the night to assure her that she was okay...and that was enough for her.

Ordinarily, after their dinner, they'd come into the house for the night. She would go into her crate in the lounge room and he'd sleep on his mat in the lounge room until we went to bed. He'd come with us and she'd stay in the lounge room.

This routine changed in March when we had a house full and the lounge room couldn't accommodate a large crate and all of our house guests, so pup's crate was moved back into our room but this time at the end of the bed. It hasn't been moved out of our room again, but it will be pretty soon.

From very early on, I keep pups in the house all the time. I set up a pen in the kitchen and pup learns to get used to the coming and goings/routines of the house. This is especially important with labs as they can suffer from separation anxiety; i make a fair bit of effort to come in and out of the kitchen (with lengthening times of separation once pup is settled into life with us) so that pup learns that i will go but i will always come back and i never greet pup as i come and go. When pup is in her pen, no one is allowed to engage with her; if you want to play with pup, you have to take her outside. When she was penned took her out to toilet hourly as i don't want her to make a mistake in the house - her accidents are MY mistakes since I obviously didn't take her out enough.

When she was about 4-5 months old, she was tethered at the back door so she could still she inside the house but got to spend some time with our older boy outside. At 8.5 months old, she still doesn't have full back yard access because she's too rough with our older boy who is rather submissive. I did have an outdoor pen for pup but she really didn't like being left outside, even with her brother out there! She wanted me; so I listened as you tend to do when puppy tries to dig her way out of the pen every time you put her in it . When i was outside gardening etc i tethered her out on the grass with a long line and then she came back in with me when i was done - this way she had access to me while i was busy but she couldn't get into trouble when i was concentrating elsewhere.

Labs are great dogs; but they're somewhat needy in terms of company within their human pack. If you think you might not be able to accommodate this need you might need to reconsider your breed choice. If you're willing to change your expectations and practice you will eventually end up with a wonderful dog that will stick to you like glue! I can't go to the loo without my two following me but i'm okay with that since I love that about labs. They're really not independent type dogs and if you ignore this you might find life not at all enjoyable with your pup.

Invest in training with your lab; you'll all be the happier for it. Teach puppy to play; Labs love a job and if you don't give them one, they'll find one themselves and it may not be something you're happy about eg. back deck being eaten, garden demolished etc to be honest i've never had massive problems with destruction with any of my labs but i do invest in training both for good behaviour and trick training to keep them stimulated. An intellectually stimulated lab is a tired one! Invest in plenty of interactive and treat dispensing toys for inside when you can supervise; pup will love you for it. We have a plethora of Kongs to stuff and freeze, a bob a lot, a kong wobbler and lots of other treat dispensing toys that are frequently rotated. Outside our yard is littered with a range of toys: a sand pit is really great for pups as you can bury bones and toys and teach them to dig where you want instead of where they want. In summer you can fill up a plastic sand pit shell with water and pup will have a blast; take the time to introduce them to water incrementally and pup will be confident. Stuff a Hollee Mollee with fabric strips for pup to play with - my boy likes the hollee mollee but the pup girl LOVES it - she pulls out the fabric strips and has a ball. I like that i don't have to replace another dead stuffy toy as i just push the fabric strips back into the hollee mollee and off we go again

the Kong stick (i think that's what it's called; it's green in this video) is a favourite with my two and anything is the Toughie Toy range (with a high destruction rating) is always received with glee; atm they have a very large dinosaur. if you want to see some of the toys that they have checkout my boy's facebook page Wilbur Langford. He'll friend you; he's not choosey

Enjoy your new pup but you'll need to make some adjustments to really get the best out of having a lab in your life.

[Jemmy]

How are you going now?

[suziwong66]

Susan Garrett's dvd, Crate Games is an awesome resource to teach crate training; i've used it for both of my two labbies and they both love their crates.

[CaseyKay]

All my puppies have been crated in the bedroom beside my bed. This is mainly because I like my sleep and don't function well without it! Of my 5 puppies I have had, all moved out of the bedroom and now sleep elsewhere (except my current oldest one, she's my favourite :)and never moved out)

I know your baby puppy seems needy and it really isn't my favourite stage of dog ownership, definately the hardest of my puppies was the first one (prior to that I adopted adult dogs)but to some extent with all of them I went through the "I have made a terrible mistake and ruined my life" phase, even knowing that phase is short lived and they settle in your routine. But when Pup is 5 months old and feeling the need to be independant and not listen to you, you will probably miss the sweet needy puppy who wants to be with you at all times!

[Blackdog10]

Got him sorted. He howled the house down being in my room. Absolutely hated it. I think it was too hot for him. So put him back outside on the deck and has slept 8-9hours ever since about day 3. He's perfect when I'm at work, super excited when I get home but we play and go for walks around the yard, I call them tough laps and he loves it. Even do it on the lead sometimes. We do training with treats a lot and he can already sit, stay, lay down and he can do it with voice or signal command already. He's a bit of a legend, it's only been 10 days. He's been to puppy school once, fell asleep in class he was that chilled. He's met 3 adult labs and a retriever, nervous at first but then held his own. So he's met about 70 people and 15 dogs all vaccinated and safe. Also going to a socialisation group once a week for health clear puppies starting on the weekend. So he's doing well, I guess at the end of the day I just had to work it out for what worked for him and for me and go from there. I guess it's not the norm to have an outside labby but hey it works for me and him and that's all that matters. He gets that much attention and I lead a really social active life and intend on making him a part of that life because at the end of the day that's exactly why I got him. So it's not really what everyone suggested but we're working it and are happy.

[Animal House]

Such a lovely update Blackdog, when do we get to see pics of the little legend? :D

[Blackdog10]

I don't know how to do photos haha!

[Animal House]

It can take some getting used to. :laugh:

[persephone]

Great Update :)

[aliwake]

So glad it's working out!

[Taliecat]

great to see that you've worked out a system that works for the two of you!

I second needing pics. If you're using the full version of the site you can link photos that are uploaded from photobucket or another image hosting site by clicking the picture button and pasting in the direct link from photobucket.