Hey everyone, My name is Harris and I am new to this site. My wife and I just picked up our 8 week old male Chocolate Lab. He's a monster, weighing in at almost 11 lbs already. Everything has been great so far. Accidents have happened but that is part of the process. The one big problem we have run into is crate training at night. His crate is in our room and when we put him in there at night, he goes ballistic. His bark is so loud, my wife could hear him from the driveway in the morning as she left for work. At night, sleep is impossible but I'm more concerned about our neighbors hearing him(I know they can). A little back round info, we wear him out and try to get him as tired as possible before he goes into the crate. We even tried waiting until he fell asleep and tried to put him in the crate. However, when we close that door, he goes nuts.
I understand the importance of crate training so I'm willing to make this work. I just don't know how. We are leaving him in the crate during the day for 3-4 hour periods at a time so I hope that will help him acclimate to the crate. I just need some advice on what to do at night.
Some things we've tried.
-Music
-Clock
-Warm water bottle/towel in crate.
My dog (Bichon Frise 8month old) use to be that way, but we got her a blanket and a stuffed animal, I sleep with the blanket and the stuffed animal for one night (just to get my essence) and after that seems like it comforted her. She stills crying for like 2-3 minutes but then she calms down! you can try it ad see if that works for you and your puppy!
Hwturner, 8 week old male Chocolate Lab puppy can be trained to be silent at night. Excessive night-time barking can be very disturbing and upsetting to both dog owners and their neighbors.Barking at night may indicate that your male Chocolate Lab puppy is bored, distressed or in need of attention. If at all possible, night-time barking should be discouraged from Chocolate Lab puppy to be quiet at night will save you from having to retrain them when older. To make Chocolate Lab puppy to be quiet at night you have perform following instructions.
1.Puppies as comfortable as possible at night right from the start to discourage barking. A puppy will have been used to sleeping in a pack and may be distressed to find him sleeping alone.
To ease a puppy into sleeping alone, wrap a hot water bottle in a worn piece of clothing. Put warm (not hot) water in the hot water bottle and ensure the cap is tightly closed. Place these and a ticking clock in the puppy's bed. The item of clothing and the hot water bottle will mimic the warmth of your chest and the ticking clock will mimic the sound of a heartbeat. This will reassure the puppy and relieve some of its fears about sleeping alone.
2.Keep the puppy entertained to stop it barking at night. Leave toys beside his bed inside the crate to play with and change these regularly to stop the puppy from getting bored. Take the puppy for a long walk about two hours before bedtime to encourage him to sleep through the night. Do not give the puppy any water for an hour before bedtime and let the puppy out to urinate before you head to bed. This will stop him from barking to be let out.
3.Discipline your puppy if it continues to bark at night for attention. Do not go to your puppy when she barks at night or yell at her to be quiet, this will only encourage him to look for your attention by barking. Instead enlist a negative stimulus to quiet the puppy. When the puppy begins to bark, go to her and without saying a word, spritz her lightly with the water bottle. Instruct her to be quiet after spritzing and leave the room without giving her more attention. Repeat as often as necessary but remember to keep telling her to be quiet as you can use this as a command in the future.
4.Invest in a spray collar if you cannot reasonably get up every time the puppy barks. These work by spraying a liquid (often citronella) every time the puppy barks. The collar is effective as it distracts the puppy from barking and is a negative response to the behavior. It is designed so that it will not spray at all sounds, just ones as loud as a bark.
Remember that he is still a baby even though he is big. If you are near the breeder and the Mom or any siblings are available, take a stuffed animal or small blanket or towel and try to get their scent on it. Keep that in the crate at night. We took a stuffed animal to the breeder when our Lucy was only only 4 weeks old and by the time we brought her home at 9 weeks it was pretty smelly but she slept peacefully with it for months afterwards. I did wash it after awhile.
I f that isn't possible, I'd put in something with your scent. Also, is the crate covered? Put a towel or something over it to make it denlike. If its dark, it may soothe him.
I agree with the suggestions about making sure he's exercised and tired out but don't do any vigorous play right before bedtime. Make that last half hour before a winding down period. I wouldn't try the citronella collar at night or at this age but maybe a warm spritz of water might help.
If he's in your room maybe try him in another room at night. Be patient, it DOES get better. Good luck!
I think your dog need proper training. You have to search a dog daycare or dog training agency in your area which provides good services for dogs. I am sure they'll definitely sort your issue because I have also faced such weird time when my dog bark all the time and pee in house, then I took help of dog daycare named as Boomtowne. They sort my issue and help me a lot. Now my dog is very sincere and active.
I also tried Crate training on my dogs when she is 6 months old and I always give her a blanket on her crates and lots of safe toys to satisfy his chewing needs. Crates are useful in house breaking, I find it very useful!
Lots of good advice. I especially think that covering the crate is helpful. I made a cover for Lucys and she really liked it. We took a stuffed dog to the breeders and it was in the whelping box until we brought it home. I think the scent of Mom and siblings was comforting. Try something of yours, that has your scent. I'd also try putting him in another room at night.
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