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First time puppy owner

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Jenbainbridge

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Hi everyone,

Yesterday my boyfriend and I welcomed our first puppy into our home. He's a little Labrador and he's about 9 weeks old.

However, he is constantly weeing! Every 5-10 minutes. Theyre just little ones and they're more like water than urine but I'm sure this can't be normal?

Also - every time he goes in his crate he cries and cries. Whether you're in the room or out of the room. Is this normal?

Any help would be really appreciated because I don't want an unhappy little puppy.

Thanks
 
How often do you put him into the crate.

JoanneF, is probably the best person to explain how to introduce your new puppy to a crate.

A crate should be a happy place, your puppy should feel that it is a good place (and never for punishment). Cover the crate with a blanket , top and 3 sides, leaving the front open to make a private place for him, get him used to the crate without closing the door on him and caging him in it, he must be happy to go into it, use the cage for feeding times, at 9 weeks of age he should be getting 4 feeds per day.

Puppies do wee a lot, the potty training is now your job and the start of his learning. The more time you can be with him and help him understand the easier the training should be. When your puppy wakes after a sleep carry him straight away to the place where you want him to wee and ask for wee wee's (or whatever your word for toilet is going to be) then gently praise with kind slmple words like "good boy". If you walk your puppy to wherever you want him to wee at this young age he will probably do it before he gets to the desired place, this is why I suggest to carry him. Use news paper on the floor near the back door if you can and encourage him to use this first, then as he gets a little older start putting the paper just outside and again gentle praise for him.

There are so many different ways and so many people will have different methods of potty training, you will have to choose which suits you best. But it all takes time !
 
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Whenever you pick up a new puppy you should always have a vet check. Puppies can have all sorts of problems that go unnoticed. I would take him to the vet for a thorough vet check and mention the toileting issue.

Crates are brilliant for helping us manage our puppies but need to be introduced well. Did the breeder introduce him to one? It is so much better if they do.

As has been said, toilet training is all about patience and vigilance. Puppies tend to get a little agitated when they need to toilet. They may circle or whine or just look distracted. I would only pick him up in an emergency (best carpet). He needs to find his way to the door and, eventually, ask to go outside. Only put paper down to catch mistakes it is not there to train him to toilet on paper (or the dreaded puppy pads). A dog trained to toilet on paper or puppy pads thinks that it is ok to toilet indoors always!

Ignore any mistakes. That is all they are. Just mistakes. You need to convince him that a toilet in the garden gets a fantastic reward while a toilet in the house gets him ignored. After he realises that a reward is on offer for outside toileting you should see him start to look at you when he needs to toilet because he wants to get the treat that is on offer outside.

In order for him to "get it" the reward must come immediately he toilets. Do not wait for him to come and get it as he will think he got it for coming to you and not for the toilet.

Gwen Bailey has written an excellent book called "The Perfect Puppy". Well worth a read.

Make sure you socialise, socialise, socialise! Look for good classes on the APDT website.
 
If your puppy has not been used to being crated then he may well protest especially as he has recently left his litter mates and his mum, it is more difficult to crate train if you are in the room as he can see and hear you and naturally he wants to be with you. Try putting him in his crate when he is a little tired after some playtime and leave him covered as previously suggested, a chewy toy and a soft toy may help him, then leave him alone for half and hour or so and if you can ignore the crying he should soon stop and go to sleep. If he gets distressed go back and comfort him but don't take him out otherwise you are teaching him that if he makes a fuss then you will let him out unless he is absolutely frantic and in danger of hurting himself.

Lots of wee is a normal puppy stage and he will need to be taken out every time he wakes, eats and regularly during his active time, some people take their puppy out every hour and if you can teach him a word when he does go outside then you will speed up the housetraining and have a dog which goes on command. Patience really is key for puppies and all the stages they go through on their way to being a grown up dog
 
Hi everyone,

Thanks for your help!

Turns out our little man had a UTI which is why he was going to the toilet so much, seems to have settled with some antibiotics.

The crying still continues however..

Hi everyone!

I'm new here and a first time puppy mum. We got our little black Labrador Stanley 10 days ago. He was 9 weeks when we got him, he's about 10 1/2 now.

Through the night he goes to bed at about 10pm and wakes up at 5am. So not too bad really and he sleeps in his crate.

BUT once he is awake that is it, he screams and screams. I always take him out for the toilet then I usually try and settle him down but to no avail.

Through the day he will go in his crate if he's tired and we feed him in there. If he's asleep he's fine and you can leave him for a while but if he's awake in the crate, regardless of what toys are in there he screams and screams again.

I have tried ignoring this and if it lasted about half an hour or so I could manage, but it can last hours - through the night he cried for 4 hours solid once (with a toilet break in the middle). He's relentless and shows no signs of stopping. I also know by this point he's likely to need the toilet so I feel as though I have to let him out. I'm also concerned about the neighbours!

I never open the crate door when he's whining and I always wait for a break, but it just doesn't seem to get any better. It's never the intention to leave him for massively long periods of time - 4 hours when he's a bit bigger but right now we can't leave him at all.

I feel really out of my depth with it and I'm starting to cry all the time because I can't cope with the crying. I wasn't prepared for this. My boyfriends family have had puppies before and he believes it to be normal and says he will settle down but I'm just not sure it's working. And I'm concerned we're going to end up with bigger problems later.

Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Or even just some confirmation this is normal.

Thanks so much!

Jenny
 
I still think leaving him to cry in his crate only makes him more distressed. In this respect I disagree with theanchorage. You wouldn't leave a child to cry alone in a room. Did you look at the link to the other post? I was just being lazy, not retyping it but I really think some of the advice there will help.http://www.dogforum.co.uk/topic/83711-how-to-crate-train-a-puppy/#entry1151007

Especially if he has had a UTI (good advice from Gypsysmum to see a vet) he will have had a bit of a set back. Also some dogs never accept a crate. In these circumstances people sometimes find a playpen better.
 
I did not advise leaving him for hours and hours to cry, just half an hour and go back if he is really distressed during this time, it may be at night that you will have to take him into your bedroom in his crate and he will probably settle just fine, some puppies are very needy and they will stop when they have you in the room. Don't upset yourself, constant contact with you won't necessarily make a clingy adult dog, if it feels right for you to have him out of the crate and with you then follow your instincts, you will find as you get on with your training which I expect you have started already then you will be able to train him to stay where you want him. There are no absolute rules for puppies and almost all become lovely grown up dogs, I think you will find your way through this and I hope you keep us up to date on his progress
 
I am wondering why he has to be in the crate if he is awake and you are there? Could he not have a basket/bed instead?

I have to Say I really don't like crates. It is just too easy to misuse them. Years ago no one used them. It's strange to me how they have become so routinely used now.
 
Ohhh dogmatize i bloody love our crate :)

never before in 25 years have we used one , but to be honest , never before have we needed one . Our youngest is working line GSD and omg does she get up to mischief !!!

well , to be fair , she is almost 2 and is really settling ..but when she was younger i spent many an hour hiding in the greenhouse with my good friend Jack Daniels leaving my hubby with her hahahaha

she moves furniture so she can climb up to reach things , i left her for 2 mins while i came in from the garden to get another ball cos id thrown hers over the fence, in the time it took me to come in and get a new one she had pushed a patio chair over to the fence and was standing onto of a 6 ft fence trying to fetch her ball . she can open doors , windows , cupboards , the fridge , she has just figured out how to do the new pedal bin we have had for 4 days !!!

she turns the garden into a lunar landscape , she gets in with the chickens , she is a monster so if I'm not there to keep an eye on her she is popped in her crate , to keep her safe and to keep me sane .

BUT , she is never in there if she is awake and I'm around , she is never left crying (unless she is having a strop cos she wants to come out with me . She sleeps in her crate at night , but as soon as i say sleepy time she trots in there by herself anyway . I would never ever leave a pup crying for more than a few mins , in my mind you are trying to build up trust and showing them you will protect them , not leaving them distressed and showing them no one comes if they are lonely :(
 
Exactly Raven Oaktree - you are of course using the crate the way I would. As a " hidey hole "

A safe place and not a jail. When we have a puppy we set up a crate with the door tied open as a den if you like,so that the pup can eat safely away from our bigger dogs and can retreat to it to sleep.

A whippet puppy,which is my breed, sleeps in the bed with us anyway until they are completely integrated with our older dogs when they will normally happily sleep together with the older ones.
 
Thanks for all your help. I think we've made a bit of progress - I managed a shower this morning with minimal yapping and after some playing with his Kong he had a little nap. Hopefully he's starting to settle a bit more. The strange thing is when he's crying, he doesn't actually seem upset. He's just making noise, half the time he's still wagging his tail and as soon as he's let out he's completely fine and his usual self.

The crate is for when we're not there but I've just been trying to get him used to it while we're still in until I feel he is happy enough to be left alone completely. The only time he goes in it when I'm in is if he's asleep or I need a shower/to do something and I can't monitor him. As he's still not fully toilet trained and is right into his chewing at the minute and I'd be worried he'd hurt himself just roaming around.

Please don't think I'm just shoving him in there, I just wanted him to settle before we left him alone. And his crate is nicer than our bedroom - he's got a massive fluffy bed/ blanket/teddies.

It's just hard when it's your first to know how to get things right!
 
Yea , my old boy sleeps in bed with us , but she has always been very happy in her crate so we left it like that . We did start with her crate in our room , slowly moved it to the landing , then the bottom of the stairs , then as she grew , and her crates grew they were eventually moved to a cubby hole under the stairs and she really likes it there , so we left it there ..my old boy gets lots of special time and cuddles on the bed so its good for him too . Things may change when we are down to one dog , but for now she is happy and settled so why change things that art broken eh?
 
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