Hi,
I am the owner of a 12 week old lab. He is great. Does all the
things a puppy does and more. We have been trying to crate him. We
put in the crate when we go out for just couple hours, 3 at them most,
no accidents. Great job i always tell him with a treat. When he
goes into for bed at night he is up every hour to go to the bathroom.
Now we take his water away at 7pm and he doesnt drink very much all
day so I cant understand what is going on here. BUT he will sleep on
his bed in the kitchen all afternoon with out a peep.
So llast night we decided to let him sleep on his bed in the kitchen
and to our amazment he slep thru the night. I am wondering if this is
ok to let him sleep in there. I know they say to use the crate for
training, which we do when we go out. Is this a good idea or is this
going to back fire in our face?????

In article
,
lablover wrote:

Hi,
I am the owner of a 12 week old lab. He is great. Does all the
things a puppy does and more. We have been trying to crate him. We
put in the crate when we go out for just couple hours, 3 at them most,
no accidents. Great job i always tell him with a treat. When he
goes into for bed at night he is up every hour to go to the bathroom.
Now we take his water away at 7pm and he doesnt drink very much all
day so I cant understand what is going on here. BUT he will sleep on
his bed in the kitchen all afternoon with out a peep.
So llast night we decided to let him sleep on his bed in the kitchen
and to our amazment he slep thru the night. I am wondering if this is
ok to let him sleep in there. I know they say to use the crate for
training, which we do when we go out. Is this a good idea or is this
going to back fire in our face?????

There are many good reasons to acclimate a puppy to a crate. Future
boarding needs, safe car travel, etc. Most lab puppies also tend to be
pretty destructive in their adolescence, so crate training now and
appropriate confinement to prevent problems, is generally a good idea.

Sleeping through the night without problems and crateless seems just
fine. You're home and can hear a problem if one occurs.

One thing about his waking while in a crate and "needing" to go to the
bathroom. He most likely does not need to. He stirs, maybe even
whines, you respond, he gets out of the crate. Sure, he'll eliminate
when given the opportunity. Most beings will. That isn't the same
thing as need. A 12 week old lab puppy should be able to sleep through
the night.

If he's sleeping all afternoon, I hope he's also getting good exercise
and play sessions throughout the day. A tired puppy is a good thing.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

In article ,
lablover wrote:
Now we take his water away at 7pm and he doesnt drink very much all
day so I cant understand what is going on here.

I'm not big on restricting access to water - proper
hydration is key to health and performance. I'm also pretty
sure he's not getting you up in the night because he has to
pee, but because he's a puppy and getting up in the night is
fun and going out is fun and life is just a lot of fun.

Crates are management tools, so it's important to have a
clear notion of what you're trying to accomplish when you
use one. They're a good tool for housetraining, and if
that's how you've been using it and the puppy's sleeping
through the night and not peeing in the house without it, I
wouldn't worry about whether or not he's crated at night.
I'd still tend to crate him when I go out, since puppies can
get into a heck of a lot of trouble left to their own
devices. But if there's no problem to solve during the
night, then you don't need a problem-solving tool, right?

Also, I'd get another dog bed for your bedroom and have him
sleep there with you at night, with the caveat that he might
be more inclined to wake you up for fun time if you're in
the same room.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

On Dec 21, 9:47*am, (Melinda Shore) wrote:
In article ,

lablover wrote:
Now we take his water away at 7pm and he doesnt drink very much all
day so I cant understand what is going on here. *

I'm not big on restricting access to water - proper
hydration is key to health and performance. *I'm also pretty
sure he's not getting you up in the night because he has to
pee, but because he's a puppy and getting up in the night is
fun and going out is fun and life is just a lot of fun. *

Crates are management tools, so it's important to have a
clear notion of what you're trying to accomplish when you
use one. *They're a good tool for housetraining, and if
that's how you've been using it and the puppy's sleeping
through the night and not peeing in the house without it, I
wouldn't worry about whether or not he's crated at night.
I'd still tend to crate him when I go out, since puppies can
get into a heck of a lot of trouble left to their own
devices. *But if there's no problem to solve during the
night, then you don't need a problem-solving tool, right?

Also, I'd get another dog bed for your bedroom and have him
sleep there with you at night, with the caveat that he might
be more inclined to wake you up for fun time if you're in
the same room. *
--
* * *Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

* * * Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

Not sure I understand, why would I want to put bed in my bedroom if he
is more inclined to wake me up? Also he has water all day, I was told
by my breeder to take his water away at that time so that he wouldnt
be drinking it because it was there or else he WOULD be up all night
to go out because he has drank it all night.

In article ,
lablover wrote:
Not sure I understand, why would I want to put bed in my bedroom if he
is more inclined to wake me up?

Bonding, socialization, etc.

Also he has water all day, I was told
by my breeder to take his water away at that time so that he wouldnt
be drinking it because it was there or else he WOULD be up all night
to go out because he has drank it all night.

He may or may not - depends on the dog. The main thing is
that he's a young dog and my bias is that his well-being
trumps your convenience. He'll settle down and you guys
will fall into a comfortable pattern, but in the meantime
adjustments have to be made on both sides. I think 12 hours
is a long time to go without water. It won't kill him but
it's really not good for him, either.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

On Dec 21, 10:00*am, (Melinda Shore) wrote:
In article ,

lablover wrote:
Not sure I understand, why would I want to put bed in my bedroom if he
is more inclined to wake me up? *

Bonding, socialization, etc. *

Also he has water all day, I was told
by my breeder to take his water away at that time so that he wouldnt
be drinking it because it was there or else he WOULD be up all night
to go out because he has drank it all night.

He may or may not - depends on the dog. *The main thing is
that he's a young dog and my bias is that his well-being
trumps your convenience. *He'll settle down and you guys
will fall into a comfortable pattern, but in the meantime
adjustments have to be made on both sides. *I think 12 hours
is a long time to go without water. *It won't kill him but
it's really not good for him, either.
--
* * *Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

* * * Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

I wasnt looking for convience I was looking to see if I would be
hurting him by taking him out of the crate at night. Majority of
books I have read when it comes to potty training a puppy they say to
take his water away prior to him going to bed in a few hours and going
to the bathroom for the last time at night. I was hoping to find some
answers to my concerns

In article ,
(Melinda Shore) wrote:

In article
,
lablover wrote:
Not sure I understand, why would I want to put bed in my bedroom if he
is more inclined to wake me up?

Bonding, socialization, etc.

I'm in full agreement with Melinda here.


Also he has water all day, I was told
by my breeder to take his water away at that time so that he wouldnt
be drinking it because it was there or else he WOULD be up all night
to go out because he has drank it all night.

He may or may not - depends on the dog. The main thing is
that he's a young dog and my bias is that his well-being
trumps your convenience. He'll settle down and you guys
will fall into a comfortable pattern, but in the meantime
adjustments have to be made on both sides. I think 12 hours
is a long time to go without water. It won't kill him but
it's really not good for him, either.


Agree again. I have never restricted water except for actually
overnight. The dogs sleep in the bedroom and I don't keep a water bowl
in there! They have access up to 10 p.m. when we turn in though, and
that is from brand new puppyhood on up. They have all slept through the
night. Of course, I make sure they pee right before we go to bed.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

In article ,
lablover wrote:
I was hoping to find some answers to my concerns

Well, I'm suggesting that you frame how you think about this
in terms of the problem(s) you're trying to solve and the
tools you've got at your disposal rather than trying to use
a recipe. I also added that I think bonding is important
and I think the puppy should sleep in the same room with you
to promote bonding. Your stated objection to that is that
you don't want to be woken up, so I'm not sure why you'd be
surprised that I might construe that to mean that your first
concern is your own comfort. Think about what you actually
wrote.

I think it's worthwhile to try to be at least a little
analytical about what's going on and how to deal with
problems that crop up. It doesn't mean you don't love your
dog (to the contrary, actually) but it does give you better
tools for training and problem solving than just reacting to
everything emotionally.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

In article ,
Janet Boss wrote:
They have all slept through the
night.

If we get up in the night it's because I wake up.

Of course, I make sure they pee right before we go to bed.

Last night for whatever reason the dogs were going out one
at a time. Sheesh. In out in out in out in out in out in
out in ...
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

On 21 Dec 2008 10:35:01 -0500, (Melinda Shore) wrote:


Last night for whatever reason the dogs were going out one
at a time. Sheesh. In out in out in out in out in out in
out in ...

You have my sympathies on that one - the same thing happened here
yesterday.