New pup thinks he's a rooster

[hazmat]

New pup thinks he\'s a rooster

Since you've been so helpful with my tractor purchase, maybe you can help me with this "problem".

We've got a new black lab pup. he is three months old now. He is a great dog. Progressing nicely on obedience training. He pretty consistantly wakes up at 4:30-5am. I would be a whole lot happier if he slept an extra hour.

We take his water away at about 8pm. He usually starts settleing down for the night at 9pm. we take him out before we hit the sack at 10:30 - 11pm. He is usuallly awake for play time from 4pm-9pm. Dinner is at 5pm.

I can't figure out if he's hungry (my first guess), lonely (he's crated in the kitchen at night), or needs to do his business (doesn't seem too urgent when I let him out).

We tryed giving him a snack last night at 9pm, then took him for a walk & kept him up till 11. Sure enought this morning, up at 4:30. We tried about three weeks ago keeping him in the bedroom, he woke us up more.

I don't know if I should continue with the snack, try to get him to have an early evening nap or what. Any suggestions?

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Re: New pup thinks he\'s a rooster

I had 3 Labs and a cocker spaniel.When the cocker would start howling the labs would join in to.It would only last about 15 secs didn't matter what time of the day night it was.The other labs died but the cocker still does it and the other one chimes in.I guess you get used to it after time.

 

[PhilNH5]

Re: New pup thinks he\'s a rooster

Hazmat,
The dog has trained YOU to get up at 4:30AM. I had a dog do this to me a few years back. Getting up before dawn for no good reason.

Finally ignored him. Only took 3 days and he stopped getting up that early.

My 2 dogs now have me semi trained. 6 AM sharp they are nuzzling me with cold wet noses to get me up.
But if I am away they let my wife sleep in. They know she won't get up at 6 AM!!

Phil

 

[hazmat]

Re: New pup thinks he\'s a rooster

Phil,

I hadn't thought of that. It has been kind of automatic that when he makes noise, we get up and let him out. He had a few "mistakes" in the crate the first two weeks. Do you think he's big enough now (three months 25#) to tough it out? The housebreaking has gone well so far (he's been doing really well the last week). I'd hate to regress.

We have a 6 year old lab as well. His crate is in the bedroom. If he wakes up too early, I tell him to "lie down, it's not time yet" He'll go back to sleep. He's been known to sleep in untill noon! (after a late night). We always let him out before bed as well.

 

[Thomas]

Re: New pup thinks he\'s a rooster

I don't know if this would be good news or bad news for you.

We have a 4 year old Black lab and it took her about a year or so to grow out of getting up early,now she gets up around 6am..but the cat still and early riser.

 

[Slamfire]

Re: New pup thinks he\'s a rooster

Get him his own door, and sleep in.

 

[butzkeg]

Re: New pup thinks he\'s a rooster

I have a 12 week old black lab, and she'll sleep from 10pm until 6 am in her crate. She's usually not the one to wake up either; I get up for work and let her out when I make it to the living room. On weekends, she'll go to 7-7:30 until someone gets up.

We usually take her food by 6:30pm and the water by 8pm. She seems to handle this fine.

She's doing very well with the housebreaking, as long as it's not raining.

 

[butzkeg]

Re: New pup thinks he\'s a rooster

Phil's got it right though, you'll have to ignore him until you want him to get up. You may have to put up with some noise, but your best bet is to leave him be.

 

[hazmat]

Re: New pup thinks he\'s a rooster

Sounds like a little tough love is called for. Thanks for the input guys.

 

[TonyC]

Re: New pup thinks he\'s a rooster

I have had dogs all my life (I have three now) and these folks are telling you right. Do not let the dog train you! Yes, he's old enough to hold it. If he has a couple of accidents he'll get past them. Scold him when he goes in his crate or he'll think it's okay. Tough love...you gotta be firm especially at first. After all, these are his formative years!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Good luck!

 

[Freds]

Re: New pup thinks he\'s a rooster

Dogs don't like "going" where they sleep. The crate is probably to big for the pup and needs sectioned off. Make sure the pup doesn't see you cleaning the crate and wipe it down with vinegar to get rid of the smell. I wouldn't be happy to see a mess in the crate, but I wouldn't scold the pup either. Chances are he doesn't know why he is being yelled at. Even people have to "go" badly sometimes. If he whines at night, let him out and make sure you go outside with him no matter what the weather. If he "goes" say good boy and put him back in his crate. If he doesn't go or wants to play, just put him back in his crate. Like was already said, don't let him train you, but you have to make the effort to train him and let him know how things are supposed to work at your house even if it means inconvenience. You really can't expect much til they're about 4 months old.

Good luck! They grow up fast.
Fred

 

[hazmat]

Re: New pup thinks he\'s a rooster

Here's an update.

Yesterday morning he woke up at 5am. We let him bark for 5 minutes, he went back to sleep /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif. Got him up at 6am when the alarm goes off.

This morning he was up at 4:50am. After 15 minutes of non stop barking, my fiancee couldn't take it anymore, so I got up & let him out. He pee'd for a long time.

I put him back into the crate and hopped in the shower. He settled back down in 2 minutes.

When he was making the "mistakes" in his crate, it was not too big for him. We borrowed a small crate which he has already grown out of. He couldn't sit up in it w/o bumping his head. We would clean the crate when he soiled it. We never scolded him, because it wasn't his fault.

he is now in a bigger crate & hasn't had any crate mistakes in the last 3 weeks.

It's tough to determine when he transitions from "just a pup, he can't help it" to "he's old enough now to know better". I figure he is nearing the "old enough" stage, but maybe isn't there yet.

I think for now I am going to try ignoring his first noises & trust that if he really needs to go, he'll keep barking. Always putting him back in the crate after he does his business & not letting him out for breakfast or play time untill it suits our schedule.

Thanks for the help. It'd always good to get some outside eyes on a problem to help you troubleshoot.

 

[butzkeg]

Re: New pup thinks he\'s a rooster

Hazmat, sounds like you and the dog are well on the way.

Anybody have any solution for a pup chewing on the kids? She's just playing, and I remember having scratches all over from my dogs when I was a kid. The kids antagonize her by getting her wound up, so we're trying to circumvent that problem. Should we just spray the kids with "Doggie No" spray? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[hazmat]

Re: New pup thinks he\'s a rooster

butzkeg,

That's an easy one. The dog, under no circumstances, is allowed to bite people including their clothing (pant cuffs are a favorite).

When he does try to nip while playing, a firm pinch on the muzzle: thumb and index finger over top of muzzel & bend lip under to squeze against his teeth. (like when you want to get him to open his mouth) is called for. Do it hard enough that he yips in pain. This should be accompianied by a firm NO! or NO BITE!

After the correction, I extend a flat palm & let him lick it (I ask for kisses). I also give him a toy that he can chew on. If he continues after a couple of corrections, play time is over.

This worked very well for the 6 year old lab (Wilson). I have no worries about leaving him alone with children, even infants. He will put up with any amount of wrestling, poking, pulling on hair, ears, & tail. He has been known to give them a big kiss on the face in return!

Now, having said this, it's a little more difficult to get the kids on the same page as you. If your children are big enough, explain to them that it won't be cute when the dog grows up & teach them the correction. If they are too young, I'd suggest supervising play time untill the pup learns her manners.

You may want to try to speed up the dog's education by trying to entice her to nip you & then give the correction.

Another important lesson is to teach the dog to share. She should not be defensive about food, bones, or toys. I've found that randomley taking the food, bone, or toy away (teaching the "drop it" or "give" command at the same time) & returning it to them helps with this. This comes in handy for the adults too, you don't have to worry about getting bitten if the dog steals something she shouldn't have.

Spending a bit of time now will save you lots of headache later. A friend's 1 year old lab still nips because he was let get away with it as a pup. It's not cute anymore when an 80 pound dog is nipping their friends one year old baby.

Sorry to ramble a bit, but it is a pet peeve (no pun intended) of mine to let the dog's get away with stuff like this.

Good luck & I'm sure she will grow into a well mannered dog that will give you & your kids many years of enjoyment & companionship.

 

[butzkeg]

Re: New pup thinks he\'s a rooster

Cool, thanks. My wife and I will have to stick with it. We've done that some, just have to be more consistent.

The dog's doing very well so far. She has the "sit" command down, doing fairly well with "heel", just starting "lay down", and is starting to go "potty" on command. By the time she's 6 month's old hopefully she'll know all the commands. She's 13 weeks now.

Having a pup has been alot more work than I remember. I think it may have something to do with having 2 and 5 year old boys too.

 

[hazmat]

Re: New pup thinks he\'s a rooster

"Having a pup has been alot more work than I remember. I think it may have something to do with having 2 and 5 year old boys too."

I hear you there. It's harder than I remember too, and I don't even have any kids! I think we let ourselves forget how hard it is once the pup becomes the well loved family pet.

Kind of like having a kid, who would want to have another after all the painful birth, sleepless nights & all those diapers?

In any case, the hard work will pay off.