Kingdom of Pets

Posted by sally-claytonbartlett
Oct 24, 2007

We ve had bonny our 6 month old lab for about 4 months
i've had problems trying to house train her as i work full time.
I asked for advise at work with some people who have dogs.
I was told to take her to bed and put her bed at the side of my bed, so when she awoke she would wake me so i could take her out.
Great it worked the problem now is she's been waking me up every 2 hours by pawing and licking me. She gets let out for a very small wee or the other
No problem but i'm shattered she now doesn't like being left outside or inside on her own as she now barks! and to top it all, she is still having wee's and the other if she's in the house in the day time, even if we are there. Please help!!

Posted by eyeluvdogs
Oct 25, 2007

Hi there....have you ever considered crate training your dog? Crate training is a great way of teaching your dog to start holding her bladder. At 6 months old she should be able to hold on all night, and definitely won't need to go every two hours.

I recommend that you remove all water a couple of hours before bedtime, so that when you take your dog out just before you go to bed, she will not have a chance to have another drink and fill up her bladder overnight.

Put your dog in her bed or crate, and if she wakes up in the night, give her a command to "Get into Bed" and place her back into her bed. If you use this command often enough, she will start to understand. If you are not convinced that she can hold her bladder right through the night just yet, you could get up once in the night to let her out. If you are consistent, then hopefully your dog will start to realise that you are not going to get up to let her out, and that she will need to go back to sleep. The benefit of using a crate is that she is not able to get out of bed, and she is also not able to wander to another part of the house to relieve herself.

I hope this helps.

Posted by mpq
Feb 5, 2008

I also have a black lab. Buddy is a rescue we adopted at 6 months, and he is now 1 year. Buddy is the first dog I have crate trained, and it is a remarkable training tool.
First, have you had your dog checked for infections? That can make a dog pee more often than necessary. My Buddy pees when he gets overly excited, so I make friends/family members greet him outside.
One of the best tools is to keep your dog on a feeding schedule. I am not sure everyone will agree with me, but when Buddy first came, I even kept his water up, but I offered it very frequently, letting him out the same door each time he went out. I had to teach Buddy to ask to go out. He did not know to go to the door and bark.
If you decide to use a crate, please read the tips on crate training. You want him to love his crate, (his very own room). Whenever I go to a certain box of treats, Buddy runs up to his crate and waits inside for his treat! He has his favorite toys/ chews in there for any daytime, but nighttime it is strictly his bed and blankets. His crate is next to my bed.
Your message really touched my heart. I love black labs. Buddy is my second.
They can be difficult puppies, but are wonderful dogs. Worth all the puppy nonsense.

My 6 month old black lab and the toilet training