Labrador query!! -Please help!

Alicia Angel

I was wondering if anyone can please help! I would really appreciate it! I have a five month old pup and he is absolutely beautiful! Really cute and a beatiful nature!! Actually really well behaved! Im very lucky!

But there is one slight problem- he sleeps in a kennel at night time and I close the door on it. But everynight he poos in the kennel? He gets walked every day and is only fed twice a day, once in the morning and again in the mid afternoon! The kennel is big and on it I have kennel carpet and newspaper- I have tried taking the paper out and he still poos in his bed. I have had other dogs in the past and this has never happened.
Can anyone help???
I would really appreciate it

Arcadian

How long is he locked in the kennel for?

EGAR

He's a pup, what do you expect? Most pups at 5 months would be sorely pushed to be able to hold it all night. Or maybe he is stressed out from being seperated by his *pack*?

bigpinkelephant

He poos in there because he can't hold it. Can you leave the door of it open so he can poo in the garden?

Spica

agree with what everyone else said: a 5 months old pup won't hold till the morning sorry so you have to make arrangements for him to have a place where to go. It's not fair to confine him in space where he has to go in his bed.

dbyrne

you cannot keep the dog in the kennel all night, there is no way they can hold it that long. I have a 4 yr old lab and somethimes he stays in the house at night and even he cant hold it all night.... hes well trained and wines at the door when he wants go. has the run of the full garden but goes in the side of the house where there is concrete. really easy to train if you use newspaper to train them, reward them where they go on the paper etc and move the paper to where you want them to go etc...there is no way a pup can last all night + labs need space. I had a door on the box when i first got him and i never closed it. the dog had great fun pulling the door off and eating it.. seemed to like wood when he was a pup...

Alicia Angel

Cheers for the replies!!

Perhaps- ill leave the door open so! I havent been leaving it open because, I was afraid he would get cold! He has kennel carpet and paper so I suppose he should be grand!!

Hes a great pup- never goes to the toilet in the house and goes for runs on the beach most days- hes great craic.
Befor buying him- people were like- "Lab pups are a nightmare"- mine is really good. He has his wild times, but on the most part- hes fairly chilled out!
How has other labs pup behaved? If you own one!

PurpleBerry

I've had labs before and I agree they are great dogs. I don't know why people tried to warn you off. Few pups will be "a nightmare" if they are treated correctly.

Have you started teaching him any tricks yet?

Alicia Angel

Hey there,

Im actually finding it quite hard to teach him the basics like for instance sitting, giving the paw, etc. Any ideas? I have never had a big dog before, just terriers in the past. They have different temperements completely!!

Any practical tips in training a 5 month old lab would be greatly appreciated.Id love tips from actual lab owners, or people who have had them in the past.

Cheers

dbyrne

ive had labs all my life and i wouldnt swap them for any other type of dog, really freiendly, good tempred, great with kids, can be trained quiet well. there are a few things.
- use 1 word commands sit, place, paw, out, bold, down, heel, etc. sounds mad but if you use more than that it causes problems.
- they can be stubborn, when training them its all about repitition and reward. go out and get some healthy dog chocs/treats. when you want them to sit, make them sit and reward them. repeat over and over, they learn that if they do what they are told they get a treat. slowly then phase the treat out.
- they eat like nothing on earth (even though I had one that you had to stand over and make eat). I have found that labs will eat till they explode, they can get very over weight very quick. With food you must let them know who is boss. you or your partner must the pack leader (i know sounds like the dog whisper but it is true) When you feed them put the bowl down and do not let them get the food until you are ready, make them sit and wait. When you are feeding them stop them and take the bowl off them. move it somewhere else and then let them eat it. this means that you dictate when and where they eat. trust me this is great as it makes you the boss, if you drop something on the floor they wont take it, etc
- they need alot of walking preferably off the lead as they will cover twice the distance on your normal walk by running from side to side, vet told me this years ago and has worked for most dogs ive had

miss no stars

always have a very distinct and unique hand signal for a command. They work better from handsignals than from words.

kerrysgold

Is he in the house during the day? if he's not, it would probably make training him easier since you'd be spending more time with him and could do little bits throughout the day, even giving him a tid bit of food could be an opportunity to get him to "sit" for it, or leaving the room and and getting him to "stay" etc.