[bluelaz]

We collected a 7-9 month old male labrador puppy from a rescue home yesterday. Apparently he was a stray and all were surprised no one had claimed him as all through the day he seemed pretty well trained. He's house trained, obeys a few commands and is ok to walk. Bedtime is a different matter, we have 2 other dogs (cav king charles spaniels) who sleep in the kitchen and we felt he was too boisterous to put in with them so we let him have the lounge. There was a bit of whining and barking to start with but he seemed to accept the situation. Oh no he didn't, probably woke us about 4 times up to 3 in the morning and then we decided to investigate, carnage but to be fair not destruction. Anything he could throw on the floor he had and he'd had a fair bit of fish food as well. We thought we'd try the hall and landing with a light on and that didn't work so I slept downstairs with him which was ok but he doesn't seem to want to sleep much at night, had plenty of walks and play yesterday but obviously we cant let him off the lead yet. Funnily enough after his morning walk he is now sleeping like a baby!

I did an initial internet search and found some stuff from the USA talking about cages which all seemed a bit OTT and letting dogs sleep in the bedrom so can anyone give us some advice:

do we persevere with shutting him in the lounge at night?

is there a better room?

could we put him with the other dogs, he does seem quite fruity with them but assume he thinks he's leader of the pack?

Do we let him sleep in our room?

Do I go and sleep in the car

Also sounds like he might not be too good if we have to go out and leave him.

Any advice greatly received.

 

[treecity]

Personally, I would get a crate.

Sophie is 16 months now and still sleeps in her crate at night (even though we leave the door open now for her). He will feel safe and secure in it and you will have peace of mind.

Look at a crate as a bedroom for him. Put a nice big blanket over it and leave a gap so he can see out at the front. Try and get him used to it during the day by putting some treats in it, toys etc.

Good luck!

 

[_Mary_]

A crate may well be the answer for Dexter, if he`s had a home previously which it sounds like he has he`ll be very insecure to begin with, until he`s used to living with you

Its not OTT to crate him, he may well have had one previously and be used to it, if not it shouldn`t take long to get him used to one, for a fully grown lab you`ll need a 42" and its best to start of with one that size so you don`t have to spend a lot of money moving up in size.

 

[Littlelab]

Welcome to the forum and for taking on a rescue Lab

Time and patience is involved here, firstly, unless you rescued directly from the previous owners you will have no idea what the dog was allowed to do in its previous home, he may very well have been allowed to sleep upstairs on the owners bed.

There are bound to be settling in issues, its a whole new environment, very unsettling for the dog and the only way for him to tell you he is unsettled it to behave as he has.

Yes, you can use a crate, but its not a simple case of buying one then using it first night, job done, you need to introduce the Crate over a few days, letting the dog get used to the idea, particularly if he has not been crated before.

Personally, I would put the Cavvies in the living room and put a baby gate across the doorway or the kitchen rather than shutting the door, that way he doesn't feel isolated.

Don't respond to the crying, you do that and he knows that he is getting attention.

Treat him like you would a puppy, remember those days with your Cavvies? It probably took a week or so for the puppy to get used its sleeping arrangements, be patient.

 

[dollybird]

I would probably try him in with your other dogs at night, certainly if he's spending all day with them. Being alone at night might be quite frightening for him. If he's a bit boisterous in the evenings then you could simply tire him out: give him a lovely long walk and a good feed