3 am

[Trip]

I recently bought a 10 week old lab. I'm currently house - breaking her but it's been a long time since I owned a puppy so I'm a bit"rusty"

I hope you guys could help me on a couple of issues.

1. is it normal for a puppy to release her bowels 4 times a day?

2. how or can I stop her from going in the small hours of the morning?

I don't have a crate so she just sleeps next to my bed in a basket. Usually she gets up at 3 am to do her business so I have to get out of bed and take her outside. I have not experienced this with my other dogs and I'm kinda hesitant about getting her a crate 'coz I'm afraid she might soil it. That and my wife hates it too.

Any ideas. Thanks in advance =)

[Dawn]

You should really consider getting a crate. It will be much easier on you and your dog. As long as the crate's the right size, she will not have any accidents in it. It should be big enough for her to stand in, lay down, and just big enough for her to turn around.

[sarbh21]

With my puppies we started out crate training them. It is a safe place for your dogs to be when your not at home, or when your sleeping. Puppies are like kids, and they can get into anything. As for soiling there crate most puppies don't do that as long as there not in there for an extreme amount of time. You could also try placing the crate in your bedroom so the pup can still cry for you if he really really has to potty. Crate traing is an effective way to get your pup on a potty schedule. Also when they get older they can always sleep with you then. My pups sleep with us at night now and I rarley have any problems and still when it thunders real loud they will sit in there crates with the door open and sleep.

[DogExpert]

How much do you feed him? The case maybe that you are feeding him to much and he has to go. Do you let him out before you go to sleep? If you don't you should consider on doing so. This will hopefully lower the risk of him having accidents in the morning.