sleeping

Question
QUESTION: I have a 13 week old female lab.  She is very smart and is close to being potty trained.  We use a crate at night but have to take her out about every three hours throughout the night.  Is this normal or should we be forcing her to hold it longer?  At What age can we expect her to sleep all night?

ANSWER: YOU are a wonderful puppy owner AND very smart!  Most people don't realize that they can't expect a puppy this young to go all night without being taken out and many people are too lazy to do it!  Kudos.

The female is less able to contain urine for very long hours than is the male (pressure of uterus on bladder).  At about 16 weeks of age, you can begin to expect this puppy to go longer than three hours (perhaps as many as five to six) so long as she does not awaken.  DO NOT interact with this puppy when you take her out: don't make eye contact, don't talk to her, don't pet her, etc., just take her out and reward her elimination; this will lessen the reward factor and make it less likely that she will become trained to awaken within a few hours.  But should she awaken at the three hour mark anyway (which may happen), ignore it for an additional 30 minutes and slowly get her on the five hour schedule. By 20 weeks, she should be able to easily hold her urine overnight (so long as she is not anxious), and this means eight hours.

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QUESTION: Is there an easy way to leash train my Labrador and at what age should I start?  She loves to go for walks and gets excited when she sees her leash but she is all over the place when walking and sometimes she will start running.

Answer
Use a body harness (NOT a neck collar), as a sudden jerk in such a young puppy can harm her developing bones (neck, spine, etc.)  The harness will also make it more difficult for her to attempt to pull you along.  Bring a toy with you (special squeaky object); if she becomes over excited, squeak the toy to get her to your side, then praise her and stop for a second.  Use the toy to divert her from the insane puppy jitters but don't expect her to walk alongside you as a mature dog would, that has to be trained.  Go to ClickerTraining.com and learn about positive reinforcement training.  This puppy is at a perfect age to begin short (a few minutes at a time) multiple training sessions.  The more she learns, the smarter she will become and the more control she will have (and you will have.)