My new black lab puppy

Question
I just got a 8 week old female black lab. I bought her a kennel and I put her in there at night to sleep. Sometimes throughout the day I will put her in there when I'm at school or work and she's usually fine. But at night she refuses to sleep in there. I've had her for three days now & she has yelped and barked all night. What should I do?

Answer
First, I would be sure to feed her all her meals in there so that she becomes more comfortable with the crate.

When she starts fussing, the best thing to do is to ignore her for a few minutes and see if she quiets down. If she doesn't, throw something at the crate to startle her, like a shoe, and tell her loudly to "BE QUIET!" Praise her quietly as soon as she is quiet. Repeat as needed.

Do be sure that she isn't fussing because she needs to go outside. A eight-week-old will most likely have to still go out during the night at least once. Also be sure that you NEVER let her out when she is crying. She must have stopped for even a split second before you let her out, or you will be rewarding her bad behavior and it will continue to escalate.