How can I get my black lab puppy to sleep at night?
Congrats on rescuing your dog! Six month old labs a handful – she’s a high-energy teenager now, and needs structure, consistency and patience. And she needs to be worn out with exercise and training! 1. Do crate train her. Note – don’t just throw her in a crate! TRAIN her – it’ll take some time. The benefits are tremendous. 2. Don’t get up with her at 4am. Ignore her pleas until you want to get up. She’ll try extra hard to get you up ( this is a behavior’s “extinction burst”) but if you finally give in to her, it’ll just reinforce the barking ten-fold. Get up when you want, not when she wants. 3. Exercise her first thing in the morning, afternoon and night. 4. Ask you shelter for the names of trainers. They have a vested interest in you keeping the dog, so they’ll help you train her. Have patience — this is a challenging age, but your hard work now will help you have a wonderful, well-behaved pet for years to come. I only gave you a tidbit of info – there’s an abundance of advice out
