Hi there!
I will be bringing home my boy in just under two weeks and I'm so excited. He is a White GSD whom I've already named Winchester and I'm happily nesting in preparation for his arrival. I'm taking off two weeks from work to help transition him to our home, but I will be going back to work full time as of January. My goal is to use crate training as a tool until he is house trained and able to have run of the place while I'm gone during the day. I also have three kids, two cats an a hubs. So it will be a full house he is coming into!
Admittedly I've not been a puppy mom in many many many many years... and I've not owned a GSD before. My hubs is former law enforcement so he is familiar with the breed and adores them. So far, our game plan is to make sure puppy gets a good 45 minute run/romp in the morning, another short one before leaving for work. Initially he will be crated for a few hours and I'll come home and spend about 30 minutes or so with him at lunch time, and then someone will be home from about 3pm onward. Evenings will have another 45 minute run/romp and lots of play time! I say run/romp because I know he shouldn't be really "running" hard at his age - but I basically mean that will be dedicated exercise time that will increase as his needs do.
We are investing heavily in his training (I live in an area that is ripe with working dogs used for security - so our training resources are amazing and plentiful) and I've been researching lots about the appropriate time to neuter etc. I'm going into this with eyes wide open knowing that puppies are HARD HARD work. I know the first few months (especially as we both work full time) are going to be challenging. But I'm also really looking forward to our new family member.
My biggest hang-up right now is the crate training, actually. I start a new job in January (I know the timing is not perfect, but it is just sort of out of my control). So while I'm hopeful that popping home at lunch will not be an issue - I'm worrying a little bit about it. I've read that kenneling (ie: leaving him in a puppy safe area with puppy pads for doing his business, etc., vs. a crate is an option, but I don't know if it will mess with crating him in the evenings? Or maybe I don't need to stress about crating and keep him to the puppy safe area? This is the one area that I'm torn on. I plan on discussing with our trainer (who is coming over to meet the puppy early on), but would welcome any feedback from seasoned owners that also worked FT and had a puppy.
I *did* try to search on the forum - but there were a lot of responses such as "well I am lucky that I can take them to work with me" or "well I pop in during lunch", lol. Either of those would, of course, be ideal. But I'm wanting to make sure I have a plan in place for *not* being able to pop home at lunch. I'm so sketched out by having a stranger come over, unlock my house and take my dog out, hahahaha.
<3
I will be bringing home my boy in just under two weeks and I'm so excited. He is a White GSD whom I've already named Winchester and I'm happily nesting in preparation for his arrival. I'm taking off two weeks from work to help transition him to our home, but I will be going back to work full time as of January. My goal is to use crate training as a tool until he is house trained and able to have run of the place while I'm gone during the day. I also have three kids, two cats an a hubs. So it will be a full house he is coming into!
Admittedly I've not been a puppy mom in many many many many years... and I've not owned a GSD before. My hubs is former law enforcement so he is familiar with the breed and adores them. So far, our game plan is to make sure puppy gets a good 45 minute run/romp in the morning, another short one before leaving for work. Initially he will be crated for a few hours and I'll come home and spend about 30 minutes or so with him at lunch time, and then someone will be home from about 3pm onward. Evenings will have another 45 minute run/romp and lots of play time! I say run/romp because I know he shouldn't be really "running" hard at his age - but I basically mean that will be dedicated exercise time that will increase as his needs do.
We are investing heavily in his training (I live in an area that is ripe with working dogs used for security - so our training resources are amazing and plentiful) and I've been researching lots about the appropriate time to neuter etc. I'm going into this with eyes wide open knowing that puppies are HARD HARD work. I know the first few months (especially as we both work full time) are going to be challenging. But I'm also really looking forward to our new family member.
My biggest hang-up right now is the crate training, actually. I start a new job in January (I know the timing is not perfect, but it is just sort of out of my control). So while I'm hopeful that popping home at lunch will not be an issue - I'm worrying a little bit about it. I've read that kenneling (ie: leaving him in a puppy safe area with puppy pads for doing his business, etc., vs. a crate is an option, but I don't know if it will mess with crating him in the evenings? Or maybe I don't need to stress about crating and keep him to the puppy safe area? This is the one area that I'm torn on. I plan on discussing with our trainer (who is coming over to meet the puppy early on), but would welcome any feedback from seasoned owners that also worked FT and had a puppy.
I *did* try to search on the forum - but there were a lot of responses such as "well I am lucky that I can take them to work with me" or "well I pop in during lunch", lol. Either of those would, of course, be ideal. But I'm wanting to make sure I have a plan in place for *not* being able to pop home at lunch. I'm so sketched out by having a stranger come over, unlock my house and take my dog out, hahahaha.
<3