We made it through the first night!
 

Okay, so Ruger came home yesterday :) he is 8 weeks and so adorable. Completely different experience from when we brought my previous female GSD home at 9 weeks. He is much more vocal and stubborn than she was. However, I am sure we will bond as time goes on. We are working on bite inhibition and whining right now. I think we have figured out that when he is hungry, he definitely will not calm down!! He acts as if he is dying and the crying sounds like someone is stabbing him! It goes on forever, even though he just ate. So, we broke the rule and gave him a few more kibble a and then he calmed down. We have also discovered that he will cry when he wants to chew. I didn't buy any rawhides as they are my last choice for chewies, but I need to get something. When Elsa was a baby, we gave her frozen venison or beef ribs to chew and it worked like a charm. Numbed the gums for the discomfort, satisfied the need to chew and wore her out! Well, we aren't feeding him raw (my husband hates the inconvenience of it as we travel a lot) so we had to compromise on high quality kibble with egg and salmon oil as a supplement for healthy skin and coat. Now that I have lost my tried and true teething remedy, not sure what to do in it's place. I will go to town today and find something. Any suggestions? We have a Pet Supermarket, PetSmart, and a local mom n pop pet store. Also, is it normal for him to SCREAM in the crate? I tried what I was doing with Elsa and I think it will work. I put him in and step out of view. He starts screaming and I wait. Once he calms down and relaxes, I come back, praise and treat. I take him out and we try again later. I did this 3 times last night and by the third try, he screaming was cut to 2 minutes. As a bonus to help ease his transition, we had our Golden Retriever sleep in the crate with him overnight and his screaming was only the level of a whine and didnt last long. I think the sleep buddy helped. So sorry this is so long. Just trying to get it all out. Thanks for any input, advice....oh, btw, NO accidents yet. We are training with bells at the door, treating and praise. We have eyes on in less in the crate and set the timer for 20 min intervals to go out after eating until he pees and poops. Working great!

We made it through the first night!
 

Take a sock or dish towel soak it in low sodium chicken broth and then twist it and freeze. You can also hide some kibble in the twists I did this for a little but also gave beef and knuckle bones. At the time I was feeding only kibble and he was fine with the raw bones I just would scoop some of the marrow out. Good luck with your pup :) and pictures?!? :wild:

So you think it would be okay to still give frozen bone for him to chew? I think at the mom n pop place I can find some that don't have meat on. They have a freezer/refrigerator with various raw items. I have never fed knuckle bones. Where might I find those? Thanks for the help!! Never thought of the twisted sock idea :)

Btw, do you think it's bad to keep putting the two dogs in the crate together? He has not whined at all today in the crate but I think it's because Chloe is with him. Also, I work full time and want to be sure that I am the one he bonds with the most. However, my daughter is home all day. My fear in her caring for him is that he and I won't really bond. Someone suggested puppy daycare until he can be crated or left for longer periods during the day. (My daughter will only be home like this until August). If I do daycare during the day,I can be with him at night and on weekends. I also have concerns about the consistency that he will be trained and care for. My vet said they have daycare at her facility and that he is not crated all day. They have play time, socialization and a trainer on site who works with the pups that are there during the day. Thoughts??

We survived out first night with our 1.5YO rescue last night. Cried and barked for a bit then went to bed and was quiet for the night. She has not been crate trained, she snapped plastic off the crate when I ran to get gas this morning before our first trip to the vet. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly she settled last night. Good luck with your puppy.