Getting a blue pup in sept

glocke12 · Puppy Joined: 26 Aug 2008 Posts: 34

Hey All,

I am getting an 8 week old female blue pup in september. I plan on taking two weeks off from work to bond with the dog, and do some housebreaking and crate training. After that, Ill be at work from around 8-5. The puppy will be crated during that time, and I am going to be making arrangements to have someone come on at lunch to walk her.

Any special advice for training my new puppy?

How soon can I start taking her to obeideience classes?

weimarmom · Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 5:05 pm Post subject:

Welcome and congrats on your soon to be new addition. I have a blue female too. I don't have any answers for you about training but the best thing to do is love her. Very Happy

PamK · Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 5:38 pm Post subject:

I started training after the last round of shots. Its much safer for the puppy.

Please post pictures. We love pics.

kjnewk · Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 5:47 pm Post subject:

Welcome!

In my opinion, training is all about consistency and positive reinforcement of good behaviors. That's what worked for us...using consistent terms for what you want and praise, praise, praise. Very Happy

kcolsey · Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 7:47 pm Post subject: congrats!

How exciting! Your new pup will be a wonderful addition to your life. There is a lot of information about crate training and so much more on this site that will be incredibly helpful.

Keep in mind...It will be a very long day for your young pup in the crate from 8 - 5. The more people you can get to let your pup out of the crate during the day the better. When my pup was that young, I learned that young puppies should not be left for more than 2 hours at a time in a crate. Good luck!

glocke12 · Puppy Joined: 26 Aug 2008 Posts: 34

Well, I definietly have someone who can come in once between 8-5. I dont think I can find anyone to come in more than that.

Instead of crating for that amount of time, would I be better off making a larger area for the puppy to spend that amount of time in ? Like sectioning off part of a room for the puppy?

luana80it · Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:27 pm Post subject:

welcome

freespiritmom · Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:14 pm Post subject:

Welcome from Texas.

kcolsey · Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:36 pm Post subject: crate training

Hopefully other people will give you their opinions about crate training for that long period of time. In preparation, read a lot about crate training puppies. There is so much information about how to crate train on this site and in books, the Internet, etc. Since you will be home with the puppy for two weeks first, I would recommend beginning crate training from day 1, starting with very brief periods of time. Not all puppies are easy to crate train and some are very difficult! Evil or Very Mad

My puppy is now 10 months old and I got her when she was 8 weeks old. I was also home with her for about 2 weeks before I had to go to work. However, when I did go back to work, I made arrangements to have a dog walker, friends, neighbors and my family take the puppy out every two hours. It definitely is not easy, but it is very important. The purpose of this is to prevent the puppy from eliminating in the crate. Once a puppy gets used to eliminating in the crate, it makes crate training and housebreaking so much more difficult. A young puppy simply can't hold it for more than a few hours.

As far as sectioning off a room for the puppy, I'm not sure that is a good solution because puppies get into absolutely everything. Some weims will chew everything in sight and you may be shocked by what you come home to. Besides that, it may not be safe for the puppy to be confined in a room...wires, cords, outlets, etc.

You have some time before your puppy arrives and before you will have to return to work, so I would say you should try to get a plan together. Get feedback from others because they may have ideas about how to make your situation work.

momofZaneandWyatt · Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 10:28 am Post subject:

Welcome from Nebraska...Enjoy the board! All the people here have some wonderful advice, and stories to share...

Shannon, Bill and Wyatt

SirSilver · Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 11:01 am Post subject:

Welcome to the forum! This place is a lifesaver.

We got our pup at 8 weeks (he's 5 months now) and he was crated from 8-5 the third day we got him and pretty consistently from then on, with a dogwalker in at lunchtime. He's now great in the crate and training him was not a problem...but I know a lot of folks on here have different stories!! I don't know if you have a neighbor close by, but we ended up getting to know our neighbor and her dog, and she's always willing to stop by to let Calvin out to play with her pup - wears them both out!!

Good luck!

glocke12 · Puppy Joined: 26 Aug 2008 Posts: 34

sirsilver,

so you had no major problems crating from 8-5 with someone coming in once? thats good to hear...

to say I am excited is an understatement. I saw a six month old blue puppy over the weekend, and they are just simply amazing looking dogs. It seemed like a very well behaved puppy also, of course it was out in public so was probably on his best behavior.

3 weeks to go!

SirSilver · Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 12:53 pm Post subject:

Yup, no major problems with either potty- or crate-training. I will say that I have what appears to be an unusually calm Weim! But he was crated at night from day one as well, so he got used to the situation quickly. What he does NOT like is to be in the crate while I'm home - but if I actually leave the house, he does just fine.

I did the crate-training backwards, ie, I didn't ease him into the crate situation at all, it was just boom! in there for the day right off the bat. Luckily he is very easygoing - you will have to see what temperament your baby has and adjust accordingly...

Aces-Wild · Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 2:42 pm Post subject: