I am getting a puppy on Saturday (I am so excited).  Does anyone have any advice?  The last time I had a dog was...way to many years ago.

What are everyone's view on Crate training?  We never did that and my mother has gotten puppies after I was long & gone and never did that either.  So I don't know much about it.  My husband is against it.

Any advice would be great!

Thanks in advance.

Oh believe me, he will get lots of love & attention! 

Oh, I always hated the idea of crate training until I caught my last puppy eating power cords.  I raced to the pet store, him in tow, to get a crate.  Although it didn't help with housebreaking, with him, it did provide him with a safe comfortable bed.  I put a doggie bed in there for him.

The only problem is, I now have this huge crate in my family room and cannot get rid of it  It is his bedroom.  We have removed the door and it is open all the time.  That is his quiet place or den.  When we adopted our other dog, he was crate trained and was lost without one, so we got him one too.  We did, ultimately get rid of his crate, but we set up a bed for him underneath the pinball machine in the family room.  For some reason he loves it under there, so we created his den there.  He loves it.

So, from a former anti crate person, I say crate train.  I never used it for punishment, it was only to keep him safe.  It worked and I feel so much better about crating.

Good luck with your new pup.  I wish you many long, happy years together.   

Definitely crate training  My last shelter dog was crate trained and she still goes in it to sleep all the time. That's her safe place and it's the best way to train them.

Forest is 3 months old and is a Golden Cream Retriever.  I can't wait to pick him up on Saturday.  My husband came home today after being out of town for the last few days and I had all the things I bought Forest on the living room floor.  I saw him pull up so I brought my laptop and put it next to all the goodies as I have Forest's as my desktop pic!  He said I can tell you will be spoiling this little guy.  I will see how the 1st week goes without the crate.  My hubby is leaving next Saturday (13th) for about 2 weeks or so, if I find I am having a hard time I will go out and purchase a crate.

Once again thank you for your advice.

 

I'm so glad you are enjoying Forest and it sounds like he's doing  good so far. I am a dog lover so I enjoy reading about them.

Forest is doing great.  Yes there are a few things that bug the heck out of me  but like my husband (who is not at home to help) says "he is just a puppy"  I hope I survive all this (maybe I am just too old).

Tomorrow he goes to the vet.  He was approximately 25 pounds when we got him.  The neighbors the last two days said "What the heck are you feeding him?"  I guess he is getting big!

Thanks again for all the advice

Maybe you can post a picture of Forest. I bet he is so cute. I have to say my hubby helps me with my 2 dogs but I think it has something to do with me training him lol.

I sooo feel your pain!  We adopted a black lab/chow mix on August 10 and he will be 4 months old 10/18.  We didn't have any major problems until about a month ago when the chewing, chewing, chewing began in earnest!  Indiana Jones (Indi for short) loves my 4 year old sons shoes best and all y'all with kids can imagine how awful, smelly and dirty those four year old boys shoes are, blech!  Indi has always had plenty of chew toys and raw hide but shoes are the favorite afternoon snack.  We had a few cord incidents, he ate my MP3 USB charging cable and my husbands cell phone charger but nothing (that we have found!) since I smacked his little butt when I saw him going for the computer cable.  We also debated crate training but were concerned about where we would put it and the crate not becoming a huge obstacle.  We still had our kiddie gates and decided to just lock him in the kitchen at night or whenever he needed to calm down and that has seemed to work well so far, except for the night he somehow climbed over the gate. . .we are still trying to figure out how he did it.  We still have a few accidents but for the most part he is a great dog, knows to sit, stay and is learning to shake.  Hope Forest is doing well and I apologize but how many times have you said, "Run Forest, Run!"  LOL   

CIN =  face cause I don't know how to make photo smaller to post!

DRGN = Not saying "run forest run"  at this time, saying "Mr gump get over here!"  He is doing better on the shoes (well kinda, likes his daddy's shoes (think he is making the designer shoes)).  Isn't it funny how it takes awhile before the bad side comes shining through?

Complete = nothing wrong, he is just testing my nerves (and god only knows all the grandkids took them away).

Love the little guy and he is a joy to have around!