Hi Guys,

I now have my GSD Pup, he is called Nando and is 9 weeks old. He is settling into life at home very well and he's a really lovely, balanced pup. He is attached to me like velcro, as at the moment I am the only one in the house (parents are on holiday) so we have bonded a lot. I picked him up from his breeder on Monday.

I'm crate training him and at the minute we have bed times down OK. He will bark/yap for about 10 minutes (reduced down from 30.) However ANY other time he is in his crate I feel as though he doesn't stop barking the whole time I'm out the house. The neighbours said he did it for about 30 minutes and then would do it randomly throughout the period I'm away. (Not any longer than an hour and a half or so.)

Currently I have a toy that is similar to a kong, but has spikes on it. He only ever gets in his crate and is taken away unless he is in his crate except for half an hour or so to get him excited by it to begin with. I did begin stuffing it but he still hasn't figured it out yet so instead I've been leaving it empty. When I leave him I just say 'Go to bed' and point him to his crate, which he happily gets in. When I come home I don't open the door until he's ceased barking and all four paws are on the floor of the crate. I let him straight outside and try not to give him any interaction whatsoever, however when he demands attention by jumping etc, as puppies do, I am sure I am giving him at least some attention in his eyes but it is next to impossible without allowing him to mouth at my shoes and grab my trousers.

Is there anything I should stop doing, or anything I should be doing to get him more calm in the crate? I have always done this method with previous pups however it was quite a while ago and I can't remember if they'd stopped at this point. Maybe I am expecting too much, but I just don't want him to develop something like separation anxiety when I leave him, and I feel as though being alone with him a lot of the time might be re-enforcing this sort of behaviour.

I think you're expecting FAR too much for a 9 week old pup to be able to be left alone for an hour and a half after just 4 days with you. I'd start with 5 minutes and build it up by no more than 5 minutes a day. He needs to be really tired when put in the crate and left, or have something very interesting to do -like a raw meaty bone to chew or a stuffed Kong. If you stuff it with something like cream cheese he should take no time at all to work out what to do without giving up.

Thanks for the advice. I will try him with cream cheese. Unfortunately the hour and a half was unavoidable whilst my parents are away as I had to make an unplanned trip to my Niece's nursery to pick her up.

Agree with previous postee(Goldmali) that your expecting alot, as you have only had the pup since Monday. It's good not to let the pup out of cage, as soon as you walk through the door but to make sure all 4 feet are on the floor is in my opinion asking alot at this stage. It seems that your not rewarding good behaviour(ie once the barking has stopped) by interacting with it, it is natural that a pup will be pleased to see you this would be the same as it would do with it's mother/siblings. The pup is being extra good by going into the cage when it is told & it must know that the cage is not a place where it has to stay..by this I mean somewhere to go, that is a nice place to go into.

All four of his paws have to be on the floor otherwise he comes tumbling through the door when I open it! LOL. That isn't me being fussy just me being practical after realising he doesn't 'get down' from the side quick enough to stop himself falling! I will make more of an effort to make a fuss of him when he is quiet. Thanks for the advice!

Dont worry Brooke falls out of her cage in excitment then it dosent matter if I ignore her or not usually jumps up at me with all four paws in the air :)then contiues bouncing out into the garden to wee

Hi Josh, your title says you need reassurance but don't forget that is exactly what your puppy needs too.  I know it can seem as if you spend every waking moment with the puppy but to some degree this is exactly what's needed.  If a puppy never learns to fret about your absence it will find it's feet and develop confidence much more quickly.

Never attempt to put the pup in the crate unless it is tired, empty and ready for a kip - otherwise you simply teach it to shout.  Ideally you want to be able to tell the difference between 'hello, I'm awake now can I get up and have a pee' and "Oi don't leave me here, let me out I am bored".  If you put the pup to bed for regular sleep sessions at fixed times (usually after food and a play) the pup will get used to the fact that the crate is for sleeping.  It doesn't hurt to hang around til he nods off though.  Load the dishwasher, read the paper etc til he's giving it Zzzzz's!

When you let him out of the crate, call him straight into the garden and wait til after he has wee'd before greeting him.

When you are at home with a puppy all day make sure that you ignore him sometimes, after his basic needs have been met give him some space and some toys to entertain himself and read the paper whilst he skids about the floor in a box or plays with a chew toy.  Don't leave him unattended if he can get into trouble (with some toys) but there's no need to lavish attention all the time.  There are plenty of opportunities to leave him for a few minutes at a time and that's all good - just don't leave him for too long.  He'll soon learn that you go out and come in all the time and that it's nothing to worry about - a closed door is not the end of the world!

In the early days never leave the pup for too long - in your situation I think I'd have chosen to take the pup with me (to collect your niece).  He could have a trip in the car and it's preferable to allowing him to get distressed and undo all your good work.

Oh and welcome to Nando - a new CD pup :)