New baby - 2 questions

[pufff]

We will be bringing home a new puppy in three weeks when he will be nearly 8 weeks old. I have been reading all I can but have a couple of questions (so far!)

I am confused about walking. I have read the "5 minutes walking on the lead for every month over 3 months" thing, but is that 5 minutes once a day, twice a day, three times a day.....?

Crates- Does everyone use them these days? My only other dog has been a golden retriever. I never crated him and he was easy to house-train and never chewed anything except those things which we were careless enough to leave lying around. Since then I have acquired an expensive new kitchen.....

Any advice appreciated! Thanks!

 

[CrazyCharlie]

First off Congrats on bringing your new ball of wrinkles home soon!!!

As for walking, when I got Charlie, I pretty much just let him run around the yard til he was tired and would play with him until he was tired, never pushing him further than he wanted to go, but until he would give up and want to nap. I got Charlie when he was 11 weeks though so there will be a big difference in your new pups energy level than there was with Charlie. Yours will probably nap more often.

As for crating. Charlie was not crate trained and he did great as long as I was consistant and frequent with taking him outside to potty. He also never chewed anything but his toys. But he sleeps in bed with us.....80lbs of non-moveable boxer just keep that in mind. This is of course my fault because I would let him sleep with me when he was a baby so I knew when he wanted to get up in the mornings.

Our mutt on the other hand was crate trained and she also did great, never messed in her crate, unless she had an upset tummy from eating something she shouldn't......she chewed everything unlike Charlie ....LOL.

Now, just so you know with crate training, some dogs LOVE the crate and its their little "safe zone" other dogs (like Charlie) REFUSE with all their being to go in a crate or anything that resembles a crate.

Good luck!!

 

[Cami]

That would be 5 minutes at any one stretch so in the am for however many minutes, than again around lunchtime, afternoon, etc....would be fine. You won't want to do any leash walking outside of YOUR yard to limit exposure to other dogs and illness which your pup won't be protected against until he has been vaccinated.
To get him used to the leash, walking around your yard will be fine. It is more of forced exercise, meaning you are going to walk for longer distances at a steady pace and your pup won't have a chance to stop and rest for a bit. He will be perfectly capable of going for MUCH LONGER but it just isn't good for them when they are so small. We have to "police" their activity since Boxers don't know what that means!
I've used a crate and my girl Cami did well and was crate free by 9 months of age never once destroying anything that wasn't hers.
I attempted the crate again with Raine who didn't fare as well and we found that keeping her in the kitchen was a much better option for her. The crate was still there and she would go in it but door remained unlatched.
I would always try the crate just to save your possessions from getting damaged and to also keep the pup safe when they couldn't be supervised.
Crating works more often than not!