Sorry this post is so long. I don't really know what I'm doing. Life with Suzzie is in some ways getting easier/better and in other ways not so much. I'm looking for some advice on how to improve my life with her. Here's how my day goes:

I get up and do my breakfasty things around 7am. About 7:30 or 8, I take Suzzie out on a walk (potty first). This is a fairly brisk walk (with a pinch collar) for about a mile or mile and a half. When we get home, I fix her some breakfast and she eats it in her crate (which is in my office).

From about 8 or 8:30 on my goal is to work in my office. I'm a freelancer and bill by the hour for my work. Of course, one of my goals for having a new dog is to help encourage me to get up from my desk and do active things like take walks. She's definitely doing that!

So she eats in her crate and then usually stays in there some after she finishes. She'll bark and whine but eventually settle down. Some days this is very short, others requires earplugs/headphones to ignore her. Somewhere mid-morning we go outside to go potty again. We'll pretty much come straight back down to my office where I'll spend a few minutes (hopefully just prior to where she gets bored) marker training with her.

I have cleared and re-cleared my office several times puppy-proofing it. Right now it has my desk, a small table for the printer, trash can, large pillow (from a papasan chair), her crate, and a few toys in it. Pretty much everything else is out. So after we marker train for a bit, I let her out in my office. I give her toys to play with, but pick them back up after. She has some recreational bones I give her; also some bully sticks. I've got the everlasting treat ball, some cheap rope tugs, and some kongs.

She'll roam around my office looking for things I haven't put away. She'll try to chew on the carpet; but that's mostly stopped (or quickly stoppable by me). She'll play with the pillow (crawling under it, throwing it around, etc). She'll play with the toys I give her. I've got a rope/bungee chord that I can tie toys to for her to pull on.

All of that lasts about 15 - 20 minutes. During that time I'm pretty distracted. I'd like to be working, but I'm constantly worried what she's doing. She'll eventually get bored and start barking at me and herding/healing me by biting/nipping my triceps from behind! ouch! She'll chew on my desk chair; jump up on it; get behind me and nip at my chair. All this commotion shortly after we've just been outside. When it's clear she won't settle down in my office I'll go to put her in her crate. When I do this, she'll cower from me in the far corner of the office. It makes me feel like she really doesn't want to go back in her crate. She'll fuss and then settle down.

I've got a daily 12pm phone call with a client and I really don't want her all barky while I'm on it. So about 11 I start wrapping up what I'm doing and try to take her outside at about 11:30 for a quick walk or some exercise in the backyard. Back to my office for the 12:00 call with her in the crate. Sometimes that works, sometimes not. Sometimes she'll be frustrated we didn't stay out longer. When that happens either I have to leave my office for the call or put her out in the backyard (mostly) unsupervised. That's when she tore up my Camilla plant.

After my call (which is about 20 minutes or so), I'll take a break for the day. I'll fix myself some lunch and take her out for more exercise and some marker training. Then back to the office for more work. The afternoon is more of the same from the morning. The constant tension of keeping her in her crate or trying to let her out in my office. In the afternoon I'll let my oldest take her to the backyard and play. That goes pretty well, but only really lasts about 20 minutes before they're both done. Still, Suzzie is restless another 10 - 20 minutes later.

After work Suzzie and I go in the backyard where I putz around with my garden. She'll mostly follow me around or play with the kids if they happen to be out. I'll fix her dinner and put her back in her crate. I'll stay upstairs with the family while she's in her crate. After it cools down more we'll go out for another walk and then back in her crate while the wife and I enjoy some time while kids are getting ready for bed/going to bed. Just before I head to bed, I take Suzzie out of her crate for a potty run. That's at about 10:30pm or so.

In summary, Suzzie does pretty OK in her crate. Sometimes she gets restless and it's very noisy when she does. I typically take her on two 1 - 1.5 mile walks a day. We do a couple to three short marker training sessions a day. I fill and freeze kongs about every two or three days (not in habit of refilling/freezing them right away). I get her some recreational bones/bully sticks; but those don't last too long.

What I want is her to be able to be out of her crate during the day not acting crazy. I feel a little guilty about how much time she spends in the crate. I need to know if crating her so much is OK, how I can burn more of her mental energy, and how to survive with this high energy dog!

No tethering? That would eliminate part of the problem. (Tethering to you.)

I'd probably up the potty trips and get her crated elsewhere when not tethered to you and insert short marker sessions every time I could.

Puppy experts: Is a game of fetch on grass OK with a 5-month-old puppy?

If it is, I would start teaching "Give" inside, often, throughout the day, using the fetch item. The I'd backchain/teach "fetch."

OK so the only question I have is WHY does she have to be in your office? Put her crate in another room so you can relax and get your work done. Puppies thrive on being able to bug people. If you aren't there to bug, she'll learn to relax, work on her frozen kong, and sleep.

You are giving her plenty of breaks, attention, walks and playtime. When she is in her crate, she can certainly be all by herself in another room. Heck, I work at an office, so my dogs have to be alone in the house for at least part of the day. They are just fine

My puppy was so unbearable at that age I wondered why anyone would want to have a puppy! He's 1 1/2 now and much better.

Edit: give her an opportunity to run (not just walk) if you can once a day. Fetch is a great idea, as it is very easy to monitor the activity level and whether she is tiring. Train her the retrieve and play with her till she's panting. (But not slowing down or laying down at all). It will take the edge off.

Re: Connie. She's not tethered to my physically. She's on a leash whenever she's out of my office though and that leash is in my hand. The only leash I have at the moment is a 20' cotton lead line. It's been chewed through a couple times and has knots in it. These knots tend to get hung up at various times, so I take the lead off when she's in my office. I'd love to get the buddy system, but accounts receivable is a little high at the moment and actual cash on hand is low. Even still, I'm not sure how tethering would improve things. If she were out of her crate and tied to me she'd still be nipping at me and barking. BTW, my office is like 9x12 or so.

Re: Angela. So what I hear you saying is to move her crate out of my office and just leave her in it about as much as I do now. Don't try to have her out in my office yet. My wife has on and off suggested the same thing. I'm not sure where to put her crate that the kids (particularly the 2yro) will leave her alone. I should probably spend more time thinking about this though. Maybe the dream of having a dog companion in my office with me during the day is still a year or so away.

Edit: we haven't gotten fetch down yet. I'm just now getting to where she will "take it" to pick things up. She'll chase stuff, but when she gets there she just stops. Most of our backyard play consists of kicking a soccer ball and letting her chase it and pounce on it. Pretty similar to fetch without the actual retrieve.

I too work from home, and have a six month old puppy. Based on what you described, I don’t think I would get any work done at all!

Hav’s crate is in the garage (we also have one in the living room and bedroom but he spends more time in the garage). We get up and play, do the potty thing, and then when it is time for me to “go” to work, he goes in his garage crate for a long nap. Around 11:00, we play, either in the house or back yard and get nice and tired, then back to his crate. After work, he is typically out quite a bit and we do our training, walks, family time, etc. FYI, He gets about four potty breaks during the day, and a couple in the evening.

I would love to have him chill in the office with me, and on some days, I will give him a bone to chew on in here with me and allow him to be successful in here for 20 min or so. I say successful because he is being low key, staying in one spot, and having quiet time with me working, just how I want him to behave. After he is done and starts to get restless, I take him out for a quick play time, and back in his crate.

 Quote: Doug Alcorn

Don't try to have her out in my office yet. Maybe the dream of having a dog companion in my office with me during the day is still a year or so away.

Right. She's only a baby. Babies and kids like to play. Sleep is booooring espeically when you have your human playmate right there doing something that looks boring. Obviously, you'd rather be playing than working RIGHT? RIGHT???

She's mentally right around where your two-year-old is. Would your two-year-old be expected to sit quietly for an hour? Not unless it's nappy time and they're in their crib, right?

You have the same problem I did - expecting adult behaviour from a puppy. Wait till she starts teething...........

Doug, I'm rushing (working at home where I have multiple ADULT dogs in the same room .... lol), but here is a thread about how I taught "fetch" (retrieve):

http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=134&Number=238356&Searchpage=1&Main=23123&Words=fetch+Connie+Sutherland&topic=0&Search=true#Post238356

Connie, thanks for the link to that thread on fetch/retrieve. Don't know how I missed it just a month ago. I skipped your step 0 to "out" and have a pretty good "take"; but it's not up to more than a few seconds yet.

Thanks for the feedback, gang. I'll re-adjust my expectations and figure out better arrangements.

 Quote: doug alcorn

Connie, thanks for the link to that thread on fetch/retrieve. Don't know how I missed it just a month ago. I skipped your step 0 to "out" and have a pretty good "take"; but it's not up to more than a few seconds yet.

Yes, Jessica Kromer made some really good posts there!

About the tethering: I meant it to cut down on this: "During that time I'm pretty distracted. I'd like to be working, but I'm constantly worried what she's doing".

Can you make sure to have a bone or a kong ready for your daily phone call? If you have carpeting a buster cube is a great toy (they are super noisy on hardwoods), as are those spaceship looking toys that spit food out. I don't know what you are feeding her, but you can put little bits of really high quality kibble, or small dry treats in them and they spit out a piece of food every so often.
These are my emergency/desperation toys for Yote, who is also incredibly high energy.