We just adopted a 8 week old Airedale pup and we're using an ex-pen as Ed suggests in his puppy DVD. For the most part, it's going alright -- he doesn't get upset to be in the pen while we're around doing everyday things, quite the opposite. Even though we've filled his pen with toys and chews, even hiding high reward treats here and there, he doesn't play with anything. It seems that he thinks of his ex-pen as a large kennel -- a place to sleep.

This would be fine, except he's begun to associate being on a flexi lead out of the pen with 'rambunctious time'. We would love for him to play in his pen and be comfortable enough to relax outside of it. Any suggestions?

Some potentially important info... We usually take him for two walks a day, usually between a half hour to an hour each, which seems a lot for such a small pup. We do our marker training with him on a flexi lead in our house. We've tried getting in and playing with him inside of his pen, which he seems excited about, but then immediately conks out when we leave. I've tried to move him when he's calm to lay next to our feet or on our laps, but it turns on the 'play time' switch and he starts getting rowdy...

This sounds like a good thing to me Kylie. I don't know if I'm contradicting the dvd or not, but I want them to settle when they're crated or in a pen.

Rambunctious time means teach me what to do, including relaxing when its appropriate. All the toys and stuff in the pen, I think thats meant to aid them in settling down in the pen, I think you got lucky that he conks out there. I'd be working on keeping his routine just like that. In means settle down, out means, lets do something.

Have to agree with Steve; I think most of us want a dog who is calm in the pen/crate, and ready to go when it's out. I would add that my dog only gets one toy to keep. The rest only come out for engagement purposes.
To quiet the pup for walking, you need to mark the behavior you want, teach a "calm down" command (words of YOUR choosing), and be consistent.

Thanks for your responses! I think you're right, having a calm dog in a pen is blessing in many ways. I guess I'm just concerned for the long term... I know Ed talks about using ex-pens with his dogs pretty much their whole lives, but we don't really want to do that with our pup. We want him to eventually to hang out with us in the house -- once he's old enough and obedient enough, of course.

And I know that would take months if not a years of training... maybe I'm just jumping the gun. I'm sure there are many more pertinent things to worry about in the mean time.

 Quote: Kylie Della

And I know that would take months if not a years of training...

Not necessarily. I adopted a mature GSD who was obnoxious in her previous home. I figured out what made her tick, and in less than six months, employing the same techniques that Ed teaches for bringing a (ANY dog, per Ed) dog into your home, I had a dog who is calm and pretty well-behaved in the house. In some of the videos of Michael Ellis' lectures, he explains why he only allows certain interactions inside. To paraphrase, there's a time and a place for everything, and inside is not necessarily the place for most of them.
There are lots of free videos that address this issue; these tips will help you a lot.

 Quote: Kylie Della

We do our marker training with him on a flexi lead in our house... I've tried to move him when he's calm to lay next to our feet or on our laps, but it turns on the 'play time' switch and he starts getting rowdy...

If you want your pup to be calm in the house, then you may want to consider not doing your marker training in the house. If your pup associates a certain place in the house as the location where things are exciting and treats/toys are going to start popping out, your pup will naturally start offering behaviors in those areas which you may find annoying or unacceptable.

The purpose of the ex-pen is to provide your pup a safe place to "roam" in the house. By "safe place" that means a controlled environment that doesn't require your 100% attention where the amount of damage your pup can cause can be controlled. The ex-pen should teach your pup to be calm in the house while giving it *some* freedom to interact through the fence.