I have video surveillance in my house, and I see what's going on. I have a crate for the big dog, but the door is always open, because he is old enough now. He is high energy, but one of our rules is, that we never play inside the house. Play takes place in the yard or elsewhere.
Now, when I leave the house, and the dogs are alone at home, they spend most of the time in their bed or crate. Sometimes you can see the big dog trying to close his crate door.
The point is, that he doesn't move when I am not at home, he is sleeping, and doesn't even take the time to go potty. He does that, when I am back, and when at least one family member is in the house.
Therefore, I don't feel bad anymore, when people say that they have their dog crated for 8 hours a day.

Edited by Michael Soldwisch (01/06/2015 06:27 PM)
Edit reason: Spellcheck

hmmmmm , do i bring up the crate as den instinctive thing ( again ) ?













naaaaaaah .

People are repeating themselves, so I will too, I guess.

You are going to expect this hi drive fabulously intelligent pup to sleep 8 hours at night. What is wrong with 5-6 hrs in the day?

Don't worry so much. It's no big deal. Get the pup and enjoy it.

I guess that you really don't want serious information when you need to play games, saying it't a surprise, when asked a direct question as to the breed of the puppy you are supposedly getting.

If you were truly serious about getting the best possible answers to you questions, you would be forthcoming with providing as much info as possible when asked for it.

So to me, that speaks volumes as to your sincerity for help.

Ditto with Anne!

A surprise to you maybe? You don't know what your getting?

To us here at LB we are often happy, even excited to see someone get a new pup.

Surprised? Not so much!

I generally think that people should match their level of expertise, and their lifestyle, with the dog they are getting. A person who is going to be successful with a high-drive working wonder dog probably already knows the basics of crate training, understands the needs of the dog, and has a plan in place to provide it. JMHO

Here here!! I find myself agreeing with Tracy a-gain.

A high-drive working dog may not be the best choice for someone who doesn't have previous exposure to them and some idea of what the dog will require in the long term.

Many people, myself included, have managed to raise dogs from pups and still work a full day and have a full life outside of the dog. You have to have the skills to manage it. The casual pet owners I know that get puppies (of any breed) and leave them to their own devices all day are the ones who usually have the most trouble. Many are much more successful if they have a family member that they can enlist to check on the dog and let it out for breaks several times during the day.

I'm with Betty L on the duration thing. I know working trainers that have kenneled dogs, and there are no significant drawbacks that I am aware of. If given adequate breaks, there is no reason why the dog can't spend most of the day in his crate. Obviously, it will be harder on a new puppy, but he will adjust. To me, the bigger question is, "If I'm uncomfortable with this arrangement, isn't this the wrong dog for me?"

Dear Brianah, IMHO the main thing that gets you in trouble here IS your propensity to shop around for advice. When an experienced trainer offers answers to your queries, your response typically begins with, "Well, I asked..." or "A person who breeds and trains told me...". If you want advice, you have to be better at accepting it than you are at asking for it. One of the reasons you get mixed responses is because you shop your question everywhere. If you think you can find answers on the internet, you will surely get more than you bargained for. You alienated one of the best trainers here when you refused to answer her question about what type of dog.

IMHO, be more selective about who and how you ask for advice, and more humble and gracious when you receive a reply.

Hey leerburg, I'm bored. Irrelavent post but read if your bored.

Online can be difficult, you cannot physically see body laungauge, cannot see how dedicated one is, experience, background. Intentions in asking a question. When we lack information, we assume, we fill in gaps with guesses of what wee think of the person due to a few posts, or by how many titles they say they have on their dogs.

I was just casually talking online with a trainer known worldwide. We talked about nonsense. She asked me how i do this that,and why.
To tell you the truth, the way she presented herself, one could have taken her for nothing more than a lady with a dog. No different than any handler starting out. Heck, if she came online under an annomomus username and asked the questions she talked about with me..,I could see it now, her getting comments, possibly some people doubting her ability to train.
Yet in reality, she is a legend, nobody in the world has yet to records like she has with every single dog she has ever owned. Ever.

I have also come across hot typing online handlers, spewing out nothing but cockyrepetitive copy and paste crud. Making everybody else who doesn't have a world class bred, top notch dog, feel 100percent inferior. And you should feel blessed for they have looked upon your online post, and responded.
When it comes to actual work, the dog that he got from the best lines, Is nothing but peeing himself in the ring. Why hes even in the ring who knows. He may know every fancy talk term for every training method. But in reality I know some backwoods handlers with rescue mutts, running circles around him.

Anyways sorry for long random chat. It got off topic in every way, sorry.

I was going to say misscommunications happen online, that don't happen offline, because the internet is internet.
Then I got off topic. Sorry!!

 Quote: Tracy Collins

I generally think that people should match their level of expertise, and their lifestyle, with the dog they are getting. A person who is going to be successful with a high-drive working wonder dog probably already knows the basics of crate training, understands the needs of the dog, and has a plan in place to provide it. JMHO

During my online searching I have read so many posts saying this. Please can you tell me what this means? Level of expertise with dogs? What's experience? Is experience fostering, online research, meeting breed through clubs, working with them at work? Befriending and visiting breeders? If so I'm a champ already??

And what freaks me out is...I know people who have had worked at their breeds shelter, can tell you everything about crating, or lend you five good books about crating, work with the breed for a living, fostered the breed, meet many breeders. Then got a dog after a year of contemplating, and couldn't do it when they got the dog. Had to send dog back to breeder.

Yet I know people who meet a breeder, got a puppy immediatly, and won national events with first dog ever, and first time at national events. Then go on to say "its fun, get a dog they are so cute and make life awesome."

What gives? I don't get how the world works...
Like when smokers don't get cancer, but health nuts end up dying from cancer...
The world works in strange ways.

Back to topic.
Yes it's a secret to the public people, and a lot if people close to me. This is a public forum. Many people read my posts.

I recommend leerburg to almost every single dog person I come across. For excellent advice, and even better products. Even non dog people I have refured to leerburg,I have some horse people who are buying leather, and I swear my leerburg leathers the finest I have had in my hand ever.

Please excuse me if it seemed I had come off as less serious, or distespectful, when I decided to retain some information from the online public.
I am very happy for the help you all have given me.
All if you. Believe me, i don't keep resentment for more than a few hours, i respevt all posters if they are nice on a comment, regardless of past. And I don't try to allienate people online over a puppy..

This puppy is a huge deal for me. I'm going to be informing the public of the puppy's information during his puppy shower not too long before he is to come home.
All information, breed, breeder, genetics will be up in public at that time.

If the breed of the high drive dog should help with my question of if he can handle lack mental stim for 6 consequtive hours every day, I will be happy to tell ya, in private message?

But I believe you have all helped me come to the conclusion that it will work out. And I only need to hear it from everybody in real life, AND online, from every country. Haha!
I have asked many many people and forums, I want all opinions. I can't ever get enough opinions.

Thank you ALL. I appreciate all the help.