hello,

i just received Ed Frawley's Pack Structure DVD in the mail and watched it today, and i have a couple of questions...are you suppose to start this stuff with a young puppy, or are you suppose to wait until they're older? i'm just confused. our lexie will be 10 weeks old tomorrow. like for example, should we not be playing with her? should we be in the first stage where she's in her crate all the time? she is good about staying calm in the crate now (most of the time...see below), but it sounds like the next step is for them to be calm and submissive when they're on a leash in the house. well, she IS always on a leash when she's out of the crate, but she's a hyper spazz! it's just constant. she's very rarely calm...she's always trying to nip at us and play, and she just doesn't stop. so, are we to expect her to be calm and submissive on a leash in the house at this age? if so, then should i take her back to the 1st stage, where she's in the crate all the time? also, she'll bark in the crate sometimes, but i never know if it's to go to the bathroom or just to get out, but she's had potty issues in the crate (will still pee in her crate here and there), so i usually will take her out when she whines or barks badly because i'm nervous that she will just go in there. we've had lexie since she was 6 weeks old, and i certainly hope i have not messed her and us all up (we JUST got the Pack Structure DVD...i got the Puppy 8 Wks. to 8 Mths. DVD several weeks ago). i want desperately to do this right...all of it...any tips? i've tried the search function here on the boards, but mostly i'm just getting extremely overwhelmed...HELP!!!

Relax, read, watch...
you get overwhelmed, so does your pup...(ahem..in my personal experience anyway! Heh)

Here is a link to a recent thread addressing a simliar question...

http://www.leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=180325#Post180325

 Quote: Diana Pride

hello,

if so, then should i take her back to the 1st stage, where she's in the crate all the time? also, she'll bark in the crate sometimes, but i never know if it's to go to the bathroom or just to get out, but she's had potty issues in the crate (will still pee in her crate here and there), so i usually will take her out when she whines or barks badly because i'm nervous that she will just go in there.

IMO, Ed did not mean for you to leave the puppy in the crate all the time.
That being said, if you take her out of her crate when she's barking, you will reinforce her barking in the crate. How long of a stretch are you leaving her in the crate? She's a baby and needs plenty of opportunity to relieve herself, including the middle of the night if she can't make it all the way til morning yet.

http://www.leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/180368/page/0/fpart/1

Above is a link to a thread started a few days ago by another poster regarding these videos. Read through it and I think you will get some good suggestions from that thread about what to do with your puppy. Make sure to start at the beginning of the thread, because it's 4 pages long! (ps it's a differnt link than Michele's)