First, this is a great site! So glad we found it.
We have an 8 week old GSD puppy. We've had her for a few weeks and she has an appropriate sized crate that she really seems to like. (Hardly any barking or crying when she is in there)
My concern is that she is in there too much. I work during the day and my husband works nights, so he sleeps all day (but he does get up around noon to take puppy out for a potty break on those days I can't make it home at my lunch break)
We have a puppy 'play pen' that we have set up in the family room and we keep her in there a lot in the evenings so she can see us and be near us and still be somewhat confined. I let her out loose in the house a very little bit each day, (maybe 30 minutes) which entails my following her around and watching her like a hawk.
We want our puppy to be a part of our family and I'm wondering if we should be letting her out more than we are.
Also, a strange thing is going on between puppy and the cats food and water dishes.
Of course she was going right for the cat food as soon as we let we loose (typical puppy) Each time she did it, I clapped my hands, said 'No!' and picked her up and put her by her own food. We went through that exercise about a dozen times before she stopped actually trying to eat and drink the cat's food and water. But how what she is doing is kind of funny - she will get right by the cats' food (without touching it) and she will lower her head, put her tail up and growl and bark at the bowls like crazy for up to 10-15 minutes! It's the funniest thing. My husband thinks this might be the puppy version of a temper tantrum. She does this every time she gets near the cats' bowls!
We're also trying to teach her not to go into the half-bath because that is where the litter box is located. We did the same thing we did with the cat food - when she would start to enter the bathroom we would clap our hands, say NO and pick her up and move her away. She no longer trying to go into the bathroom anymore (she seems to learn fast!), but just a little while ago she was standing just outside the bathroom and did the exact same barking and growling thing! Head down, tail up, looking as ferocious as she could for being 8 weeks old. It cracked me up but I have to wonder if she will be doing this to every object in the house she isn't allowed to touch. lol - that could be a lot of barking! Is this really a puppy tantrum?

Good luck trying to get her into the bathroom to have a bath if you are now teaching her going into the bathroom is a bad thing. For just a tiny puppy I know I'd be working on more of a 'management' of her behaviors than the negatives of things that won't kill her.

Meaning if she chews the electric cords, I'd be on her with the strong 'no's'.

But I would maybe either move the litterboxes to somewhere she can't get at them OR just buy a baby gate to keep her out of the bathroom right now. So no 'negative' involved, just a blocking manoever (sp?). Since BOTH will get you the end result you want, I know I prefer the less harsh one.

Same with the cat food, I'd start feeding the cats where your puppy can't reach it. And since I actually don't believe in free feeding either my dogs OR my cats, I would know if the food was still in the bowl, and the cat no where near, the cat is not hungry so I don't need to leave the food out. Cats are picky eaters so their food is made to be yummy (in fact I use it for training treats for my dogs). Would you put a chocolate cake within reach of a toddler in your home and then spend the rest of your day reprimanding the child for trying to eat the cake? Or would you put it up high on the counter and out of reach?

If you had a 2 year old child in your house would you child proof it so the child didn't get into things it shouldn't? Or would you instead leave out all your best crystal, all the outlets unsealed, all the tiny swallowable sized things on the coffee table? Or would you CHILDPROOF the home so you didn't have to be CONSTANTLY freaking out, alert and aware of where the child was or injury/harm was more likely to occur than not? Think that many of your problems currently seem to be more of a puppy proofing (management) kind of issue rather than obedience. Child gates to keep the pup in the kitchen/family room when you are there may be a better option than having to crate him because he will try to sneak away to have fun in the other room. Why give him the opportunity to be able to sneak away?

I also crated my puppy at night, and when I was at work all day. But as long as I was able to spend alot of active, fun time with them when I got home, they did just fine.

Have you found this site? Lots of great puppy info there.

http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/lib-Puppy.htm#soc

And hopefully you are working on socializing her (poor socialization #1 reason for people giving up their dogs) every week. Good site to explain this is on http://www.doberman.org/articles/puppy.htm

That seems like a lot of confined time for a puppy if it is going to be a companion.If there is time in the evening when you are watching TV or sitting around talking I would have her out with you. You could either use baby gates to block her in a room with you or put her on a 6 foot leash to keep her close by. 30 minutes a day seems like a pretty limited time for her to be bonding with you as well as learning house manners. Right now she's probably sleeping alot but soon she's going to need to be more active. Also if her unconfined time remains so limited she will always be wild during that time. If being out with the family is normal she can learn to lay down and relax. Eventually she won't need to be watched every second.

Trying to get a dog to leave cat food alone while you aren't looking is virtually impossible. Same with the litter box. My cat has a shelf on the entertainment center for his food and bed. A bookcase or somewhere else that is above dog eye height but easy for kitty to reach is best. It makes the cat food less tempting. Choco's litterbox is in a closed closet, and he will meow to be let in. He doesn't like for the dog to get into his box so if we forget to close it he will meow for us to come close it too.

If you enjoy walking your cat on a harness, I would suggest that you take both of them outside (1 person per animal) and let the pup know it is okay. I forgot to do this and now Auster will herd Choco back into the house. Now that there's a fenced yard she won't let Choco off of the deck (although he eats grass and pukes it back up, so I don't mind). Should you think I am being cruel to the cat he is too stupid to escape a fenced yard (can't even climb a tree) and enjoys walking on his harness. I can send pics if you don't believe me.

LOL - I believe you!
My problem with the litter box and cat food is that I can't place them up high because one of our cats is very old and it is hard for her to jump anymore. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> And if I try to move the litter box to another spot she will just do her business on the floor where she thinks the litter box *should* be. lol So I guess the litter box stays put and puppy will have to learn to leave it alone. As the old joke goes - dogs have masters and cats have staff! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Thanks to all for the advice. We're trying to puppy-proof, but with 3 kids, one of them ALWAYS leaves their stuff on the floor. I work at a vet clinic and I tell them all the time how dangerous it is to leave things lying around that puppy could eat. (We had a young dog come in that had chewed up and swallowed a haitbrush!)
We're going to attempt to let puppy out more. For the first time I'm actually wishing we had a smaller house so it would be easier to keep any eye on her! I swear she can get up the stairs faster than I can!
We had a nice suprise this afternoon - my daughter took Katja (the puppy) for a walk and found out one of her littermates is living right down the sterrt! The puppies got to see each other and play a bit. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Very, very nice suprise.
-Dawn

Once the pup gets a little bigger you can put a gate in bathroom door that the cat can slip under, but the dog can't. Maybe put the food in there too?

If keeping her close is too much of a problem go to home depot and buy some rope and two snaps. One goes on you, the other on the dog, and the rope in the middle <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> . This makes it much easier to let the puppy out.

Great ideas Lauren. Those child gates are a lifesaver for we puppy owners!