Tethered to you, right? Not to an immovable object.....

20' is way too long (JMO) for knowing what the puppy is doing and where she is, unless you meant a 20' line outdoors with you right there.

Yes, tethered to me. Yes, me outside with her on a 20' line while she's going potty. Inside on the 6' line tethered to me. And by tethered to me I mean holding the leash in my hand or stepping on the leash on the ground when I need both hands.

And here I was worried about over exercising the dog! I think I have her figured out. She sleeps all day and then at about 7:00 in the evening she perks up with a mountain of energy! I was sitting down to watch a little TV and she's going nuts. She's on the 6' lead and tethered to me and is yanking and pulling and yelping. Totally not wanting to sit and watch TV.

Well, this is what I got the dog for. To get me off my couch potato butt! We walked through the woods for at least 3 miles, maybe more. She definitely told me when she was ready to turn around and go home. She did everything but grab my pants to pull me back home. Maybe we went too far, not sure. All the way home she was still trying to sprint in front of me. When we got home she had a nice drink of water and settled down to chew on some raw hide.

So I'm very pleased. She was a lot of fun in the woods. Got me on a nice walk and is not settled down beside me.

It seems unrealistic slash unenjoyable to have a puppy the kids are not alloud to play with? What is the point? To me I would want a good family pet not a working dog if I was in your shoes.

First congratulations on your new puppy! I'll bet your kids are thrilled.

The main concern about kids with dogs is overstimulating the puppy and stressing her, or things getting too wild and someone getting hurt. Someone mentioned fetch with a tennis ball. Although I personally don't use tennis balls because they damage the dog's teeth, interactive and VERY supervised games would be just fine. Tossing a toy for the dog to fetch, (while the puppy is on her long line of course) is a great idea.

This is a great opportunity to teach your kids about caring for an animal. You can explain the dog is in her crate because that is her "room" or safe place where she can be while she is getting used to her new family. Explain that the dog is a baby and the crate is like her crib. Have the kids help watch her (while you assist, of course) and take them to the pet store to pick out some new toys for her.

You could involve the kids in husbandry as well. For example, your kids could take turns serving her meals, cleaning and filling her water bowl, and learning to gently brush her. (At this point a puppy should be having 4 meals a day - until 3 months, 3 meals until 6 months and then 2 meals).

You can tell them what to do when the puppy bites them. Explain she is biting because that is how she learned to play with her dog littermates, and she now needs to learn that is not how to play with people. Have them give her a stuffed animal or favourite toy if she bites on them. This way they will hopefully not be afraid of her as she is teething.

I would definitely involve your kids with your dog. Kids and dogs go together like peanut butter and jam! Just remember the dog is only a baby and YOU must supervise ALL interaction between puppy and kids.

Remember to take her out often - car rides, kids soccer games etc. so she can get used to activity, noise, and vehicle traffic. This is very important to do so you don't have a shy and skittish adult dog.

Also - have FUN with your new addition!

Doug, 3 miles is a long distance for a young pup. I would limit your walks to maybe a slow-paced mile (1/2 mile out and 1/2 mile back, or less) with lots of time for exploring.

She sounds like a great pup, by the way!

See if you can find a better chewy than rawhide; although probably not a problem at 9-10 weeks, once the pup is bigger, rawhide becomes a blockage hazard, if you pup is a gulper. (it's non-digestible)

Good alteratives are bully sticks (pricier, but 1 12" bully stick will last a young pup a long time), or a cow's knuckle bone that she can gnaw at.

PS, don't get lulled into thinking she'll be sleeping all day long! As she gets older her awake times will lengthen, and her energy level will increase...

PPS, when you get some pix, post links so we can see your new baby!

I love knuckle bones for my non gulper. Even at a year he still needs lots of things to chew and knuckle bones last several days here before I feel like it needs to be thrown out. I put it back in the fridge when he is asleep or in his crate to keep it from getting nasty.

Thanks for all the advice. This is good stuff!

I fed her three times yesterday, but she only at twice (morning and evening). I've ordered some honest kitchen. I'm hoping she'll be more into eating when it's good food instead of this kibble the previous owner gave us. I put her food down and leave it for about 10 - 15 minutes and then pick it back up.

I've been taking her out about every two hours during the day. The weather is really bad here: low 30s, rain, sleet and today snow. None of that bothers her. She's really an outdoors dog; perfectly at home in the rain, mud, or I guess whatever. We've mainly been going in the backyard and walking around there for about 15 - 20 minutes or until I get too cold to stay. She's been very good about going potty outside and I give her a "good outside" whenever she does. Also have a little play time when we get back inside. The kids with chew toys or something. That's going OK, but I need to work out a schedule to limit the number of kids and over stimulating.

A couple of times I took her for a walk yesterday around our neighborhood. Usually like maybe 10 houses or so. Probably not even 1/4 mile; 1/3 tops. I'm trying to watch her to see when she's stopping because she's curious about smelling something or listening or when she's getting tired.

Last night's walk in the wood though was completely different. She was just so bound up with energy. She showed no signs of wanting to stop. We did take breaks frequently to watch the little run off streams or to look at various things along the way. Eventually she did give out and let me know. It's likely I might have missed some signs of her tiring. I'll work at paying better attention. Most of the time though I was working to keep her from charging ahead and pulling at the leash.

Did some marker training this morning with "sit", "down", "look at me" and her name. That went really well for about 10 minutes. Took her to the vet today for her distemper/parvo shots. She did really well considering her first vet trip. She was a little uncomfortable in the car. I mainly ignored it. Eventually she calmed down and I praised her when she did.

This is definitely a high maintenance time, but I'm determined to do my best by her. BTW, don't know how to upload a pic but here's one I posted elsewhere: http://twitpic.com/2wus4

BTW, I'm putting her at about 11 weeks and she's 14 pounds