Hi-Suzie G here

I am new to the group but have been lurking for awhile. I was raised in the old "Yank/Crank" Koehler method of dog training.My parents raised and showed Kerry Blue Terriers.I am now living with Field Golden Retrievers(Topbrass)and will be receiving my new male(hopefully stud) pup at the end of June.(7.5 wks old)I have always gone to weekly dog classes following a teachers training syllabus.(including puppy classes)I have decided to follow Michael Ellis' program.I am excited but also very nervous.I have been watchin Puppy 8wks-8 mo,Marker training,Power of food,and soon Power of tug dvds.I like the info I've seen but am also feeling a bit overwhelmed(wishing for a weekly training guide-training sequence)I understand that every dog is an individual and that I will be prepping this pup to learn.Is there a general "order" /sequence of lessons?(I'm guessing not).
Or for watching the dvds?,(future obedience competition/field work/agility)Hopefully future donation of pups for Search and Rescue work.
I will be feeding this pup a raw(prey model)diet which I have done with good results for the past 14 yrs(no fruit/vegs or grain-except possibly in training treats-I am not used to training with food-training collars/prong collars and e-collars have been used in the past)I am wondering about how this is done feeding 4 times a day to start with(young puppy) when so many treats are used.(using treats in training is very new to me)Which 6 treats do you like to use best?

I have an x-pen.(new to me also)We live in a rental house with carpeting and laminated kitchen/dining room wooden floors.I will be setting the pen up on the dining room floor.What would you recommend I put on the floor under the pen?(not wanting to scratch the floor and also realizing that we may have "accidents"?(my fault of course )Do you put anything in the pup's crate?

I want to put 5-6 different toys in the x-pen at a time and rotate them out.This pup will be very high drive/intelligent/easily bored. What toys do you all like best for new pups?(I'm new to treats in toys

What do you like to use when tethering your pups?(leather leash attached to waist?Buddy system?)What drag lines/long lines do you like best for indoors and outside?

Do any of you use the harness that I see Cindy using?(before using a collar?)When,how long and why do you use it?

Thanks for any ideas you can give me.As you can tell I am overflowing with questions. I may need help just slowing down and enjoying my pup.I'm feeling a little "manic" Wishing I lived closer to Michael Ellis (Nebraska)and could attend his classes

Suzie G./Maggie 6 yr old Field Golden and Rudy(our soon to arrive high drive-future working Field Golden Pup.)

P.S. Would you recommend the Working puppy dvd?. Is it much different than the other 8 wk-8mo puppy dvd?

Welcome to the board, Suzie! About the order of the DVDs, I think the order of the four you have listed is about right. And I'm guessing you'll have them all watched before your pup arrives. That will be great! But as you mention, there's so much to absorb, so if you're like me, you'll be referring back and re-watching many times.

I'm sure you'll hear from the experienced puppy people and raw feeding people with answers to some of your other questions.

Bumping into current (holiday weekend, people gone)

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

Bumping into current (holiday weekend, people gone)

I'm new to the whole puppy thing, tethering, xpen, etc. this is what I did and has worked out well. Others have way more experience, but this worked for us.

Ex-pen...we went and got a remnant piece of linoleum (you can usually get remnant or end of roll leftovers super cheap) few feet bigger than the pen itself. Then got a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet the same size as the linoleum. My thinking was the linoleum is easy to wipe off and waterproof so it would keep any accidents from reaching the regular house carpet underneath. The linoleum was slippery and I didn't want the pup slipping around and having a hard time keeping his legs under him, so the indoor/outdoor carpet was to go on top of the linoleum to give him traction and stability. With the indoor/outdoor carpet it is easily vacuumed or taken out and hosed off if an accident did occur. It has worked out really well for us. What few accidents we had (our fault) were easily cleaned up and never touched the actual floor. The xpen is just confinement, you still need to have yours eyes on him at all times in the expen. You think you can leave the room for 5 seconds, well guess what, thats the 5 seconds he sniffs around and decides he has to go to the bathroom

Tethering... I have a belt with an eye in it i just put it around my waist when i want him with me. then i just use a Caribeaner clipped to any of our leashes with a loop handle. Caribeaner connects the eye on the belt to the handle on the leash and we are good to go! Then I can easily take him off tether and walk him regular, or put him back for hands free. And I can choose any length leash I have. You could go to a belt loop too I guess, but a bigger pup sketches me out yankin on a belt loop on your pants if he decides he wants something. I hadn't seen the buddy system before and this has worked for us and no plastic buckles either.
Kinda wingin it, but this worked for us. This place is loaded with info and I'm sure more experienced people will chime in.