Wow...
What a great community! I'm so glad I found it. Due to the many replies I received, I thought I'd just post this rather than reply to individual comments:
About the crate: yes, I was planning on getting the wire one with the bottom that slides out for cleaning and such, and with the little divider to adjust the amount of space she has as she grows. We had used this for our very large yellow lab (had to give him to my father-in-law--didn't expect him to reach 110 lbs!) Don't worry, after looking into the BT we realized this pet is more better compatible for us.
My question is this, how often should my BT be out of the crate...obviously I'd take her out often to eat and definitely to use the bathroom, but just to be out and about, how long? The reason why I question this is because when we had our lab (Hunter), I took him to obedience training when he was about 4 months old. The instructor (who is very PRO-crate training) mentioned that at Hunter's age, he shouldn't be out more than 3 hours a day! At the time we only used the crate for bed time, if we left the house, or were too busy to supervise him (which wasn't too often.) I thought 3 hours a day seemed kind of mean, so I thought I'd ask other's opinions on that one.
And thank you for the vinegar suggestion...it may come in handy I'm sure.
Another question: this is what worries me. This puppy is super tiny, and we have an open stair-case in our townhouse. I'm scared she will slip through the space between the stairs. I don't see her trying to go up them, but I am worried the space between the floor and the bottom step will be curious to her. The space will put her straight down into the basement: a long fall that can hurt her terribly. What have you guys used to "puppy proof" areas like this? I can't put a baby gate there, there is nothing to hope it up against. If I stuff a towel/blanket in the space she could (probably) easily push it through into the space. (I'm thinking hubby might have to nail up a board, but I'm trying to avoid that if possible.)
Thank you again everyone! I will be visiting often for more questions I'm sure!
About the crate: yes, I was planning on getting the wire one with the bottom that slides out for cleaning and such, and with the little divider to adjust the amount of space she has as she grows. We had used this for our very large yellow lab (had to give him to my father-in-law--didn't expect him to reach 110 lbs!) Don't worry, after looking into the BT we realized this pet is more better compatible for us.
My question is this, how often should my BT be out of the crate...obviously I'd take her out often to eat and definitely to use the bathroom, but just to be out and about, how long? The reason why I question this is because when we had our lab (Hunter), I took him to obedience training when he was about 4 months old. The instructor (who is very PRO-crate training) mentioned that at Hunter's age, he shouldn't be out more than 3 hours a day! At the time we only used the crate for bed time, if we left the house, or were too busy to supervise him (which wasn't too often.) I thought 3 hours a day seemed kind of mean, so I thought I'd ask other's opinions on that one.
And thank you for the vinegar suggestion...it may come in handy I'm sure.
Another question: this is what worries me. This puppy is super tiny, and we have an open stair-case in our townhouse. I'm scared she will slip through the space between the stairs. I don't see her trying to go up them, but I am worried the space between the floor and the bottom step will be curious to her. The space will put her straight down into the basement: a long fall that can hurt her terribly. What have you guys used to "puppy proof" areas like this? I can't put a baby gate there, there is nothing to hope it up against. If I stuff a towel/blanket in the space she could (probably) easily push it through into the space. (I'm thinking hubby might have to nail up a board, but I'm trying to avoid that if possible.)
Thank you again everyone! I will be visiting often for more questions I'm sure!