Greetings!
This is my first post and I am new here. My husband and I recently (as in a few days ago) adopted a puppy from a local rescue shelter. Her name is Penny and she is 10 months old.
We have only had her a few days, but she is already part of the faimly and a real joy. She is doing great with potty training and has already learned to sit. We are trying to crate train and this is where I need my first piece of advice.
Since day one we have tried to get her used to the crate and intice her to go in it with treats and toys to make it positive. We finally had to put her in the crate at bedtime - not voluntarily. My husband suffers from allergies, so we did not want to put her crate in our bedroom. We have kept the crate open and tried to keep it inviting, but she will not in there on her own. The only times she goes in there is if we put her there because we cannot watch her or need to leave for work or at night.
I worry that we are causing the crate to be negative since we have to force her in it. Am I being overly senistive? Will she mellow out and come to see her crate as the safe haven we want it to be?
The other worry is leash training. She pulls REALLY bad and we worry that she'll choke herself. However, we do not want her to get too far ahead of us and want her to be used to our pace.
Help! I want to be the best mommy I can, but I do not want to acquire bad habits.
Thanks!