Apartment to Military Base

It sounds like you've thought things through.  As for the crates, I would say that it's better to err on the side of good crate training.  Once the dog matures and is reliable, you can always increase freedoms at night and while you are out, but nothing sucks more than your dog being really sick or injured and ordered to "crate rest" but panicking b/c she's never been crate trained.  Or, say you decide later on to try something like agility, your dog needs to be crated when waiting her turn.  I think it's just better and safer for the dog to have that training early on rather than be super stressed later if a crate is needed for whatever reason.

I've only had two puppies (my other dogs were adults) but I liked what I did with them and would keep doing it.  For the most part, I used a "puppy pen" which was an expen that I setup in our living room.  I spread a tarp underneath with old blankets on top, so if there were spills or accidents it didn't ruin the carpet.  The pen was plenty of room for a puppy, even enough room for my small crate so they could get used to going in and out or choosing to sleep in it.  The pen had toys, food, lots to chew on, and a water pail.  It kept the puppy from constantly pestering my other dogs and prevented them from stealing the puppy toys and chews.  If I left the house for a short period, I used the pen instead of the crate.  Basically I did one hour in the pen for every half hour out.  The puppies were both German Shepherds which bite and chew and get into everything so with a more laid back puppy I would have been fine with more time out of the pen.

This is the smaller version of my pen (6 panels instead of 8).  The towels are there b/c there is a mirror and she was barking and growling at herself, lol.  The wet spot is a spill, not pee.

At night and while I was gone for long periods, I used the crate.  My first puppy took a few days to get over it but the second puppy slept through the night (I sleep for 8 hours) from day one.  I just made sure to do a LOT of playing right before bed and she would crawl into the crate and be asleep before I latched the door.  In the morning I had to gently shake her to wake her up again, lol.  The crate should be warm and cozy and feel like a den to the puppy, who will be used to snuggling up with mom or siblings in the whelping box.  Out of the crate can be cold and scary.  My first dog slept with me for part of the night the first few nights b/c I gave in to his howling.  I would have been fine with him always sleeping in the bed except 1) he needed to be crate trained for reasons mentioned earlier and 2) he would get restless and jump or fall off the bed which was dangerous b/c it's high for such a young puppy.  I keep my puppy crate right next to my bed so the puppy can see and smell me.  If I got up at night for a potty break (only the first puppy) I carried the puppy out so that it didn't run off and have an accident.  The crate is also good for this b/c dogs don't like to soil their beds so they will whine to go out rather than pee like they would in a pen or out in the house.

Reply to Liesje:

 This is pretty much exactly what I was thinking! My hallway to the bathroom would be my makeshift pen.

How long would you keep this up though, is what I'm wondering? When do you think they'd sufficiently learned how to behave in a crate? I mean obviously this will vary by dog, but I have no sense of when you'd stop and be able to trust them to be alone in the house...

sl2crmeg

Just a thought, but, your breeder won't keep her until 12 weeks? Then it'll be June, and she can go straight to your new house. Just an idea. I don't know much about puppies :)

 It's an option. We've asked her and she said she'd be happy to do it, but I'm a planner by nature and I just want to make sure I've considered all my options before deciding on anything.

katanity

sl2crmeg

Just a thought, but, your breeder won't keep her until 12 weeks? Then it'll be June, and she can go straight to your new house. Just an idea. I don't know much about puppies :)

 It's an option. We've asked her and she said she'd be happy to do it, but I'm a planner by nature and I just want to make sure I've considered all my options before deciding on anything.

Ah, ok. Like I said, I know next to nothing about pups, my two came to me as very much adults. I also enjoy a good plan. Welcome to the boards, we're very friendly but a bit demanding in the way of fuzzy aussie puppy pictures ;)

katanity

Reply to Liesje:

 This is pretty much exactly what I was thinking! My hallway to the bathroom would be my makeshift pen.

How long would you keep this up though, is what I'm wondering? When do you think they'd sufficiently learned how to behave in a crate? I mean obviously this will vary by dog, but I have no sense of when you'd stop and be able to trust them to be alone in the house...

My youngest is 18months, lol....

When I was breeding, and when placing foster pups born in my home, I kept them until at least 9-10 weeks, and preferred longer.  12 weeks is an ideal time to bring a pup home.

As to when you can trust the pup outside the crate?  Honestly, it depends on the pup.  I have a FIVE YEAR old gsd who still sleeps in his crate at night to keep my carpeting and furniture from being eaten.  A good rule of thumb is to keep an eye on the pups level of maturity and when you aren't having to jump up constantly to get him/her out of mischief, you can start to relax and perhaps start leaving him/her out later and later. 

Crates should never be used as punishment.  My dogs often wander into a crate just because they want to nap, or have a bit of down time.

 Just a thought, depending on what's under you, and whether this will come back to bite you in the butt later, you can teach your puppy to go on the deck. On second thought, sod might be the way to go. That'll make a transfer to grass easier. A dirt box might work just as well. Early on, I taught my puppy to go right in front of the house, in the garden. That way, when it rains or snows, we don't have to go to the end of the street or across the street to the real grassy areas.

As for out of the crate, like everyone else said, you can't tell. We have two dogs who were born a week apart, but we got at different ages and times, and they have vastly different histories. The dog who is mine, as in, when I leave, he goes with me, I can leave out of his and not have him in my sight. I personally always crate dogs if no one is home.  If I take a shower, he'd lay in bed and go nowhere for that time. He  doesn't require constant high level supervision. The other dog, you can't really take your eyes off her for long. She absolutely cannot be in the basement unattended, and if I don't shut my bedroom door, my bed is not safe.

You might want to read this article on puppy socialization.   8 to 10 weeks is the ideal time to come home with you.  12 weeks leaves you little time to socialize your pup.   Crate train, most definitely. :)

http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Position_Statements/puppy%20socialization.pdf

Yeah I'm w/ Jackie, I want that socialization window for myself, not that I wouldn't trust my breeder, but everyone has a different plan for how their dog will turn out so I have certain places I want to go, people to meet, textures to come in contact with, etc.  It is hard enough to socialize one dog, let alone the breeder having to do the entire litter for an additional month, yikes!  In fact my breeder gave me a 9 week old puppy from a different litter b/c she wanted to keep more than one and wanted them socialized and received basic training on their own. 

I got my puppy a few days shy of 8 weeks. He was in a big litter so had plenty of littermate socialization.  By that time the dam wanted nothing to do with ten bitey puppies!  A week later, we traveled to a big dog show where we met back up with a few littermates and put them back together in a pen for a bit more socialization but they honestly were getting sick of each other.  The biggest one bit Nikon on the ear and he had a scar for a long time.  I took him out of the pen and let every kid I could find hold him and play with him.  Now he loves kids so much.

Personally I'd rather make adjustments in my schedule so I could have the puppy at 8 weeks rather than 12.  By 12 weeks he had received shots, gone all over the city for socialization, learned to walk on a leash, had play dates with other dogs, started puppy classes, traveled several states, was doing scent pads for tracking imprinting, was well along in crate training and house breaking, and had learned sit, down, stay, come, speak.  Again, I love and respect my breeder but doing ALL that for TEN puppies would have been asking too much.

katanity

But what I'd be most comfortable with would be gating off a section of the apartment (bathroom and the hallway).

IMO, this can come later, but right away you should be using the crate any time you cannot directly supervise the pup.  Giving her too much room will make housetraining much harder.  Dogs generally won't potty where they sleep, so if you're not home, crating her will help, because 99% of the time, they will hold it until they're let out of the crate (if the crate is not too big...should be large enough for her to stand up and turn around, but that's it; you can buy a bigger crate and use the divider to make her area smaller), and you haven't left her alone for too long a time period.  And yes, she should be crated at night, because you can't supervise her when you're sleeping, lol.  Put the crate close to your bed; if she's in the same room with you, she'll feel more secure than being left alone.

Rule of thumb for how often a pup has to go potty is they can reasonably be expected to "hold it" for their [age in months plus one] hours.  So, an 8 week old puppy is 2 months old, she should be able to hold it for 3 hours max at a time.  Any longer than that and she'll probably have an accident.  Also, she should be taken out after eating, drinking, sleeping, and playing.  I like the sod on the balcony idea for your situation until you can get into your new house.

Good luck, and please do share pics when you bring your little baby home!

 Aussie owner and trainer here.  First of all, if that pup were mine, she'd be in puppy class already at age eight weeks:-)  Read this: http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Position_Statements/puppy%20socialization.pdf.  Especially in breeds that tend to be guardy or reserved with strangers, the first 8-16 weeks are critical.  If you wait till the pup has all her shots, you will avoid the illness threat, but you risk having a dog that is not good with other dogs or strangers.  Aussies need extensive social experiences, the younger the better, and on through adulthood.

You can also take her outdoors for potty training if you can use a spot that isn't frequented by other dogs or wildlife, and not bother with sodding your balcony.  Aussies tend to be quick learners, so I think it's always better to try to have them go where you expect they will go when they are adults, and not do things like paper training, or "balcony" training lol.   Crate training is a great idea, but puppies can only hold it for about one hour longer than their age in months when they are awake.