Hello, my name is Crystal. My husband and I used to have a chocolate lab (and have two chihuahuas). He was military and was medically retired. When he was medically retired, we were put out of the military quite quickly and had to move in with my parents until we were able to find and close on a house up here. My parents do not like big dogs and wouldn't allow us to bring our chocolate lab into their house. We had a friend keep him for awhile but he was too much for our friend to handle, we had other friends offer to take him but we didn't want to keep bouncing him from home to home, we felt that wouldn't be fair to Percy. So our one friend offered to give him a permanent home. Though it was hard to give him up, it was best for him and we still are able to see him from time to time. Anyhow, we've had a hole in our heart since we gave him up and we've been researching GSP's for quite some time. We put a deposit on a litter that was born on July 29th, we will be going up Wednesday to pick our little girl and will be able to bring her home September 24th. We are SO excited! I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions when picking our GSP? Our breeder posted pictures of the litter and has posted updated pictures...I've tried to keep an open mind but have already fallen in love with (of course the ONLY) liver roan little girl. She is just beautiful, but we are second pick and the lady ahead of us has not picked yet. I am nervous she will pick that little girl! Though I will love any just the same. And I keep telling myself I need to look more for personality. However, is there really a way to tell the personality of a puppy at this young age? When we chose our two chihuahuas, their personalities were quite different than they are now. Also when we bring her home do you have any suggestions for crating at night etc. How can we make her feel as comfortable as possible in her new home? Our male chihuahua takes awhile to adjust to other dogs (a week or so) so I'm a little nervous to introduce them at first. He's fine once he gets to "know" another dog but at first he can be a little snippy. I just don't want her to be too overwhelmed. We also have two little boys (ages 2 yrs and 10 months) any suggestions for how to introduce her to them? We didn't have to worry much about that with our other two pups because we had them for over a year before our oldest son was born and he grew up with them. Any suggestions would be helpful! Thank you!

 We are a very active family. Percy (our lab) was perfect. I loved that he was high energy. I love going for runs/hikes and there is a dog park about five minutes away. We go camping in the summer as well. I have researched the breed for awhile and know they are high energy and require a lot of activity. Thank you for all the suggestions with training! Our chihuahuas are both crate trained (our lab was as well) and they've both been through obedience training. We started them on obedience training around 12 weeks. I was wondering when the best time to start training with a GSP would be? I don't mean the basics which I will do at home, but I mean actually taking her to an obedience "class." Also, we had thought about possibly doing agility training with her, we were starting it with our lab and then my husbands med board began and things got crazy. Any suggestions on this? Our main reason for getting the GSP is to have her as a family pet of course, but I figured maybe agility would be a good outlet for some of her energy? I know our lab enjoyed it.

 Welcome to the forum.  I would love to see the pictures of the puppies.  Here is a link to a sticky post from the moderator on how to post.

www.shorthairs.net/GSPForum/tabid/220/forumid/2/postid/42164/view/topic/Default.aspx

As for agility, these dogs love agility, but you do have to be careful with puppies until their growth plates close which is around a year to a year and a half.  Before then you can do agility ground work. As for when to start formal obedience classes, I like to wait until the pup has all their basic shots and most schools will ask for that anyway.  Until then I do basic stuff starting as soon as the puppy gets home (remember short and sweet/fun). I also do allot of socialization and exposure to new places.  Just be careful that you take them to places where they are not likely to be exposed to all the puppy diseases.  No dog parks until they get all their shots.  Good luck on your new puppy.

I'd always tried to follow the "neutral ground" theory but when I adopted Humphrey last fall, the rescue volunteer suggested keeping Chelsea (who is territorial) indoors while Humphrey was allowed to explore the back yard and get comfortable.  When I let her out she acted as if she couldn't believe this was happening  but didn't confront him. We did watch them carefully especially when he came up to me, but there were no flareups.   I kept him crated indoors for a couple of days and then things settled down. 

 I see two problems brewing with this intro, you and you.  First, you are very nervous about it which the dogs will recognize, and second, your Chi is very used to you protecting him.  So, first you need to make sure the puppy doesn't hurt the older dog.  And second, if you can't control your nerves, then you need to remove yourself from the first introduction. In this situation I would probably use the backyard and put the puppy on a leash and leave the older dog loose. And most of all I would not force anything.  If the older dog wants to sniff around the puppy, great. If not, let the older dog ignore the puppy.  Whatever you do, do not force either dog on the other.  However, do not let the older dog pick on the puppy either.  I also would make sure there is nothing that the older dog might get possessive about around either.  Take it slow and easy, and you should be fine. Also, if the older dog wants to go back in the house or away from the puppy let him.  He will come around.  You might have to watch the puppy though until the older dogs accepts him. See how they do before you let the puppy off leash.  Remember a GSP puppy can be a hand full and might overwhelm your older dog.  So teach the puppy how to behave, but let the older dog correct the puppy too.  As long as it doesn't escalate, it is usually best to let the dogs work things out.  The older dog will likely correct the puppy and the puppy will learn quickly what the boundaries are.  Better for him to learn when he is little, than later when it could end up in a fight.  Just supervise until you know they are ok together.  And relax, things will be ok. Remember the dogs will be worried if you are worried and that will just make it harder.