[nicksgf]

Originally Posted by Erin

Loki was not given a full 12 weeks with his mom and litter mates. He is nervous, nerotic, and fearful. I've spent years training him (with a professional and then on my own) and he is pretty normal now but still extremely quirky (he doesn't like changes to his schedule, hates storms and loud noises, has no social skills with dogs)... This is typical of dogs who do not stay with mom long enough. Some dogs do fine, but you won't know if your dog will be one of the lucky ones so you should definitely try to see if he can stay longer. Maybe offer to pay for his food and take him on weekends when you can be with him 24/7. It's important for him to have human attention but it's just as important for him to be with his mom and litter mates. Usually once they are weaned the mom stops cleaning up after them, which is why people try to find homes at 6 weeks. Even if he could get 2-4 more weeks with mom that would be better.

Also, we crate trained and it's a great tool but it's meant to be used for house training. Therefore you shouldn't crate him until he is old enough to hold it for as long as he will be in the crate. You probably should use an ex-pen until he is like 6 months old while you are at work, then you can crate train in the traditional sense when you are home - 30 minutes in the crate, potty break, 30 minutes of freedom, repeat and extend the free time as he can handle it, crating him when you can't watch him to prevent accidents in the house. If you are home and don't want to crate him, you can also tether him (tie a leash to your belt) to keep him from sneaking off and peeing in the other room

Great Advice!