Am in the throes of preparing for the new addition to my family of one. Spirit, a Golden Retriever will show up in this world in early May and I will be picking him up sometime in late June.

Some of the things I have been resolving:

• When to take the puppy?  I will be picking up Spirit when he is 7-8 weeks old.

Lots of confusing debate about this and finally figured out why. It is perfectly fine to remove a puppy from its mother and litter when it is between 7-8 weeks old and also after 10 weeks old – but not between 8-10 weeks, which turns out to be a period of particular sensitivity for the puppy – when they should not be traumatized by separation. My sources for this are http://dparksdachs.com/id17.html and http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/DevelopmentalStages.html  so you can check it out for yourself.

• Crate or no crate? Decision made: no crate.

Have never used them religiously, tried them once or twice   and, for older dogs, never saw the point of them. But I am going to have to leave this young dog home at times before he is fully housebroken or maybe before I can fully trust him (running errands during hot weather is the main one) – will he poop on the white rug or chew the legs off the dining room table or ……… But, decided I can block off the ceramic tiled bathroom floor with a cardboard box on its side and a blanket in it for him to hide in when he wants – and a dog pillow too. Better than a crate, which, once the dog is grown and reliable, is way too confining when I can give him the entire house to wander and wonder in. Saves the money and the space for a crate too.