new dog

Question
Hi. I just brought home a 3-month old Golden Retriever. He is a great dog and does not cause more trouble. However, I am at school 5 days a week and my parents work. In the mornings, we take him out, feed him, take him out again, and leave him in the crate. Around noon my mother comes home, lets him out, feeds him, and lets him out again. Then, at 3:45pm we come home for the day and play with him and feed him, etc. However, there are times even when we are home that we resort to putting him in the crate. Is that alright? We try to play with him as much as possible, but sometimes we need to put him in the crate. Do you have any advice on what to do?  

Answer
Try to keep him out of the crate as much as possible. When your home, keep him out of it at all times. Just leave the crates door open and he'll go in it if he wants a nap. But keep it open. Goldens are very active and hyper, especially at that age. They need to move around. For when you're not home, i highly suggest you get a play pen or confine him to an are with a fence. Imagine if you had to sit in a desk for 3 hours! You would go crazy right? So same here. If you ever get any doubts like these, just ask yourself, "Would I like it if this was done to me?" and you'll know the answer. Hope this helps. Bye.