great advice!

Question
Dave,
We tried the "keep her working" advice you gave us and that is doing the trick!!  So now, we just throw her fetch toy if she is persistant in chasing us or Jessie.  No more punishing her, just give her more work to do!  I have tried leashing her with me for some lessons, but she is not as receptive to this.  She keeps nipping at my pant legs, maybe after more fetching she will be calm enough to try it again?
As far as the chewies in her crate, this only works if she is tired.  I have tried luring her in with a treat or chew when I need to leave, but she doesn't want to stay in there if she can't see/hear us, even if there is a tasty treat inside.  I have been timing my outings to when she is ready for naps.  Do I just leave anyway and let her cry/whine?  Will this lead to her despising the crate?  Or should I only leave when she naps?
Thank you,
Kim
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-----Question-----
I love the advice you gave to the previous questions.  yes, Jessie, older sheltie, is always first for everything, and Allie has minimally accepted this!  It is hard not to pay attention to a cute,furry puppy first!  We still have all our paperwork from Jessie's puppy classes, so we have been using that advice to train Allie.  But we will look into formal classes.  
My f/u question is about the discipline.  We are trying to use her crate for "settling down" if she persistantly-in hyper mode, goes after our legs or Jessie.  But she whines and cries so loudly that we can't stand it, and usually end up setting her free, and she continues her hyper mode chasing us or Jessie.  What can we effectively do here?  We have tried using gates to separate her from us until she calms down, but this produces the same crying and whining to be with us.  Is it appropriate to growl at her and pin her down here as you suggested before?  Because that always gets her more crazy.  As I said, this is only when she is in her hyper mode.  Usually 2 times a day, and lasts for about 20 minutes.  Then she sleeps it off.  She has abundant energy and loves to play outside.  But here in Maine, we have near zero degree temps and we can't play out very long, much to her dismay!  So we try to excercise her in house with fetching games.  We built an obstacle course for her with tunnels and jumps, so that helps her a lot.
Thanks for your advice!
Kim
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-----Question-----
Hello.  I have a 10 wk old female, Allie, who is fitting quite well into our "pack" of 2 adults, 3 kids and 13yo female sheltie.  We have taught her to sit/stay for her food, lay down, come, leash walking, leave it, she does stairs both up and down(since 8weeks), and she has been playing fetch and drop since 8wks also.  She is being house trained outside and is now whining to be let out to "go busy".  I am trying to find out if this is all expected at this age for shelties?  She seems to be exceptionally bright, from speaking with other breed dog owners.  Our 13yo Jessie, has also been very well behaved since puppyhood.  How should we proceed with further training?  Should we continue to teach her ourselves, as she is so receptive, or should we spend the money to enroll her in formal classes?
She seems to be happy to please us, and seems to love our training sessions.  She gets so excited to greet our kids when they come home.  She is growing well and eating well: some raw food and mostly Nature's Variety kibble.
She is a bit rambunctious with Jessie, but Jessie tells her when enough is enough.  She is persistant, though, often needing more than a few growls to stop her.
Also, she seems to misbehave even more when we get angry with her, is this normal?  Should we be disciplining her with calmer tones?
13 years ago is hard to remember, so not sure if these were concerns for Jessie or not.
Thank you very much for this website and for all the great advice you provide!
Kim

-----Answer-----
Hi Kim!

Yes, you do have an exceptionally bright puppy there!  That's good to hear!  Let's see how I can help:

First: Training class: since it has been so long since you have done training a refresher course might not be a bad idea.  You might check with the trainer about a private advanced course since your pup is so receptive.  For a perspective on training, you should know that it is as much for the owner in how to consistently communicate as it is for the dog to learn a trick or obedience.  

Second: crazy when being punished and calmer tones?  Definitely make sure you do NOT use her name Allie when punishing.  Use a generic punishment nickname such as "DOG" or "PUPPY" and show her she is not acting right.  Growl that punishment name deeply.  Blend that with some physical dog-mommy restraint like growling and pushing the neck down to the floor as a mommy dog would with her teeth.  That clearly communicates a NO in terms that Allie understands.  

Reserve her name for good behavior.

Last tip: keep Jessie (I think that is your 13 yr old female?) as head of pack order.  Make sure to greet, pet, feed, treat, play, love--everything Jessie first and Allie second.

As for the site, I just volunteer: Allexperts does all the computer work and we should thank them first.  I get to answer emails and be helpful to the breed that I have gotten so much love from and that makes it worth it.

'sneezes
Dave
-----Answer-----
Kim,

The crate is not for discipline, EVER.  It is the dog's safe spot.  How I would attempt to address the puppy energy is to continue the indoor fetch and working her as much as possible.  When possible leash her and do 20 minutes of heel, sit, stay.  That should drain her energy and make her both mentally and physically tired.

When you need some peace and quiet remember that puppies need to chew.  Take your Shelties to the non-pet-selling-pet supply store and let them shop for chewies.  This is always fun.  Get some good treats too (we use stale crackers as treats if you want the budget version).  

When you get finished playing or desire some peace, go to the crate with the treat and chewie (or a kong with peanut butter).  A pigs ear is good for 30 minutes of chewing.  A good sized rawhide gets anywhere from 1 hour to 2 hours.  

Announce "Where do you go to get a treat?" and give them the treat in the crate.  It's magic.  You will be amazed at how quickly that crate becomes Allie's favorite place.

'sneezes
Dave


Answer
Kim,

Nipping is instinctive as Allie is trying to herd you, but she doesn't really understand what she should be doing. The ball makes an excellent substitute/outlet for the instinct when you don't have other Sheltie toys like a farm with sheep or ducks.

IF Allie does not respond well to the leash we will eventually need to use a prong collar to help her understand proper leash behavior.  Check with your training guides/trainer on the best way to use it.

As for the crate, I would not fret too much over the whining.  I do think that trying to wear her out and timing the crate placement with down time is an excellent way to train her to be comfortable in there.  I trust you have placed an old unwashed t-shirt in there with the smell of her trusted humans to sleep on?  If Jessie has a bed/crate is it next to Allie's?  

If you must leave, leave her in the crate with chew toys and ignore the whines.  She will be just fine.  If you run to her when she whines you put her in control and reinforce the whiny behavior.  

As for putting her in the crate when you are home: at some point you will have to do this.  Try to adjust her to this now.  Use Jessie to help in her crate/bed at the same time.  Allie will model Jessie's behavior if you present the opportunity.

'sneezes
Dave