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hello brad!

just going to take these in the order of posting.

1) if you're walking the pup regularly (and the younger the puppy, the shorter the walks) then size of your yard isn't that important, really. most of the excercise will come from the walks. the all brick yard is interesting - cleaning dog poop off it will be simple, but will dog urine linger? (no clue how you drainage is)

2) no dog should be left outside unattended for 8+ hours a day. get a kennel, though a puppy should not be left at home, kenneled for an 8 hour day either. one of those walks you spoke of should likely come in the early morning, before you go to work, to burn off some of the pup's energy. are you able to come home from work on your lunch? pup will need out then as well.

if you're set on an outside dog you'll need to build a kennel/run in the back - secured on all 4 sides, top and bottom, with shelter and a water source. and this is not an ideal thing for a young puppy, though an older dog (rescue maybe?) will likely do well with that set-up.

3) oh, the joys of puppy owning. teaching housebreaking, starting obedience, socialisation, keeping up with obedience. getting admiring looks from the girls for your cute puppy, going to obedience, cleaning up after the puppy, going to obedience... (hint hint hint!)

yeah, you may want to take a month or more off work whilst the dog gets used to you and your home, unless you are in a position to come home for an hour on lunch, to let the dog out and explore.

ok, that's all for me until i get myself more coffee - i'm sure some other folks are going to chime in about CoE breeders, and kennel training, and good puppy foods, and obedience, and more obedience, and the joys of puppy owning, and more obedience.

hope you learn stuff here, and i know you'll enjoy your puppy (they're just little fuzzy balls of fun)

peace, eh?

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