[moondog]

Congratulations on your new puppy! When raising a puppy with children, it's important to train BOTH on how to interact with each other. An 8 year old boy is a Rottie puppie's dream come true, LOL. I'm sure one is as rambuctious as the other, so teaching them both is very important.

1. First of all, supervision by you is an absolute necessity when the puppy and your son interact. Teach your son to play "teaching" games with the puppy instead of allowing play with reckless abandon (which they both would LOVE, but is not wise to allow). Pick up a book on dog training for children and you will get lots of ideas of how he can help with training the puppy. He can help teach the puppy many basic behaviors (sit, down, come, stay, leave it, get it, find me) and use structured play and treats as rewards for good behavior.

2. Look for a puppy class NOW. As soon as the second set of vaccinations are done, puppy class should be started. This is very important, as a puppy class will teach your puppy how to learn and you how to teach. Bring your son to the classes, too, and ask the instructor if he can participate some of the time in the class, so he gets some instruction as well.

3. If the metal bowl is making noise on the floor when he eats, the noise may be bothering him. Put a folded up towel under the bowl and see if that helps. Try dropping something especially delicious in it (a bit of cooked chicken, a bit of cheese, a bit of hot dog) to give him some motivation to get what's in the bowl, and praise him when he does. You can hold the bowl at first if he's hesitant and let him eat out of it while you're holding it.

4. How long in the crate are you talking about? I like a puppy to be out and about with me as much as possible...how else will they learn the ropes about living with me? My dog was crated at night and for a couple fairly lengthy naps each day and the rest of the time she was out with me. Puppies are a LOT of work, there's no doubt about it, and they can't learn anything by being crated more than needed. I do think that a certain amount of crating is a good thing, because they learn how to be comfortable when alone. A crate is for resting. As long as your puppy is getting enough exercise and training during the day, a rest in the crate is a good thing.

5. He can go for short walks now. At this young age, make sure you do not walk him where other dogs frequent. Out in the neighborhood, take him for a walk around the block in the STREET, not on the sidewalk where most others dogs go. No sniffing on street corners where other dogs tend to pee and poop. Take him to a children's playground (on a leash) and let him meet the kids. Take him to banks, stores, to the vet's office only to get a cookie from the staff, to meet dogs known to you that are vaccinated, healthy, and puppy friendly. Each new day should bring a new adventure in socialization for him, especially for the next few months.