Well, the time has come for us to get a pup. Since losing our last one we have been searching.  However, Albert has been upstairs with us for a few months now.  (Before he was in his huge pen in the basement since our other dog had a high prey drive)

I really hate to put AL back downstairs. He loves it soo much up here with us. He and my husband even have fun play rituals when I go to bed since they are up way later than I am. 

Our new puppy is 12 wks old and will be coming home on Saturday. Right now AL’s pen is in the living room, but I was thinking of moving it into the kitchen and then blocking it off with another gate so that there will be two barriers between him and the pup.

We are going to crate train our pup and his crate will be in our bedroom.  I was hoping that they would be OK to co-exist as long as they can’t get to each other. I thought seeing each other could be OK so they get used to each other?

From everything I have been reading, it seems like it would be OK to do introductions as soon as the pup is consistently trained and follows commands well. So hopefully a few months? He already knows sit, down, paw and goes outside to potty half the time.

I am hoping that when we put the pup to bed then Al can have the run of the living room like he does now since my husband is up late. Or, we can crate the puppy for an hour or so and let AL out.

Really though, most times AL stays in his pen, even when the door is open. He prefers to be active after 10 pm.

What do you all think? Is this a huge mistake? Should I put AL back downstairs? I hate to do that because he isn’t in the mix of things then and he loves being around us, even in his pen.