Shih Tzu - new puppy - how to pick out a calm personality and crate train a puppy

[Betty]

Updates from Louis Land? That precious little pumpkin must have grown by leaps and bounds since his arrival at your home. How stubborn is he (a well-known Shih Tzu trait)? Hopefully, the training is going well. As you know, patience is the key. Betty, I didn't respond to your crate training question because each and every one of my girls has slept in my bed since the first evening. I only have the crates for respite if any feel the need to 'get away from it all' and I never close the door. Looking forward to learning the latest about your fabulous little boy.

An update from Louis land
He is doing well and weighs about 7.5 pounds at this point. He is calm, happy, though very attached to me as his person. We are taking him out to socialize on a regular basis so he becomes accustom to the real world. He loves his nighttime crate and goes right to bed and peacefully sleeps the entire night. He will sleep in our bed at some point soon though. Daytime crating is okay, but we only use that if we leave the house. He thinks he should be allowed to go out with us all the time. He screams for a few minutes and then settles down. He loves to please so he is doing well with potty training. He isn't that stubborn though, so I am hoping he continues down that path. I will try to attach a video of Louis waiting for his meal. He jumps up and down in excitement and joy!! Thanks for asking about him.

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Awe-some, sound like he is doing great Betty!

How are his poops?

 

[Betty]

Awe-some, sound like he is doing great Betty!

How are his poops?

His poops are formed and normal most of the time. He still has soft bms occasionally.
I am adding new foods slowly, but so far okay. He is such a joy and enjoys his outings. He is still skittish around other people. He doesn't mind sniffing their hand, but he does not want them to pet him. We took him to SoNo arts festival this weekend and he was exposed to lots or people, dogs and sounds. He did well though and we will keep exposing him to new experiences.