Purebred Aussie – Suki

Hello all. A bit of background, bear with me! I’ve taken care of many young animals before (kittens, birds, snakes) but Suki is my first puppy. I currently have one bird, one snake, four cats, and a 4yr old German Shepherd/Akita dog.

Suki is 9wks as of last Thursday. I got her at 8wks old. Since picking her up this is what I’ve done/taught: – sit (extremely reliable) – down (extremely reliable) – paw (extremely reliable) – middle (mostly reliable) – under (mostly reliable) – stay/place (somewhat reliable) – introduced her to various foods (pumpkin, sweet potato, peas, carrots, blue/rasp/black berries, kefir) – feed only on lick mats or puzzle/slow feeders – trained and used commands on wobbly or limited space surfaces to build confidence – has a collar or harness with a light cat lead on during the day until dinner – leash trained indoors and in the backyard for loose leash and no leash walking – taken her out in a stroller to various places like TJMaxx, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, and some pet friendly restaurants.

She’s on a semi strict schedule of 0600/0700 wake up, 1200/1300 (1PM) lunch, and 1800 (6PM) dinner with a last drink of water at 1930 (7:30PM). Bed time upstairs around 2100/2200 (9PM/10PM). I have been phasing out her strict three meal a day regime and opted for utilizing her kibble as training treats for majority of the morning into the afternoon.

She goes into her crate when asked but does tend to walk out. She likes to nap anywhere but her crate but I do move her into the crate when I find her settling somewhere else. It ends up being a back and forth ordeal of her walking out and me putting her back which I don’t mind. Once she gives into her nap I do shut the gate and cover her. She currently sleeps in bed with me as she’s still young and will still cry at night when she’s alone which is understandable given her age. I’ll slowly transition her to sleeping alone in her own crate in my room and then later on in her own crate downstairs where my older dog sleeps (in her own crate ofc).

Suki isn’t scared of her crate as I’ve only ever fed her in her crate and she’s only ever received some of her more high value treats when in or around the crate.

I guess my question or discussion here is when I should go about transitioning her from my bed to her own. Also, I see a lot of people enforcing nap times. Suki usually naps on her own schedule which I’ve noticed is shortly after a big play or training session. Should I opt to enforce them more or let her do her thing? She’s really been a dream. Sure there’s accidents here and there but they’re 100% my own fault since she doesn’t know any better. Her teeth are razor sharp and her claws are like knives but nature made it like that to give her the best survival if she was in the wild so that doesn’t bother me at all really. Maybe, probably, most likely, it’ll be worse as she ages but I’ve really been enjoying this challenge and seeing her accomplish things and watching her think through commands has seriously been so rewarding to be apart of.

Anyways, any suggestions at all from you all would be welcome as she is my first puppy. I don’t work at all and don’t intend to probably forever so I’m welcome to all suggestions in raising a puppy.

Edit: my child, Suki (scroll down for more photos in the link): https://imgur.com/a/1L1aOTe