Big Paws Only Dog Forums

I was thinking of crating in a bad way, but after all your explanations I started thinking and understood that she actually would consider it her safe place because she usually sleeps under my computer table.. before i thought she does that because she always wants to be near me but now i began to think it's because that "roof over her head feeling" that she can't get anywhere else in the house.
There is only one small problem that might sound silly but I couldn't find a suitable crate for her in no pet store! They all sell crates for young little puppies and she is everything but little and I would have to squeeze her in there with a stick!  Plus they are selling them at a really, and I mean really abnormaly high prices... So I was thinking if any of you have any suggestions on making my own I would really appreciate it. If not, well we'll just have to find one somewhere! 

Here's my beauty after a few weeks of normal feeding! She is just so cute and clueless 
Hope you like her...

By the way, there's my cat in one pic, they became friends as soon as they met!! He sleeps on her and she has someone to chew and chase! 

In fact, the main reason why people conect him to a spitz iz his white thick fur and his curled tail, exactly as a spitz. But now that you mentioned it, he does share the intelligence with a border collie :-) 
Thanks a lot!

I have an 18months old female german shepherd which ripps my arm out of my body when I take her to the park... I started using a choak collar but she doesn't mind at all! She pulls me so hard I just can't stand still! And nothing works, I snap with the collar, yell at her, sweettalk her...nothing. She just stops for a second and then she's back again pulling me. I read on another post someone saying you should just snap her and give her a treat or a praise when she stands or walks by you, and she does... for a second at most and then - back again!
Since there is no way IN HECK I'm using the E-Shock collar I was wondering could you spare some "been there it works" words for the head collar... or gentle leader as they call it. Does it actually work or is it just a waste of money?
Thanks...

What would a "kong" be? 
Remember I'm new to the whole "dog terminology" plus english is not my mother tongue 

Hi, I have a female german sheperd, around 18 months old. I work from 11AM to 4PM and during that time she is alone in the apartment so this is a big problem: she chews EVERYTHING she cand get hold of - shoes, notebooks, trashcan, remotes, chairs (!!!), cables... everything. And this doesn't happen only when I'm avay for hours! I go to the store to buy her food, I'm gone for less than 15minutes, come back and my apartment looks like someone robbed me! I don't even know how she manages to do that so fast!! 
Anyway, I feel very uncomfortable about crating her, chaning (someone suggested that?) or closing in separate rooms, but I would do that if there wasn't for the second problem. I have a...how do you call it...lobby, hallway, anteroom(?) in my apartment which is 12m3 big and several times i tried to leave here in there with a bunch of toys, kibble, bones and even music(!!) so that she doesn't freak out but then she pees and poops the second i go out!!!
And I read about training her by going out and coming back instantly and praising her, but as soon as I don't come back in for longer than 3 minutes she pees, poops and trashes the place! She does the same thing when I go to my bedroom to sleep and wake up and there is kaos!! Note that she will never do ANYTHING like this when I'm around... What am I to doooo?!?!?! 
I took a forthnight of my job so I can try and train her but i just don't know where to start.
Oh and the punishment theory doesn't work...yelling, papers...nothi ng. She just bows down and makes a squeeky noise and I start feeling like an abuser and the next time i go out she just goes and does it again.

She's doing fine!
By the way, a friend of mine, selfproclaimed genius for dogs told me just yesterday that I shouldn't feed her kibble and satin balls at the same time because she digestes them differently so she might get...well...i don't remember, something bad could happen to her anyway. But she has been doing just fine for two weeks, I'm giving her three meals, kibble and a little satin balls and she's getting pounds slowly but nicely... a few more weeks of this and she'll be in great shape! Then I'll post you a picture.

Hi! I came to bring the news - it's working!!! Thank you thank you thank you for that satin balls recipe, she is growing like a baloon and I'm giving her very very small amounts of it. Soon I will take her picture so you can witness the now and then fazes :-) About the name someone asked, I named her Namo. It's a name from Tolkien's books, Namo is the keeper of destiny. Tacky, I know, but I can't help it.
By the way, I saw that some paw prints have a list of their playmates and I was wondering can I also put a playmate on Namo's paw print? You see, Namo has a playmate Pugy, maybe you've seen his paw print.
Once again thanks and we'll be "hearing" soon!