romeomc

If you can get a blankie or soft toy that had spent some time with the puppy and its littermates/mum, you could leave that in the crate to comfort the pup (familiar smells!). Tiring it out helps the pup go to la-la land faster too. That said, it is important that you do not give the puppy any attention (eg. talking to it, looking at it, touching it) if it is whining in the crate (assuming it does not need to pee) because it will learn very quickly that it can whine to get your attention! And the whining will just continue and continue. What you can do however, is to praise and give the pup a little pat, WHEN IT IS QUIET (ie. reward the pup for not whining). Make sure you wait for at least 3 secs of quiet if its been whining before you praise the pup tho'. Good luck! Love puppies!! As BCPuppy said, they are adults before you know it and you'll miss those puppy days! Take lots of pictures!!

Romeo is greedy and gets good at whatever gets him some food! Sorry I know you asked for ideas WITHOUT food! Have you tried fetch? Didn't see it listed! It's works great to burn off that energy. Or maybe even using one toy and giving it a name and playing with it and then hiding it somewhere (obvious at first with no other toys around, then maybe peeking behind a pillow, then under a pillow, etc) and asking your pup to go find the toy (as a variation to finding humans)? Or the "come" game? You and another person (or more even!) sit opposite each other some distance away (or in a circle) and take turns calling the pup to come - say "come" once then use lip smacking noises or clap your hands to get the pup's attention. Reward when the pup gets to the caller with a treat or with some playing/tugging if that's what the pup likes. The caller (and all other except the next person calling the pup) then crosses arms and looks up at the ceiling while the other person will call the pup to come. It's a great way to teach the cue "come" and work the pup's legs at the same time. You can increase the distance once the pup gets a hang of the game.

I like to play the "which hand is the treat in" game - scroll down the link to see my Romeo doing it like a pro game video There's abit of training involved in the beginning but because there's food involved, they learn pretty fast!