[DiamondLucy]

I know I might get flamed for this, but I am just sick over this and I don't know what to do so please be nice to me.

We bought our dog, Lucy, this past Saturday. I was told she was just shy of 8 weeks old. Well, I just looked at the AKC papers the breeder gave us and she was actually just shy of 7 weeks old! Who sells a 6 1/2 week old puppy??

Now I am so worried that she will be emotionally damaged for life. I have kids, man. I can't have a dog that is aggressive or fearful. I really don't know what to do. My husband dealt with the guy regarding the paperwork and stuff which is why I didn't even notice her birth date until tonight when I was looking at the papers.

I feel so stupid and ashamed at myself. I don't know what to do now...we already bonded with her.  

 

[Ky_IsisnOnyxsMama]

awwww i think itll be ok...talk to newcastle,nano,grammie, etc people that have had plenty of experience with young pups..im so sorry that this happend but then again i really think itll be ok..im sure there are ways you can make up for the few weeks...there are plenty of pups taken away too early or something happens..though of course its NOT ideal but i think itll be fine...

im sure they will chime in boy what a cute pic in your sig !!!

 

[samsonsmom]

First off, don't panic, more than likely Lucy will be fine..However, I would talk to the breeder and question WHY they were dishonest...That is soo sad...The main reason why it's best to wait til 8 weeks to bring pups home is the time they have with their littermates, it's all about learning and socialization...Having said that, there are a lot of people on here that have brought home pups at 6 wks and have had no problems, so other than being extremely upset with a breeder that isn't being honest, probably a BYB, I would just love Lucy and she will be fine....

 

[Donya]

Im sure you can work with her to teach her bite inhibitin of things she may not have learned from her mother and siblings. I noticed an earlier post you made about lucy with pics and i was going to mention that she looked about 6 weeks old but you never can be sure. this may be the reason she is small and not eating as much. soak her food or add some things to make her want to eat more. good luck with her she is a cutie!

 

[DiamondLucy]

Gosh I hope so. I am in tears over this. I really just wanted a sweet good companion. We lost one of our dogs before Christmas and it has been so hard on me. She was the sweetest dog and my baby.

I researched and researched breeds and was so excited to get this puppy. We have a somewhat difficult and snappy pomeranian and the last thing I want is a big dog with behavioral problems like our pom has (we have even been to trainers for her).

I just wanted to do everything right and now I'm so worried.

 

[BoxerPerson]

Does your state mandate that a pup needs to be 8 weeks old before they can be sold?

 

[DiamondLucy]

Im sure you can work with her to teach her bite inhibitin of things she may not have learned from her mother and siblings. I noticed an earlier post you made about lucy with pics and i was going to mention that she looked about 6 weeks old but you never can be sure. this may be the reason she is small and not eating as much. soak her food or add some things to make her want to eat more. good luck with her she is a cutie!

Yes, I think that's why there was that nagging feeling in me to check her papers. No wonder she's so small.

 

[DiamondLucy]

Does your state mandate that a pup needs to be 8 weeks old before they can be sold?  If so you may have a course of action there.

I am in Georgia and I am googling to try to find that info. Is there a site I can reference?

 

[samsonsmom]

Yea I agree with Boxerperson..I do know that in some states it is the law that pups must be 8 wks, so if your state is following that, you do have some recourse....

 

[JessiesMom]

youre getting worried over nothing... I got jessie at 6 1/2 weeks and she is awesome, she is really well behaved and has a much better temperment than maggie who my sister got at 12 weeks...

 

[DiamondLucy]

youre getting worried over nothing... I got jessie at 6 1/2 weeks and she is awesome, she is really well behaved and has a much better temperment than maggie who my sister got at 12 weeks...

Yes, I know I worry too much. My husband and I actually had a "talk" about it recently. I guess it's driving him crazy. LOL

I will try to relax. I do plan on taking her to puppy kindergarten and then obedience classes regardless so maybe I will just have to wait and see how it pans out.

I found a site with state requirements and it looks like there are none for Georgia.

 

[JessiesMom]

[quote="JessiesMom\";p=\"123979":4rg105jm]youre getting worried over nothing... I got jessie at 6 1/2 weeks and she is awesome, she is really well behaved and has a much better temperment than maggie who my sister got at 12 weeks...

Yes, I know I worry too much. My husband and I actually had a "talk" about it recently. I guess it's driving him crazy. LOL

I will try to relax. I do plan on taking her to puppy kindergarten and then obedience classes regardless so maybe I will just have to wait and see how it pans out.

I found a site with state requirements and it looks like there are none for Georgia.[/quote:4rg105jm]
I understand!  Like I believe willow stated, the real reason to stay with the parents and siblings is for bite inhibition and to be more socialized, and puppy kindergarten should basically cure that...

 

[CrazieKC]

We got Kaci at 6 weeks and she's awesome.

My friend got her male at 5 weeks (REALLY young, i know) and he is SUPER sweet with people and dogs.

on the other hand, we got Milo at 12 weeks and he doesn't like other people OR other dogs. So personally, I take the 8 week thing with a grain of salt. I think it's all about how the dog was raised...but that's just my personal opinion and I know others have theirs as well and I respect their opinions as well.

it is a little shady that the breeder lied to you though :nonod:

 

[thatrockz]

lying breeders = bad...

puppy + good people = AWESOME DOGS!

 

[nano]

Not too worry.  Not your fault, it belongs with the breeder and as for the advice above it is all wonderful as usual. Truth be know, even getting them at 8 weeks is actually not as good as leaving them with their littermates but most breeders dont' do that. Puppy kindergarten will be wonderful for her and give her that chance to be with puppies.  If you have any other friends with young pups you could have some play times on your own.  Go out and get the book "Mother Knows Best" by Carole Benjamin asap.  It has wonderful information on very young pups and it will give you some great advice and ideas for Lucy.  You follow her advice and ask questions of the rest of us and find a good praise based training program and trainer things will be just fine.  Best of Luck!

She is adorable and so is the little guy!

Nano

 

[Crazylegs]

We got Eddie on the early side too. The people were very antsy to get the puppies to leave BEFORE 8 weeeks becasue of the rules on the military base we live on. We got him on 7 weeks to the day, though they wanted a few days earlier I put my foot down and said no. I'll be honest Eddie has had a few problems, but I think most come from bad breeding, not socialization.  We knew a few of the littermates and made playdates ALOT the first few weeks, so they still had the puppy play, and helped learned bite inhibition etc...Moral of  the story... Relax and enjoy your new puppy. She'll be OK :wink:

 

[memy]

Don't worry your baby will be fine. I got a dog when I first got married 16 yrs ago @ 4wks ( a cocker) her mom was sick and so were the rest of her litter mates (mom was running out of milk and other pups had strep)  when I brought her home she was so small taht I had to keep her on a pillow.  I had her 14 yrs before she died and she was the best socializzed thing ever went every where with me. When I had Marissa and brought her home from the hospital I layed her in the floor with Felicia and Felicia layed with her head on Marissa's belly. Your puppy will be be fine it is all in how you raise them

 

[divajulia]

I'm just so happy that you are involved with this wonder forum. There are so many amazing people who are more than willing to help in any way they can--plus the fact that you are so determined to have a well-behaved puppy, you're just BOUND to succeed with Lucy! She's a little darling and lucky to have you for a Mama!

 

[glaicer07]

the guy that sold us glaicer told us that she was 6 weeks but i really think that she was only 5 weeks she was so young she has turned out very well she isnt at all aggressive she is very attached at the hip and she is very well behaved she minds us real well my dad just fell in love with her and she listens to him too so dont worry she will be okay.

 

[DiamondLucy]

Thank you so much, everyone. You made me feel so much better. What a great group of folks!