# Have to get my puppy early... too early?



## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

My breeders young daughter was diagnosed with leukemia the other day, so they are flying out of the province to get treatment. All the dogs are being watched by a friend.. She gave me the option of getting the puppy earlier than the 10 weeks I had originally planned (8.5 weeks). The dogs will not be getting the proper amount of attention in my opinion which is important for socialization. 

I know 10 or even 12 is the optimal time to get a small dog like an IG. Would getting it early be a big issue? It's still past 8 weeks.

I really wish the pups could stay with the mom longer, but I think that socialization is more important here..


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

Eight and a half weeks is fine. You will probably do a much better job of socializing her anyway. Try to get her into a puppy kindegarden class asap to help a little more.


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## Loki Love (Jan 30, 2011)

While a bit longer with mom would have been ideal, 8.5 weeks isn't too young either


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Yes Bill I hope to walk her often in a big park that I know.. not a dog park (it's not offleash) but there are dogs allowed, and there are a lot of people there.. IGs can be pretty skittish and timid, though so can shelties and I did the same thing with my dog and he LOVES people.. has a real 'lab' personality!..


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

The puppy classes are in pet stores.. is it ok to bring a young dog in a pet store?


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

I agree with the others, I would TOTALLY get her then! As Bill said you are probably going to be able to do a better job getting her solized then if she is with a caretaker!:smile: And as for the pet stores, around here all of the little pet stores allow pets, and if your talking about "big box" ones(PetSmart/PetCo) then yes as well!


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Scarlett, I know they allow pets, I was mostly worried about bringing such a young dog in contact with dogs that I have no idea about their health.. I worry way too much about parvo!


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## rannmiller (Jun 27, 2008)

I'd say work on socializing the puppy with your own dogs and your friends' dogs first before taking it to any parks. You can also take her to places like Lowes and Home Depot that allow dogs to get her socialized with lots of different loud noises and tons of different people. And considering I've talked to WAY too many people this last week who have been getting their puppies at 4 - 5 weeks old, I think 8.5 is just dandy! Actually, I think it's fine regardless, so don't worry!


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

8.5 weeks should be just old enough to get your puppy into a class at a training center with other puppies near his age. I would try to do this AND take the puppy everywhere.


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## Mollygirl (May 14, 2011)

I would just make sure you get her shots before taking her to a petshop. I took Pinky when I first got her and since she was given to me all she had was wormed. She caught kennel cough, it wasn't bad enough to have medicine. The vet said to just watch her and he said to bring her back in if the cough got worse. She got better on her own but it could have been worse. I got her when she was around 8 weeks old.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

4-5 weeks?? That's crazy! Shouldn't the dog stay with the mother at least until 8 weeks to stop behavior problems?

One of my friends got a chihuahua puppy at 5.5 weeks from an older lady breeder.. the breeder wouldn't let her in the house (she had all the puppies on a blanket in the front yard) said she 'couldn't catch' the parents, so she never saw them. Against her better judgement she paid the $350 for the dog and right away had issues. You would go to put his collar on and he would growl and bite you (not puppy mouthing, actual biting).. he just got worse as he got older, even with training. Eventually at 8 months he bit a kid in the face and had to be put down.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

I just want to add that I am doing natural rearing.. no shots at all. She got one vaccine at 6 weeks from the breeder, way too early, and I am not doing another one at all. Rabies isn't required by law here. I did this with my sheltie somewhat, he got one shot at 8 weeks and that was it for him, too. He never got sick.

I WAS going to vaccinate for just parvo, but only one vet office here where I live can do the individual vaccines. They were incredibly rude when I called them.. "why would you want to split them up? You realize if your dog dies it's YOUR fault, and we aren't charging you any less than the combo vaccine price.." I thought $350 which is the price for the WHOLE puppy set there was a bit steep for ONE shot of just parvo.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

How do you plan on getting this puppy into a puppy class if your not going to vaccinate, I'm not sure where your at but I know where I live unless you have the first set of shots, parvo included you cannot join classes that you pay for. I totally am not for over vaccinating and I only give them their first trio of vaccines to 6 months old and their rabies as we go out of the country.


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

I don't think I could not vaccinate. I would at least get puppy shots and then be done. I guess seeing so many puppies with parvo while working at the vet clinic has me way to aware of the disease and what it does to puppies.

I don't know how common parvo is where you live, but where I live it is rampant. I would just be careful. Maybe stick with places like Home Depot and having the puppy only around other dogs that you know are healthy. A puppy class would be ideal, but I don't know if you can take one without puppy shots.

I got Duncan when he was a little over 8 weeks old. Your pup should be fine. Good luck!


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

bishopthesheltie said:


> The puppy classes are in pet stores.. is it ok to bring a young dog in a pet store?


I taught dog/puppy training classes in the 2nd busyist PetsMart in the country. There would be as many as 50 or 100 dogs in the store during my Saturday classes. I had 8 week old pups in there and never had one of them get sick. You will be required to get them vaccinated though.

I was on a list one time with people who never vaccinated their dogs at all. For some reason none of them ever caught any of those dreaded diseases. Maybe the vaccines contributes to them being vunerable. Don't know. Just know they all had healthy dogs/puppies. Some of them were generations from being vaccinated.

But, regardless, you will definately have to get him vaccinated to get him in most any puppy class.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

I have three totally non vaccinated dogs and the rest have not been vaccinated in about 8 years. My dogs go everywhere. We signed a waiver to take conformation classes and agilty claasses. We take them to shows and will be showing my youngest this summer. We go to pet stores, lakes, parks, everywhere and they are never sick. We have holistic remedies on hand should they contract parvo or some other disease. I have never used them and just replace them every once in a while. W ealso breed occassionally and all pups are minimally vaccinated at most.


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