Night Elf Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 There are a few 1 month 17 day old puppies at my local humane shelter. One of my dogs passed away Nov. 1st and I'm ready to add to our family. These puppies are dachshunds. We don't even know if our present dachshund will accept a new dog so we'll have to move cautiously. But my question is, how do you care for a puppy so young? Aren't they too young to go to a home? I have no idea what happened to the mother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 There are a few 1 month 17 day old puppies at my local humane shelter. One of my dogs passed away Nov. 1st and I'm ready to add to our family. These puppies are dachshunds. We don't even know if our present dachshund will accept a new dog so we'll have to move cautiously. But my question is, how do you care for a puppy so young? Aren't they too young to go to a home? I have no idea what happened to the mother. They absolutely should be with mom for the first 7-9 weeks. That said, I've adopted a 6 week old before, the mom was no longer able to care for the puppies ...she was aggressive and if thy let her stay with the puppies they couldn't get near them. Yeah, I am an idiot nd yes, I ended up with a dog that had to be rehabbed for aggression issues. Sigh. (she turned into great dog eventually). I'd ask if 1 the puppies are actually available now..sometimes they put them up on the website but you can't actually adopt them yet. And 2- where is mom? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 I'd ask if 1 the puppies are actually available now..sometimes they put them up on the website but you can't actually adopt them yet. And 2- where is mom? Good idea. I don't know if I want to take on the responsibility of a young puppy. I've always adopted pets that were 1-2 years old. I'd love to know the particulars of these puppies though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Most really good breeders of small breed dogs will keep them until around 12 weeks old. That's really ideal (IMO) in terms of getting the most benefit learning things like bite inhibition and dog manners from mom and siblings. Do keep in mind that good breeders are also working really hard on socialization during that period. Now that's the ideal. Does that mean you're necessarily going to have trouble with a six or seven week old puppy? No. You'd need to pay lots of attention to food consumption since hypoglycemia is common in small breed puppies. And you might have to work a bit more on bite inhibition than if he stayed with his mom and siblings longer. Assuming your other dog is open to having a puppy, he/she will teach it some things it would have learned had it stayed with its mom and siblings longer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 We took a Boxer-Pit mix at just over 3 weeks one time. The mom had a huge litter and she was running from them and not letting them nurse. We had to feed with a dropper at first....It has been a long time ago and I can barely remember but yes the first few weeks were pretty rough. We had him for 12 years though. Had to put him down when he got really sick when I was pregnant with ds17. I had to put my Brittany down in November and I am no where near ready for another dog. I still can't stop looking for her when I come home. :sad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 We took a Boxer-Pit mix at just over 3 weeks one time. The mom had a huge litter and she was running from them and not letting them nurse. We had to feed with a dropper at first....It has been a long time ago and I can barely remember but yes the first few weeks were pretty rough. We had him for 12 years though. Had to put him down when he got really sick when I was pregnant with ds17. I had to put my Brittany down in November and I am no where near ready for another dog. I still can't stop looking for her when I come home. :sad: Yes, DH and I differ in our grief. I'm ready for another pet because I haven't been a single pet household in 21 years. It's so quiet! My dachshund is extremely affectionate but I sure miss having another body at home all day. DH, OTOH, feels like we should wait months and months. He can't put a date on when he'll feel ready but I've started looking because if I find another dachshund, I want to get him/her. The puppies I mentioned in the OP are dachshunds, which is the only reason I'm interested. However, I really don't like the idea of behavior problems so now I'm a little hesitant. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.