# 6-8 week old????



## micyehey (May 28, 2010)

this is my first post to this forum but i have been reading this forum for sometime now. This is going to be my first time to own a GSD that is why i want all the information i can get to from you guys to raise my GSD to be happy and behave. I just spoke with my breeder and she said that the litter is progressing very well and they starter to eat dry puppy food. She said I can go and pick it up when the puppy is around 6-8 weeks. I am so overwhelmed with excitement that i am litterally counting the days when i will get my hunter! I just want to know your insights if i pick up the puppy at 6 - 7 weeks, will there be any issues or cause for concerns if i pick my puppy before 8 weeks? I can wait but im just too excited to have my hunter! I will post pictures soon! i have taken pictures when we selected our hunter when they were 4 weeks old. I will figure out how to upload it here. please give help me in regarding when i can pick up my hunter! thank you in advance!


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

Any breeder who says you can pick up a puppy at 6 or 7 weeks is not a good breeder. I don't care if they have the most beautiful dogs in the world, that is too young to seperate a puppy from his/her litermates and mother. This can lead to very serious consequences down the road and very irresponsible of your breeder. Honestly, i'd pick another breeder with other dogs if I were you.

A puppy can go home at 8 weeks at the absolute earliest. Some recommend it's best at 9 or 10 weeks. Sometimes even later. I didn't take Lucy home until she was almost 10 weeks.

If I were you, i'd walk away from this breeder if I were you.

Here's a good thread you should read through:

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/general-puppy-stuff/136401-6-weeks-early.html


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## GSDSunshine (Sep 7, 2009)

The reason why breeders keep puppies past when they can eat dry food (6 weeks) to 8-10 weeks is so the puppies learn puppy manners from their siblings and their mother. One example is bite inhibition. When puppies leave to early they don't get a chance to learn like they would from their littermates in a few weeks and it take us humans months to fix it.


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## micyehey (May 28, 2010)

Lucy is so beautifull! What are some consequences that may happen if pick a puppy up around 6-7 weeks old? If i wait at 10 weeks is it really best for the pup?




Lucy Dog said:


> Any breeder who says you can pick up a puppy at 6 or 7 weeks is not a good breeder. I don't care if they have the most beautiful dogs in the world, that is too young to seperate a puppy from his/her litermates and mother. This can lead to very serious consequences down the road and very irresponsible of your breeder. Honestly, i'd pick another breeder with other dogs if I were you.
> 
> A puppy can go home at 8 weeks at the absolute earliest. Some recommend it's best at 9 or 10 weeks. Sometimes even later. I didn't take Lucy home until she was almost 10 weeks.
> 
> If I were you, i'd walk away from this breeder if I were you.


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

Puppies learn valuable life lessons from their mother and littermates during this time. Lessons that you're unable to teach your puppy. Bite inhibition is one of those lessons. If your breeder allows the litter to be seperated this early, the puppies miss out on these valuable lessons. You might get a puppy who wants to play bite, but doesnt know how hard to bite and when to stop. It's cute at 8 weeks, but not cute at a year with big adult teeth.

The litter needs to stay together until the puppies ready to go home. At 6 or 7 weeks, they're just not ready.

Now even if you decide to wait until 8 weeks, do you know if the breeder is going to allow other puppies to leave to their families before that? You want a pup who's going to be with all their brothers and sisters until at least 8 weeks. It does you no good if all the pups are gone at 6 weeks and you wait until 8 weeks. You need them all to stay together until at least 8 weeks.

Thanks for the compliment about Lucy - She and I say thank you!


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## FuryanGoddess (Dec 26, 2009)

I have a 8 wk old puppy right now. I got him Thursday. I also have an 8 month old puppy that I got at 11 1/2 wks old in December.. I can honestly say, those few wks make a HUGE difference in the size, training, understanding, learning.. behavior of the dog. 

Zeva came to me knowing her name, crate trained, leash trained, sit, lay down and shake. 

Murphy.. he knows nothing... he's learning his name and he's learning potty manners and cage training. They learn fast. He starts to pee and catches himself. I snag him up and take him out. 

It is SOO much easier when you have someone else doing this for you. Hubs says, if we EVER get another pup, years down the road after these two are gone, Lord help me I can't even think about it , We will NEVER get an 8 wk old again. Hubs thinks they're just too young to be away from the mom... I tend to agree somewhat. 

I don't think it's unhealthy per-say, but the longer they're w/ the others and mom, the easier they are to train and teach. And at 8 wks, my pup is small, but the 2nd largest in the litter. He was 10 lbs, just gained 1 in the last two days to make him 11. That's a small doggie. 

On top of that, it's against the law in may states to sell, buy, exchange, barter or anything of that nature under the age of 8 wks old. 

If you get an 8 wk old.. plan on getting up a lot through out the night, more than you would at 11 wks.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I got my puppy a few days shy of 8 weeks and had no issues. However he was from a large litter and they all left within a day or so of each other so there were 10 puppies for nearly 8 weeks. A few days after I got him, I attended a large event with the breeder and put him back together with two of his littermates for several hours a day for 3 days so he got extra socialization with the litter (and a few other puppies that were in our group that were slightly older). If you wait until 8 weeks but everyone else got their pup at 6 weeks that really does you no good. The issue is more that the breeder may not understand the importance of waiting until 7-9 weeks than what you choose. Also in some states there are laws that specify when pups can be sold or shipped.


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## micyehey (May 28, 2010)

Thank you for all your reply! I would just wait the 8 weeks or if I manage to gather all of my patience to wait until 10 weeks I would! lol I always wanted a GSD since i was a kid and now that im about to own one i just could not get steady enough to wait! lol i guess you guys know what im feeling. 

I just wanted to ask if there is a diffrence between a long coat and just a plush coat GSD? any thoughts on that? are they just the same?


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## FuryanGoddess (Dec 26, 2009)

It's VERY hard to wait knowing that the pup is coming. 

Yes, there is a difference of a LC and a plush. 4GSD - Coat Colours GSD Patterns, Colors, Coat Lengths & More German shepherd Coat Colors

Links on coats and colors. I'm sure other have more links.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

FuryanGoddess said:


> I have a 8 wk old puppy right now. I got him Thursday. I also have an 8 month old puppy that I got at 11 1/2 wks old in December.. I can honestly say, those few wks make a HUGE difference in the size, training, understanding, learning.. behavior of the dog.
> 
> I don't think it's unhealthy per-say, but the longer they're w/ the others and mom, the easier they are to train and teach.
> 
> If you get an 8 wk old.. plan on getting up a lot through out the night, more than you would at 11 wks.


I just couldn't agree more with her. I got Sinister at 11 weeks old and he was very easy to train, he listened alot better than an 8 week old puppy would, within 2 weeks of having him he was completely potty trained. I woke up every 2 hours to take him outside for about a week after that he slept through the night without a peep. I am getting a puppy next September and I will not be bringing her home until she is 12 weeks old.


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## GSD MOM (Apr 21, 2010)

LaRen616 said:


> I just couldn't agree more with her. I got Sinister at 11 weeks old and he was very easy to train, he listened alot better than an 8 week old puppy would, within 2 weeks of having him he was completely potty trained. I woke up every 2 hours to take him outside for about a week after that he slept through the night without a peep. I am getting a puppy next September and I will not be bringing her home until she is 12 weeks old.


Same with my Nellie she was 11 weeks old. Still had all her brothers\sisters with her and she was soooooooooooooo easy to train. And much more calm then my boyfriends brother who just got a GSD pup from a BYB that was 7 weeks old.


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## FuryanGoddess (Dec 26, 2009)

today I took my dogs up the my daughters school for show and tell. The teacher said she's thinking about getting another dog but is not sure about a pup. I said that if she goes for a pup, get it at about 11/12 wks and why. 

Though, I have to say, I love my Murphster! He's laying on Zeva's leg right now. Too cute!


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## micyehey (May 28, 2010)

Just to make it clear, there will be no sense if i wait for 11-12 weeks if the breeder has release the remaining litter by 7-8 weeks???


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## FuryanGoddess (Dec 26, 2009)

yeah, that* IS *true. It's nice cause I got Zeva to let him know when he's over the line, but sometimes I think they're just being bitchy w/ each other too.


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## GSD MOM (Apr 21, 2010)

micyehey said:


> Just to make it clear, there will be no sense if i wait for 11-12 weeks if the breeder has release the remaining litter by 7-8 weeks???


Correct. If he\she won't hold the rest of the pups then there is NO point.


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## GROVEBEAUTY (Oct 23, 2008)

I know it's hard, but I don't let my puppies leave until 12 weeks. They are weaned from their dam but still get to spend time playing with her. They learn invaluable lessons. There is a big difference between the coats. The links above should help or Google it.


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## White German Shepherd (Jun 8, 2010)

8-10 weeks, 10 weeks being the maximum. You want him to start his bond with you early


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I think 6 weeks is too young. 8-10 weeks is good for me, I'd choose 8 because it's my dog, and 8-12 weeks is an important window of socialization. Since the dog will have to live with me and fit my lifestyle, *I* want to do that socialization. I do a lot and I'm sorry, no matter how good or well intentioned the breeder is, there's no WAY they can socialize and entire litter as thoroughly as I socialize one at a time. There are things that are more important to me than spending an extra month with the littermates. If the breeder has any doubt that I could not socialize my puppy properly they can pass on me as an owner. I personally will pass on breeders that won't release a puppy by 10 weeks at the maximum. But, I still think 6 weeks is too young to go home. The two weeks with the litter between 6-8 weeks are important to me as well.


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## micyehey (May 28, 2010)

thank you for all your comments and for taking time to reply. I guess you know the feeling of excitement about getting your new puppy! I will just have to wait another 2 long more weeks to get mine. The breeder said that the puppy has progress very fast and she said the litter is big for thier age at 6 weeks as of now that is why she said we can pick ours if we already want to but she said her other clients will pick up thier pups at 8 weeks so we can wait if we want. Our breeder has been breeding GSD since she was 16 years old. I still consider our breeder a BYB but i guess they know thier litter more than i do.


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## White German Shepherd (Jun 8, 2010)

FuryanGoddess said:


> I have a 8 wk old puppy right now. I got him Thursday. I also have an 8 month old puppy that I got at 11 1/2 wks old in December.. I can honestly say, those few wks make a HUGE difference in the size, training, understanding, learning.. behavior of the dog.
> 
> Zeva came to me knowing her name, crate trained, leash trained, sit, lay down and shake.
> 
> ...


Just to let you know, that the size of the puppy does not matter on the time it comes home. Maybe they were all small pups? Thought of that?


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## FuryanGoddess (Dec 26, 2009)

Oh I know that size doesn't matter. I've seen some pretty big 8 wk old pups here, he's just not that yet. He's now 13lbs and I think growing, his paws doubled since I got him and he's either eating, sleeping or pooping lol. 

Pups are fun, but the peeing in the house gets old fast, that's all. 

OP, they age and change fast. I've had Murphy a little over a week now and he's doing well on a leash and is learning how to have a soft mouth. He bites me less than Zeva did and I think she has a lot to do w/ that. She's teaching him bite inhibition. He's doing well in the crate, but does still need to go out once a night and is up early in the am, like 6 am. All in all, it's going well. 

Like the other posters said, if the rest of the litter isn't there, no since in taking the pup late. 

I don't think that 10 wks is too late to bound. Zeva was 11 1/2 wks and she was so bonded to me sometimes it was annoying when I couldn't take a step w/o stepping on her. 

I love doggies


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

A lot of what your breeder does, or doesn't do can really make a difference. 

Ciana's breeder had all the puppies gone at 7 weeks. I didn't know this and waited until she was 8 weeks to pick her up. I'm not certain about this is the cause, but she is the most neurotic dog I've ever met. Okay, not fair, I've met plenty of neurotic puppy mill dogs. She's like that. And she was only 7 pounds when I picked her up, not a GSD, but still small.

Balto came to me at 12 weeks and he was perfect. Already potty trained and knew his name. Very smart. He arrived in this country with his brother, so I know he had his litter mate(s) and his mother taking care of him until the end.

Newest boy, Boaz, I picked up at 8 weeks. Most of the (11) puppies were still at home and the bitch was still caring for and disciplining the puppies. Boaz is also a great dog, though the potty training is taking longer. Plus, I know he had decent socialization at a young age.


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## White German Shepherd (Jun 8, 2010)

I would say that get the puppy later so 8-10 weeks so it gets enough training from the dam (mother) and socialization with its litter mates.


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