# Puppy vs dog 6 months to 2 years old?



## The Diesel (Jan 25, 2017)

I have 3 small children with the youngest being 3. I want to get another german shepherd (mine passed away about 6 years ago) but not sure if a puppy is the right way to go. I did some shutzhund training with mine and he was well trained in obedience. He was such a calm dog even as a puppy, Was east german WL.

I am almost thinking I want to get an older pup/dog in the 6 months to 2 year range (nothing older as they dont live long enough as it is). The reason to get the older dog is just to have a better understanding of the temperament. With the small kids I dont want a wild dog on crack running around. 

Its like when you have kids, I know mine are all very different. Some are much more calm and others are bouncing off the walls. Its no gauruntee but it would put the odds more in my favor.

Any thoughts on this? Anyone know someone with older pup for sale? I am in chicago area.

Thanks!


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Older pup/young dog: House breaking pretty much done. Good idea about temperament, hopefully good foundation training. Unless they have been exposed to and spent time with kids, could still be a crap shoot in that area. Can sometimes take a little while to adjust to the new home. Can be more expensive.

Puppy: you get to raise them around the kids. Tend to adjust very quickly into a new home. Maybe not be showing their future drive level (sleeper) at 8 weeks, have to house break them and do all of the foundation training.


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## Fodder (Oct 21, 2007)

Granted I've rescued rather than purchased older pups (7mo, 9mo, 10mo, 1yr), but either way I like to "know" what I'm getting. Physical appearance as well as a snapshot of personality and temperament. Fortunately I've had no surprises and all of my dogs have been really good with kids... Tilden is the only one that I knew was raised with young children even tho that wasn't a requirement of mine.

If you're one of us in the minority of being open to older, I definitely say go older. I really like 10 months.


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## The Diesel (Jan 25, 2017)

I have been on both sides of the fence I see all these people with dogs and they are wild and they have to lock them up during parties or they will knock someone over, or they bark, howl. Its not just GSDs its labs, goldens, whatever. 

It is suppose to be fun to have a dog not a PIA.


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## sebrench (Dec 2, 2014)

I have a 1.5 year-old-son and another due in late April/early May. I also have two GSDs (one 10-month-old, the other a little over two years). I chose to start out with young puppies because I thought it would be easier if the dogs grew up with small children. I also feel pretty confident raising puppies, and I enjoy training them. So far I couldn't be any more pleased with the dogs' behavior around the baby. I imagine that getting an older dog could work out really well too, but you'd have to be sure that you trust the breeder or rescue doing the temperament evaluation. A lot of the time, if I am interested in a GSD from a rescue site, it will specify not for families with small children. I'm sure that is not always the case though. Perhaps you could bring the dog home on a week or two trial basis to see how it goes.

(As an unimportant side note, I trust my dogs around house-guests, but unless I specifically know that my visitors are dog lovers, I put the GSDs outside or in their crates. I trust my dogs...but not necessarily other people, and definitely not other children.)


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## Dotbat215 (Aug 19, 2015)

The Diesel said:


> I am almost thinking I want to get an older pup/dog in the 6 months to 2 year range (nothing older as they dont live long enough as it is). The reason to get the older dog is just to have a better understanding of the temperament.


I get that, but I believe GSDs really hit maturity at three years. That age range might not be much better than a puppy as they are still developing and will need you to be more hands on. The dog you get might not be the dog you end up with. 

When I was looking for a dog, I wanted a dog that 2-4yrs. And I ended up with a dog that more like 6-8 and he's great...very laid back, medium energy, settles nicely, is happy to relax while we're at work. Sure his life with us won't be as long but dogs break our hearts sooner or later, so i try not to think too much about it.

Personally, I think 3-5 is a happy medium...especially if you have kids with lots of energy.


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## Chewy (Aug 5, 2016)

I adopted Chewy when he was 7 months old. My son was 8 months old at the time. I'm really glad that I didn't get a young puppy. It probably would have been too much to handle. It's nice to bypass the land shark, house breaking, general obedience phase when you have young ones around. Chewy has bonded to my son and me just as if we raised him from a young pup.


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## Marinemom19 (Jan 21, 2017)

I brought home Major and he was 9 months old. For all the reasons below, I have going on 9 children, wanted to bypass landshark and housebreaking. Unfortunately we only had him for 3 weeks and he had to be put down last Sunday due to what we now understand was a liver shunt that made him very very ill one night. But for those 3 weeks I had him, I LOVED him. I was so happy to have a dog who could already go outside to potty, was good with my children and was just a happy guy all around. Just make as sure as you can that someone is not giving up the dog because he is terribly ill. Im not sorry I took in Major, I am so glad to have loved him for that short time, but he broke my heart.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

I think you know more what the dog is like as an adult. I think it's personal choice. We decided to go the puppy route again it's personal choice. When my kids were young our first Gsd passed away my husband wanted another one. I knew I had no time for a Gsd pup so we opted for a King Charles. Present having more time and the kids are a bit older -we went back to our roots so to speak. I do know if my kids triipped on or my my son was running and fell on Max - my mom stepped on his paw the other day and he was okay with all of that. He was raised as a pup with us a very hands on family. As is our new pup Luna. I was never a puppy person as kid we always had adopted adult dogs everyone worked out great. I always think later in life I may get adult but who knows - it may be another pup.


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## lalabug (Oct 20, 2016)

sebrench said:


> I have a 1.5 year-old-son and another due in late April/early May. I also have two GSDs (one 10-month-old, the other a little over two years). I chose to start out with young puppies because I thought it would be easier if the dogs grew up with small children.


 @sebrench Hey, congrats!! 

To the OP, I have a 4 year old and a 2.5 year old. We brought our pup home at 12-13 weeks old for the same reason mentioned above - wanted the dog to be easy around small children as well as my own kids learning and growing with the puppy. We couldn't be happier with how everyone has adjusted. There will be pros and cons for either choice, for us it just boiled down to what we felt would be best for us as a family and positive for the environment upon introducing a dog into our home. Good luck!


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## SamsontheGSD (Dec 23, 2016)

I almost think you're taking fewer chances with a puppy as long as the breader understands the need for a child friendly dog. We were very lucky with ours. We have 2 kids (8 & 12) and it's normal for there to be 10 more kids in our back yard on weekends. We contacted a breeder we felt was a good fit, but explained it was imperative that we be able to trust the dog with children. She ended up with 3 coated pups, one being a very chilled out male. He was a perfect fit. He's still a puppy, but since he's grown up with children he gravitates toward them. He'll actually seek them out in stores and at the park. He goes to kids baseball games/practices and even birthday parties. He would probably prefer strange adults not pet him, but will move toward any child.


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## Minoli (Jul 19, 2011)

No kids yet for me, but Leo (5 1/2 years old) is extremely friendly with kids. He has always been great with my nieces and neighborhood kids. We've had him since he was 8 weeks old. 

I would personally prefer to get a puppy from a reputable breeder and raise it myself, to ensure a safer relationship with kids. You unfortunately don't know what rescue dogs have been through, and this could make it difficult with raising small children and an unfamiliar dog.


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## Misha111 (Oct 31, 2016)

When my first girl died, my youngest child was 4 yrs old. Thought I would get an older dog. We looked at a lot of rescues but turned out my son was scared of big dogs. I have no idea what he thought he had been living with before then!! So we got a puppy, the theory being that by the time she had grown up into a big dog, my son would be bigger too. There were a few issues, small boy runs around squealing, pup thinks that is the best game in the world but easily sorted out. That pup grew up to be a brilliant family dog. 
At the end of the day, it is a personal choice as to what will suit YOUR family.


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