# We accidentally got a 5 week old puppy...



## JessyMcintosh (Aug 19, 2013)

I know this sounds bad, but we got our puppy from a backyard breeder. It was obvious she loved the mom dog, and it was her family pet. The father of the litter was a GSD their neighbor had. Both dogs looked in good health (and we were told they were). I looked up what to look for in healthy GSDs. Their puppies were well taken care of as well, and their backyard was well manicured. (No pig stye puppies). She told us the pup we wanted was weened and ready. I assumed that meant 8 weeks. I've never heard of anyone getting a pup that was younger than that. He looked big and healthy enough so I didn't think to ask to make sure. We got home with our pup and I emailed to ask what his birthday was. We counted it back and it was 37 days...which is 5 weeks 2 days. He is now four months and seems fine. He likes other dogs but seems weird around them. Like they speak different languages or something. Has anyone else been here done this? Am I just paranoid because I know the span of 5 weeks to 8 weeks is supposed to be learning from mom and litter time?


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## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

I would look at this way - your pup is healthy and doing fine. Some people do get their pups at 6 weeks which was only 5 days longer than yours. It is not the way it should be, but it happens. Your pup likes other dogs. If you have puppy classes in your area, you may want to take him - that way he can get used to being around pups his own age.


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## Bradb (Apr 21, 2013)

JessyMcintosh said:


> I know this sounds bad, but we got our puppy from a backyard breeder. It was obvious she loved the mom dog, and it was her family pet. The father of the litter was a GSD their neighbor had. Both dogs looked in good health (and we were told they were). I looked up what to look for in healthy GSDs. Their puppies were well taken care of as well, and their backyard was well manicured. (No pig stye puppies). She told us the pup we wanted was weened and ready. I assumed that meant 8 weeks. I've never heard of anyone getting a pup that was younger than that. He looked big and healthy enough so I didn't think to ask to make sure. We got home with our pup and I emailed to ask what his birthday was. We counted it back and it was 37 days...which is 5 weeks 2 days. He is now four months and seems fine. He likes other dogs but seems weird around them. Like they speak different languages or something. Has anyone else been here done this? Am I just paranoid because I know the span of 5 weeks to 8 weeks is supposed to be learning from mom and litter time?


We have pretty much the same story. You'll have to help teach some bite inhibition and socialize him. Our GSD is now 6 months old and doing great. She is a little timid still around bigger dogs. Give him lots of love and he should be fine. 


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## Kittilicious (Sep 25, 2011)

Don't panic... I brought mine home just shy of 5 weeks. He'll be 2 years old tomorrow. My situation was a bit different, he was better off coming home with me because the BYB thought he looked like a mutt so wanted him out of there before anyone came to look at the other puppies (he didn't understand sables, apparently). We've had our fear issues with him, but overall he's been great. He does have issues with other dogs, but some dogs just do. 
And in reality... there isn't anything you can do now, anyway. Whats done is done and you can only make the best of it  Live in today, not the beginning.


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## Franksmom (Oct 13, 2010)

My husband brought home our BC King at between 5-6 weeks. 
They were giving them away at a sign and since I had just lost my first BC, he thought King would be a good idea. 
King is 10 now and one of the best dogs you could ever have. He was in 4-h with my son from 4 mos of age till he was 6 so lots of socialization with people and dogs. 
5 weeks may not be the best time to get a pup, but it doesn't mean you are doomed to a bad dog with lots of problems either.


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## JessyMcintosh (Aug 19, 2013)

Thanks everybody for replying. It makes me feel a lot better about the situation. We do try and socialize him with other dogs, but all our friends dogs are quite mean to him. That could be why he is weird with other dogs, but I dog sit an adult German Shepherd for free sometimes just to get him that companionship. I'll have to look into arranging fellow puppy play dates though.

As far as the breeder and the sable....he must be crazy  lol. When we were looking for a puppy here in Germany, sometimes the sables of the litter were extra!


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## Kittilicious (Sep 25, 2011)

JessyMcintosh said:


> Thanks everybody for replying. It makes me feel a lot better about the situation. We do try and socialize him with other dogs, but all our friends dogs are quite mean to him. That could be why he is weird with other dogs, but I dog sit an adult German Shepherd for free sometimes just to get him that companionship. I'll have to look into arranging fellow puppy play dates though.
> 
> As far as the breeder and the sable....he must be crazy  lol. When we were looking for a puppy here in Germany, sometimes the sables of the litter were extra!


I wouldn't use the word breeder in my case. It was a bad situation all around, but I got my Knucklehead out of it, so all is good now  
As far as other dogs... I wouldn't even stress about that either. Knuckles has our other dog and our neighbors Great Dane as friends. He's content with that. I don't think he's really missing out on not interacting with every dog in the neighborhood. He will politely watch dogs walk by our house without feeling the need to run to them... he just doesn't seem all that interested in making doggie friends. Heck, we are having a party at our lake lot in a couple weeks and I've told the guests, in the invitation, not to bring their dogs because Knuckles will be there and thats his domain... the lake is a special place to him and I don't think he needs to worry about other dogs invading that space.


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