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Puppy Question!
I've lurked and understand how strongly most of y'all feel about people who don't spay/neuter their dogs, and I agree. Thing is though my husband's friend's dog had puppies, we're not close enough with them to know that what the deal with that is.
Well, we'd been talking about getting another puppy, and had been planning on checking out animal control when we heard about these pups. We went to check them out, and we fell in love. The problem is, their previous owners told us they were older than they actually were, and I never questioned it. So they called us and told us they were 6/7 weeks and ready to go home. (that was mistake 1, you'd think if your dog had puppies you'd know EXACTLY how old they were right?) So we go to get her, and as soon as I picked her up I knew she wasn't ready, yet she'd been kept away from her mother and put on hard food. I got her home, and started talking to a friend who pointed out that on the previous owners FB it said they were born on Dec 22. She's only 4 weeks old, and was on solid food!!
Needless to say I'm disgusted. Any advice for how to take care of her, and so maybe she wont miss out on anything. She's on softish food, and since she sleeps all the time she isn't difficult to care for. We've kept the house a bit warmer than usual too with plenty of blankets so she doesn't get cold. We've also started encouraging her as to where and not to potty in her crate. Any other adivce, or tips would be much appreciated.
Sorry for the novel, thank you ladies!
Re: Puppy Question!
Wow. I would be so mad if I were you. The first thing I would do would be to see a vet. I'd be willing to bet this puppy hasn't received any medical attention. They will be able to advise you best on what you need to do.
Is there any way you can bring back the puppy to be with its litter mates longer? I think that might be best.
I would also read the FAQs in the green bar. Lots of info there.
You're going to have to do A LOT of work. I see a tough road for you & this poor pup. Good luck.
Thank you, we have an appt with the vet soon. And we were furious, and whats worse is she was the last to be picked up, I can't imagine how early she let the others go at. And I don't know the homes they went to which kills me. Had I known she was this young, I would have still taken her and any of the others if I could, just for the fact that they'd already been taken away from their mother and I know that I will do everything I can for her, when they wouldn't. I wish I could let her be with her siblings, so as a substitute we've been cuddling her a lot and also letting her socialize with our dog. At first he wasn't sure, but now he's really warmed up to her and checks on her while she's sleeping and loves on her. (And he is up to date on all of his shots, and hasn't been to the dogpark recently so he's healthy)
I must admit, so far she has been quite a bit of work. She whines a lot at night, and whenever I wake up I have to bathe her, clean the crate, wash the bed, and set up the alternate bed, feed her and then clean up all that poop and pee. We joke that it's just like a baby, and as much work as it is I wouldn't have it any other way. It would be unfair to let her suffer for her previous owners ignorance, I can lose some sleep and get dirty if it means she'll grow up normally.
Also another curiosity question, I know it could go either way b/c she's a mix but do y'all think she'll look more like a shepherd or lab?
How often are you taking her outside to pee? How big is her crate? Are you home with her all day?
You should be very strict when you feed her so you can learn when she'll need to go to the bathroom.
I have no idea what she'll look like as she gets bigger. That's the fun thing about mutts, each one is different. You'll just have to be surprised.
I am FURIOUS at the irresponsible jacka$$es who bred their dog and didn't bother to know the law. It is ILLEGAL to send a puppy home earlier than 7 weeks, and no one with half a brain splits puppies up before 8 weeks.
I wish you'd come to us sooner; we would have told you not even to get a puppy from these people; it just reinforces their irresponsibility and promotes the cycle of poor breeding. They'll keep doing it because it was so easy to get rid of the puppies.
More responses below...
B/w 1/8: betas 17,345, progesterone 25.6
Thank y'all for the input. So far we've been taking her out right after she eats, and every time she gets up from a nap, even then though we clean up a fair amount of pee and poop. I don't mind that, I know her being so young I can't really potty-train her, we're just hoping it kinda gives her an idea of how things work. She's in our dobermans crate at night, since he sleeps next to our bed, and in a smaller crate when we have to leave them both. Thankfully my husband and I have almost opposite schedules so she is rarely left alone. He'll be home before I got to class today, and I'll be home all weekend when he's working.
I wish I'd known how shady these people were going to be, but then again you don't want the puppies to go to more irresponsible people ya know? I hate that there are so many irresponsible people like this, but it also leaves so many poor puppies that didn't deserve that. We live in Fl, so it's an especially awful situation with pits. Ugh, people piss me off.
EDIT: I've noticed that our dog has been licking her ears, and nibbling at her scruff, like he does when he scratches his back. He's been very gentle with her, and I've been watching them like a hawk just wondering what he could be trying to do.