help: 5 1/2 weeks is too little

[Rowdy's Dad]

Not to sound too much like I'm bragging, but the last time Rowdy messed in our house, he was only 8 weeks old. At 10 weeks, we took him out of the crate at night and he sleeps on a pillow next to my bed every night. Maybe he learned from our beagle.

 

[Connie S.]

12 years ago, we brought our 4 week boxer puppy, Fanny, home. She was way to young to be separated (I learned later on) but hey! maybe ignorance is bliss sometimes. The only problem we had with her was she had a difficult time figuring out how to drink water from her dish. We had to almost practically stick her nose in it. Well....time went on, she was housetrained very shortly afterwards, got along great with my 3 children (at the time they were 16, 13 and 3) and later on was fabulous with my daughter's two pugs and son's beagle and my granddaughter. She was the grand dame of the family! We lost her the day before Christmas Eve and miss her terribly. We did get a puppy (boxer, of course) named Dolly on New Year's Day. She was 6 weeks old. I swear the spirit of our Fanny Girl is in Dolly too! So, good luck with your new love, Jenn. And don't worry! The puppy will do just fine!

 

[jrodriguez42]

Thanks so much, and I'm sorry to hear about Fanny.
We are going over to get him tomorrow night. He will be 2 days from 6 weeks. I have been reading a lot and I think that I'm ready. His litter mate left a couple of days ago and he is doing really good. He almost slept through the night and it took him a little bit to get used to the house, but after that he was running after the kids feet and trying to bite their shoe laces. Guess he want to eat everything in sight. So I am off to get more toys, I want to be prepared.
I will keep you posted on Monday, cause I use this site at work:D
Jenn

 

[PawPrintBoxers]

Originally posted by jrodriguez42
The couple that has the puppies are not breeders. They do have two pure breed boxers and they are beautiful happy dogs. He said he got both his boxers between 4 and 6 weeks and they are very loyal and happy. I believe he is very inexperienced and this is his first litter. The puppies are in a clean warm area. He works with my husband so I haven't had a chance to talk with him directly since I last visited. All the puppies are going to be picked up over next weekend. I guess I was looking for advice from anyone who has been in this situation and that could help me out.
Thanks

I realize I am a bit late on this thread but I am very alarmed.

"The couple that has the puppies are not breeders."
Wrong
The minute you breed one litter, you are a breeder. And as such you need to know what you are doing long before you even attempt this new endeavor. Letting puppies go at 5.5 weeks is wrong and harmful to the puppies themselves. It says "We don't want to take care of pooping peeing barking puppies. We also don't want to pay for vet vaccinations." Ignorance is no excuse considering these people just created several new living creatures that have not been given a proper start.

Before I ever bred my first litter I spent 2 solid years with other breeders and even joined a local Boxer club. I took it very seriously what I was going to do long before I even entertained the idea of breeding. I learned what I could about what made a sound healthy Boxer and what it entailed to breed even that first litter. I do not want to be preachy but I am completely alarmed by this situation as it as been presented :(

 

[jrodriguez42]

Well we have Jack at home, he seems very happy. We have a 13 yr. old female mixed breed and Jack loves to follow her around.
I know that this pup needed more time with it's mom and this guy is ignorant and needs to do more research before having a litter.
I think after this he finally realized theres much more to it. Thanks for being concerned, I would be.
Jack is an absolute joy in our household and very much loved, and spoiled already.
Jenn

 

[Zsara]

I picked up my puppy at 5 weeks because....

The owners hadn't planned on selling or keeping them. They had an unplanned litter of 9 puppies plus the parents to contend with. I picked out my puppy then wanted to make sure he was getting the proper medical attention so i took the puppy to my vet at 5 weeks. I was informed he was still too young so I took him back. The vet did give him a once over and said said once the puppy had his first shots it was best not to place him back with his siblings. A week later I felt it was in my puppies best interest to stay with me.

Now he doesn't have papers and isn't a show dog but I couldn't have selected a better dog for me and my family. He is highly intelligent and has really bonded with his new family. I made it a point to expose him to various sounds and social situations as long as he was safe and not around other animals. So I say all this to say, yes, 5 or 6 weeks isn't the best choice but sometimes if the owner isn't planning on giving or is unable to give your baby the attention he or she deserves, it may be in your best interest to get him home and start him off on right foot. Check out Blade's baby pictures in the photo selection. Good luck! He is a cutie non the less....

 

[Michelle F.]

How is the puppy?

Just wanted to see how the puppy was doing. We picked ours up at about the same time that you did and he was young also. We sound like we are in the same boat actually. Kosmo was also 5 1/2 weeks and from people that had purebred boxers but were not "breeders" (also their first litter). He was supposed to go home at 6 weeks but the mom was done with the puppies and he was eating well so he said we could take him home. I was a little freaked out but its going really well. I took him to the vet the next day and she said he is very healthy (he weighed 8 lb). We have had Kosmo for a week today and we are totally in love with the little guy. We are working on potty training and its going as well as can be expected. He is sleeping through the night for the last 3 nights and that is a huge bonus. Let me know all about your puppy!

OOPS! Just realized that I was looking at the date of the last post and not when you started it! Oh well, the same still goes! They are just a little further apart in age!

 

[jrodriguez42]

Hi there,
Jack is doing wonderful. He is now 9 weeks. He has been sleeping through most of the nights but then again he sleeps with me. The potty training is hard to tell how it's going cause we don't give him too much of an opportunity to go in the house and when he does I am not catching him to tell him that's not cool.
Sierra is finally starting to play with him but Jack loves to bite her legs and rip out her hair. I am already thinking of maybe getting another boxer next year.
It's just amazing how fast he's growing. We love him so much, I have to figure out how to post some pictures.
Keep me updated on Kosmo.

 

[Michelle F.]

Glad to hear that Jack is doing well. He and Kosmo are only about 2 weeks apart in age. What are you feeding him? Kosmo is doing well with potty training too--any accidents are usually our fault and not his. He hasn't had any accidents in his crate until last night. He has been sleeping through the night but this morning woke me up crying. By the time, I got downstairs, he had peed in there. Hmmm. Maybe my husband let him out for the last time earlier than usual and he just couldn't hold it?? Good to hear from you. Give Jack a hug!

 

[jrodriguez42]

We are feeding him the Nutro Puppy kibble, this morning I put plain yogart on it and he loved it. I keep bringing home recipes for doggie snacks, my husband thinks I'm crazy. I told him the better Jack eats the less money he may have to spend on vet bills. Our other dog has been raised on the wrong food her whole life (although she seems very heathy). The more I read on this site I realize how much I didn't know about dogs.
What are you feeding Kosmo? and do you add liquid to soften it up? I am still doing it.