Kinda OT - need voice of reason on puppies!

[RCMommy]

We brought home our puppy two weeks ago and he is now 10 weeks old.

He is the sweetest most loveable dog and the whole family is in love with him.

He is also a terror on four paws !!! Chewing, biting, nipping at everything and anyone. Typical puppy stage. I cannot imagine adding another one to the mix.

Seriously, we have baby gates up all over the place, crates on both floors, a gate pen to keep him in while we cannot play with him, etc etc. Our house is taken over! lol It is like having another toddler in the house. And I have twins so I know what that is like !!!

I have had dogs all my life and never had issues training them. My last dog passed away in Septeber so it had been 12 years since having a puppy in the house.

I wouldn't trade it for the world, but wow it sure is a lot of work.

We also looked at shelter dogs but with two children and a cat in the house I had to many concerns. I would rescue them all if I could

I think you will be surprised at how many people step up to help out. Volunteering is a great idea. Also donating items the shelters need is a great idea.

If you are set on helping out even more, maybe you could foster some until they find their forever home. That is going to be a lot of work though!

 

[RCMommy]

My dd16 just told me about a girl in school who got a rescue pup over spring break. Pup ended up getting parvo and they had to put it down because it was so sick.

Unfortunately any puppy is at risk for catching parvo or other illnesses, not just rescue or shelter dogs. Until our puppy has had his full set of shots and they have "taken" we are not to take him to dog parks or any other unknown dog territory because he is suseptible to illness.

I am very sorry for your friend. That must have been very hard.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Voice of Reason:
Our breeder specified that we could get another puppy after our first one was 18 months old.

That's ridiculous, specified, you bought the dog, you can do whatever you want. The breeder has zero control over what you do in your home.

OP I think all animals need an animal buddy, we have 2 dogs but neither came to us as puppies and they came to us almost a year apart. Maybe get your breeder dog from the next batch of puppies, let them keep your deposit, focus on the rescue puppy *which I'm sure would be fine.......

Here's a news story I found.

OP maybe you could get a dog *not a puppy* mamas and papas are available too I'm sure, we got our shih tzu when she was at least 5, she was/is a joy *now living at the top of Idaho with my gramma who adores her.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Unfortunately any puppy is at risk for catching parvo or other illnesses, not just rescue or shelter dogs. Until our puppy has had his full set of shots and they have "taken" we are not to take him to dog parks or any other unknown dog territory because he is suseptible to illness.

I am very sorry for your friend. That must have been very hard.

Yep, it's not just pound puppies who are susceptible to parvo.

 

[pklein09]

That's ridiculous, specified, you bought the dog, you can do whatever you want. The breeder has zero control over what you do in your home.

I'm sorry you find her contract ridiculous. We knew the terms before we signed on the dotted line and paid her. She was protecting the pup - she wanted to make sure we gave the dog the attention he needed in the first 18 months of his life. Also in our contract is the clause that states if, for whatever reason, we can no longer care for him, she will take him back, no questions asked.

 

[angwill]

So, we're getting our new pug puppy on Mother's Day. She is coming from a reputable show breeder and we already have our deposit down on her. She will be 12 weeks.

On the news yesterday, they showed a home in our area that was seized with 353 puppies (mostly shi*zu and a couple other small dogs)! Poor little things! They are now all in the shelter and will need a home to go to.

My heart just goes out to these puppies! I think it would be totally crazy to get 2 puppies at once - right? I just have such a soft spot for those puppies in need. Someone please with a voice of reason give me thoughts!!

(yes - I did look into rescuing a puppy vs. getting our puppy from a reputable breeder - we decided that we wanted to go with the breeder. But this is such an extreme case I just feel like *doing* something! I am going to go try to volunteer at the shelter this week. (Today they didn't need any more volunteers)).

(not that it makes much of a difference, but I am a stay at home mom - so I am home during the day).

Don't get your heart set on adopting one of the pups. We had a hording situation near us and I volunteered at the shelter they were in. When it came time to adopt volunteers were supposed to get first dibs. What actually happened was a bunch of rescues showed up and they placed the majority of the dogs with the rescues and very few with the volunteers.

My suggestion would be to volunteer and help the pups when they need it most and continue with your original dog purchase.

 

[adventure_woman]

I'm sorry you find her contract ridiculous. We knew the terms before we signed on the dotted line and paid her. She was protecting the pup - she wanted to make sure we gave the dog the attention he needed in the first 18 months of his life. Also in our contract is the clause that states if, for whatever reason, we can no longer care for him, she will take him back, no questions asked.

That doesn't surprise me - I think it shows signs of a great true breeder that cares about her grandchild!! I didn't even ask my breeder about my hairbrained idea .

 

[pklein09]

That doesn't surprise me - I think it shows signs of a great true breeder that cares about her grandchild!! I didn't even ask my breeder about my hairbrained idea .

Thank you. I thought it was a sign of a good breeder as well. She also insisted we meet before she even bred the Mama. She wanted to meet my children and she wanted us to meet her dogs. Happily, we all hit it off! We have since gotten our second dog from her and are thrilled with her breeding skills.

 

[marie1203]

Since this seems to be your first dog I will say no. I had 3 puppies at the time but we have a lot of experience with dogs. As far as the AKC comment the AKC means nothing many puppy mills puppies are register including our puppy mills pomeranian. You will feel overwhelm I know how you feel you want to rescue them all but for you and the dogs sake one at the time.

 

[Tarheel Tink]

You have been given a lot of good advice. Let me add another thought; 2 puppies will have a great time together BUT you could miss out on some closer bonding with your puppy if they have another puppy around all the time. I have found training and keeping attention on you kind of flies out the window when "something shiny" like another same age pup is around. They can tend to search out their buddy instead of you for everything.

Best wishes on your new puppy. Our "Sookie" just turned 6 months and is a complete joy to be around. Our other dog is 4 1/2 years and enchanted (most of the time ) with her little sister who just graduated from puppy kindergarten.

 

[melancholywings]

We've done training classes with both our dogs and those classes are so important. I can't imagine trying to do it with two puppies.