Buying a puppy - how old? » Dog Facts, Dog Information, Dog Breeds

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Buying a puppy - how old?

Saturday, April 14th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed

If you want a young puppy, wait until he is at least 8 weeks old. If you want a more mature pup, around 6 months is the best age. Bringing home a more mature puppy is easier than bringing home a baby puppy. The reason for this is that an older puppy will more likely have outgrown his baby ways such as excessive chewing and biting, and most importantly - should be potty trained.

However, do not buy an older puppy from a puppy farm. At six months, your puppy should be well socialized to people and animals, and should be walking on a lead.

When getting young puppy, you have to consider several factors. Puppies that are less than 8 weeks old will do a lot of nipping and biting. They do this to try to determine a hierarchy. Often times, they will bite at their mother. When this happens, she makes it clear, by growling and using her body language, that these behaviors are unacceptable. It is around 6 weeks old that puppies learn about respect the most effective way, from their mother. Taking them home at this age and trying to teach them how to behave is harder because we don’t talk dog language.

In addition to chewing and biting, puppies that are under 6 weeks old have not yet developed their bladder and bowel control. They cannot contain it as mature puppies can. What this means for us is that it is much harder to house-train a younger puppy and there is going to be a lot more cleaning up to do.

Older puppies, however, are calm and understanding of the daily activities in the household. Although this is only true if they have been properly trained and socialized in their birth home. Puppies who are neglected will show signs of nervousness, unpredictability, and some aggressiveness. It is very important to carefully observe the puppy of choice before you make the purchase.