[Gingergirlsmom]

Good luck to you and Sadie. I hope you have many happy years. I respect your decision and will never judge anyone based on the decision they make to bring a puppy home. I am going to tell you what I've learned through personal experience, not to talk you out of it, but to give some food for thought and to prepare you just a bit.

Ginger came home with me at 8 weeks. She was taken from mom at 7 weeks. At the time, I didn't know any better. For the most part, she is a sweet, wonderful, happy dog who has been basically healthy. (She does suffer from severe allergies, but I don't consider that a major illness). She is my shadow and my baby girl. I do NOT regret getting her. I will never support one of these establishments again, however. What I see in Ginger is a difficulty trusting and feeling safe. When she was 8 months old I took her to a behaviorist, who basically explained to me that she has ocd and safety issues. When I tell you she was never anything but safe in my home, always rewarded positively and given tons of love, but out of the clear blue would sit cowering in a corner in fear...you can imagine how this threw us. We've worked hard with her and she doesn't cower anymore, but she still obsesses over certain things. We've had to rid our home of certain types of dog toy, buy all metal lidded trashcans, and crate her when we aren't home just to keep her safe from herself. It is my belief that her sense of security was robbed at an early age and that all we can do is manage this, we can never actually cure it.

Bernie is my boy. We rescued him at 1 year old. He'd had a rough time of it, believe me. He is a wonderful, sweet boy who loves toys, beds and his people. One look at him (he's so far out of standard its silly) one can not help but suspect he did not come from a reputable breeder (I have no idea for sure where he came from, but we live near the puppy mill capital of the eastern US). A common practice with mills is to remove the pups from the mom at an early age. Bernie breaks my heart every night when he goes to sleep. As loved as he is, he grabs a dog bed, blanket, pillow or whatever, balls it up, sticks one end in his mouth and sucks until he falls asleep. It does not look peaceful. My vet suspects that he was taken from mom too young and he's trying to regain the comfort he missed. Who knows.

Just know that, yes, many, many pups as young as 6 weeks go home and lead normal, healthy lives. But I do believe something is lacking or missing that you will never be able to replace.

So, if you bring your girl home, love her with all your heart.