i got Sadie at 7 1/2 weeks old. i will advise that having an older pup will cut back on a lot of behavior issues such as mouthing, dear Sadie bless her heart is still not very good about that. she plays with her mouth and teeth all the time and barely listens to the "no bite" commands. her mother would have taught her not to if she'd been with her mom and litter mates longer.
having said that, she's not had any major health issues except for LP which isn't really an age factor but a breed thing.
i worked full time as did my husband. we worked on seperate shifts so he was home usually when i was working and she was only really here alone for about 4 hours most days, but when we worked the same shifts she'd be here about 8 hours.
we did the ex-pen thing with pads while we were gone and focused all of our time and energy on potty training when we we with her. we have never free fed our dog, she got three meals a day even if the third meal had to be later because no one could get home for lunch. at about 8-9 months she moved to two meals per day.
if you need any advice on raising a puppy you are in the right place. many members will have a hard time because the pup is so young and we try so hard to tell you not to get them young to try and protect you from bad breeders and from behavioral/health problems, but I for one promise to give advise if you need it and not be judgemental. |