An Addition to Our family? HELP! New puppy questions

[HisNameIsHarley]

Okay, I met a lady in my area who breeds s**tzus. Both her male and female are AKC registered but she doesn't sell pups w/ papers so the buyers are less likely to mass breed them for tons of money and also bc it costs more money to register the litters and this way she doesn't have to charge so much. (meaning it's not at all about the money) She's a really nice lady and owns a shop in old Harpers Ferry a couple miles from where I live. I had told her I was interested in a female in her next litter (Her female has had 2 previous litters, all healthy and this upcoming litter was going to be her last) and she said I could have pick of the litter. She will only sell them to locals and breeds and sells so inexpensive bc she just loves being a grandma for 12weeks+. ($200) Part of her sales agreement is that if for any reason a buyer cannot keep/afford/or want the dog for any reason they must be returned to her (that's my kind of breeder). Her female would probably go into heat again mid summer or early fall of next year so I was expecting to look at getting an addition to our furbaby family late fall, early winter of next year.
But today I got a phone call from her about a 4 month girl from her last litter had just been brought back to her because the woman that bought her was moving and the apartment wouldn't allow her to keep her so she did the right thing and returned her to her breeder. I have the money to get her, a new crate etc, food, all necessities. So that isn't a problem. She isn't fixed yet bc she's still only 4 months. (If I get her I'll have her fixed probably between her 5th and 6th month. I def want to do it before her first heat.. btw when do females usually go into their first heat??) She's about 5lbs right now @ 16weeks which I'm guessing will round her off at about Harleys weight when she's full grown (between 7-8lbs)

She has only had her first puppy shots. Even though I've already done this with Harley I just want to make sure.. How many sets of puppy shots should she have? Which shots? What ages? And is it even safe to bring her around Harley or my other dogs before she's had her other sets of shots?

We've set up a time and place to meet her tomorrow to just be introduced to the puppy. I told her that I'm not sure and still need time to decide whether I want this one or want to wait for the next litter and she was totally fine with that. But do you think that if I decide to get her that I should ask to see her house before I make my final decision? I'm thinking that if I do decide to take her that I should arrange to pick her up at her house and tell her I'd like to see her house and meet her parents just to make sure that all is well in their environment etc. I want to see the parents temperment and conditions as well.. just in case this could all be a scam and some awful person) So if she refuses to let me see her home etc should I back out? I personally think I should. And it wouldn't be like I was making her let me come over with out a heads up so she'd have time to straighten up her house if it were messy. (I know I don't like having company when I haven't picked up.)

So, ok that's a ton of info.. But PLEASE help.. I have to go meet her tomorrow so any responses with help would be great. If there's anything you don't feel comfortable with saying on a post you can always pm me. Thanks!

Hope I don't get in trouble for posthing this!!

[toninm]

hey girl, I think that you are doing everything right...you are just worried and you have every right to be. I hope that all goes well and that you fallin lvoe with the puppy right away. i feel bad that she got taken back to the owner...but she still needs a good home. Good luck and let me know what happens with her.

About the shots and stuff. I would just take her to the vet and let them know what shots she has already had and let them take it from there.

[FirstYorkie]

LeeAnn, given what you've said about Harley in other posts, I think THE most important thing is how Harley reacts to her. About another dog taking Harley's toys, you said "Harley tries to kill him! He's nuts". You need to be sure that Harley will accept this dog before you commit to her.

Puppy shots? Hmmm... Here in England, the second set is given 2 weeks after the first set. I can't remember, but I *think* it may the same in the States. If that's the case, check with a vet - you may need to start all over with the shots; too much time may have elapsed (which *could* also mean that she's had a chance to pick up something dreadful along the way).

New puppies are soooo hard to say "no" to, aren't they???

[mustangbee]

I think it's great you want to get another furbaby.
As far as the shots go, their should be a shot record.
Your vet can take it form there.
Harley is the one I'd be concerned about. See how he
is with her, It may take time for them to adjust at first.
As long as you are there with both of them, I'm sure
you can work it out.
Good Luck, & please keep us posted.

[HisNameIsHarley]

Exactly, the way Harley would react to her is a VERY important issue that's on my mind. My initial thought was "I want to take Harley with us to go see the girl so they can meet and see if they like one another." but then I hesitated because I don't know about all her vet visits. I want (am going to rather) take every precaution available to make sure Harley and she will make a good fit (IF I decide to take her) and to make sure that I protect all my dogs from any underlying sickness she might have.

About the shots. I do remember talking to my vet about Harley bc initially he was supposed to get his sets of shots 2 weeks apart bc that's just the way the process goes. (if there's too much time in between then they have to 'start over') But bc I didn't want Harley to get two shots each time I broke his two visits into four (to get rid of any risk of him being overloaded with his vaccines.. Sometimes dogs have really bad reactions to too many vaccines at one time.. So I took the safe road. It was more expensive but was well worth it and the vet thought that it was a smart idea) So I'm worried about her shots and have decided NOT to take Harley with me to meet her.

Harleys 'punk' behavior just keeps on getting better. We watch him like a hawk when he plays with my other dogs (with toys, food etc) and with Will's (my bf) dogs. I even bring his fav toys on purpose out places with us and will lay them down so he has to get used to sharing. And so far so good. He still has a lot of work ahead to do but he's really making strides. (in my opinion )

But the more and more I'm thinking about this I'm wondering whether this is the best situation or not. The girl does need a good loving new home but I'm not sure if this ones the one for her. I'm worried about (if i do get her) how am I supposed to keep her seperate from my other dogs for the two week span when she's getting he vet visits for shots? I just don't know..

[knitbritt]

This may just be nitpicky but I don't understand why she doesn't sell puppies with papers. You can get limited registration with AKC which means your dog has papers but you can't register puppies. You can see the specifics here Plus registering a little is a nominal cost once you have already done things like shots, checkups, docking, dewclaws etc. Spaying or neutering is the only real way to prevent unwanted litters. Again, this may just be me being picky, and of course only IMO but it sounds like an odd thing to do. If you do decide to get the pup best of luck! Like chips I guess who can have just one?

[HisNameIsHarley]

Well, I've already made the decision not take this little girl. I talked it over with Will and we both agree that we would much rather save up and purchase another yorkie puppy from a reputable breeder hopefully from the help of those on here. I've looked the whole situation over bit by bit and have decided on the whole that this seems to be too much of a risk to take. Even though this woman is very sweet and sincere she may not know everything she needs to know about breeding and I have decided that it's not a risk I'm prepared to take. So, I already called and explained to her and she was very understanding and didn't criticize me in the least (which made me feel a lot better about my decision). Thanks for everyones support.

[YorkieShadow]

Im glad you went with what you felt was best. Good Luck.