New puppy feeding

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by Bluebells

I brought Jax home at 12 weeks and 26 ounces (so about 1.6 lbs). He seemed awfully fragile at the time, but he’s now between 11 and 12 months and a more robust (almost) four and a half pounds. It just takes a lot more time and attention to raise a pup from such a small size, especially if there are medical issues.

I’m more curious as to why a breeder would sell such a young pup than why someone would buy one. To a large extent, buyers who want a certain, popular breed of puppy — especially during a pandemic, when travel often isn’t possible — have to choose what’s available. Sadly, if all the local breeders are selling pups at six or eight weeks, a potential buyer who says “I’m going to wait until the pups are 12 weeks old” might not be able to find one.

But it’s still a red flag, to me, if a breeder is selling pups so young and small. It gives an appearance, at least, that the breeder prioritizes money over the health of the puppies. And it *could* be a red flag that the breeder is not being honest about the puppies themselves — their genetic health or likely growth, for example.

You are very spot on. Breeders who sell that young don’t want the added expense or the extra time it would take to keep the puppies until old enough. It is all about the money and they don’t do any kind of health testing or even care what dogs they are putting together, they just want the money in their hand. It’s very sad that so many people prioritize money over health and take advantage of people who want a puppy. As buyers though we must stop buying from those breeders to keep them from continuing to do this because that is the only way to stop them.

[matese]

Not to offend anyone,most BYB (Back Yard Breeders) AKA Greeders, do not want to invest more money into puppies then they already have and if that state has no laws when a puppy can be sold they are going to sell, they also avoid paying for first puppy shots. Hobby breeders will do the same thing. A
reputable breeder, one that breeds to better the breed will hold their puppies until they are 12 weeks old, they know the importance of puppies staying with the momma and litter mates. Anyone that lives in a state where there is no laws on when puppies can be sold will buy puppies from a breeder, not their fault, it's the states.

Bluebells, you were very fortunate to find a reputable breeder that held their pups until 12 weeks old. I previously lived in NY, puppies are sold at 8 weeks old, all the puppies I had were 8 weeks old, now I know better.

[Mike_and_Me]

Mike has been with me since 20 days old and is a thriving 2 yo now. At 6 weeks he was eating puppy kibble and I would feed him every few hours to avoid hypoglycemia. I also left some food for him every night up until he was 3-4 months old, I think. I stopped doing it only after I could see he didn't touch it during the night. Aside from health checks and keeping up with vaccinations, my only advice to you is to make sure you socialize this baby more than you would a pup that was separated from the litter at an appropriate time (10-12 weeks). Early separation can cause trauma that might manifest later on, which happened to my Mike. We worked with a behaviorist this summer and he is doing much much better, but have I not been so stressed about his health and exposed him more to life, we couldve avoided some behavioral issues. Congrats on your new baby, wishing her health and a fun puppyhood

[Bluebells]

Originally Posted by matese

Bluebells, you were very fortunate to find a reputable breeder that held their pups until 12 weeks old. I previously lived in NY, puppies are sold at 8 weeks old, all the puppies I had were 8 weeks old, now I know better.

No, unfortunately not. You wouldn’t have any reason to remember my introduction, but Jax came from a backyard breeder. The only reason she still had him at 12 weeks was that Jax is vision impaired and she was unable to sell him. He was ... not in very good physical condition when I got him, besides being vision impaired. It was a lot of work and expense to get him into his present condition, and he will always have the vision impairment. And the breeder is still breeding a pair of dogs whose offspring, statistically, have a one in four chance of having the same congenital eye defect and a two in four chance of being carriers.

[matese]

Originally Posted by Bluebells

No, unfortunately not. You wouldn’t have any reason to remember my introduction, but Jax came from a backyard breeder. The only reason she still had him at 12 weeks was that Jax is vision impaired and she was unable to sell him. He was ... not in very good physical condition when I got him, besides being vision impaired. It was a lot of work and expense to get him into his present condition, and he will always have the vision impairment. And the breeder is still breeding a pair of dogs whose offspring, statistically, have a one in four chance of having the same congenital eye defect and a two in four chance of being carriers.

I'm very sorry to read this, I don't recall reading he was vision impaired when you got him. This is back yard greeder to be mating dogs that they know carries a gene that affects future puppies vision, it's all about money with this..... I can't even call them a breeder.