[samanthalynn25]

Hi everyone,

I found this forum last night at 3AM as I was awake worried sick about my new puppy. I was feeling terrible and even just thinking I should have never gotten him even though I've planned for him for months. I found a lot of comfort in people's postings that said they also felt the puppy blues at some point.

Here is the situation:

I bought the puppy from a woman who told me he was 7.5 weeks old. When I came to pick him up she told me he was only 6 weeks old and had been weaned off of his mother's milk at 3 weeks. She also gave me prescription food from the vet to mix in with his regular puppy food. She told me that the vet said he can not be vaccinated until he is 8 weeks old and until then he can't go outside at all and can only relieve himself on puppy pads due to risk of catching something.

Everywhere that I've read online says that puppies can receive their first combo vaccination at 6-8 weeks, so I'm wondering if it is okay to get him vaccinated at this point. He did great in his crate last night and did not cry at all. He's had a normal appetite and seems to be a perfectly healthy puppy. I am just worried about his age and him being weaned so early.

If anyone who has raised a puppy from 6 weeks could give me some advice, that would be wonderful. I'm just a very worried puppy mom and feeling a lot of anxiety about all of this. He is a Husky/Australian Shepherd Mix.

 

[Dawnben]

Sounds like something happened to the mother dog and the pups were raised by humans. The only problem with that is that the mother was not there to teach the things they usually do. You will have to do that now which adds to the work of raising a pup. 6 weeks is not that young as far as feeding they are usually eating puppy food. A good high quality high protein puppy food like Orijen would be a good idea. I don't know what the additive is but as far as age goes probably is not necessary any more. This a good guide for vaccinations. The advice about not letting him out side is good since he has no immunity from the mother dog. Get his shots and maybe get him into a puppy class after his first shots for socialization.
Dr. Jean Dodds' Pet Health Resource Blog | 2013 and 2014 Canine Vaccination Protocol - W….
Welcome to the forum.

 

[techigirl78]

The guidelines for vaccines is good. A big issue you can find with huskies is they are mouthy breeds. If your pup takes this breed trait, then it can be made much worse by not having the mother or littermates at a early age. This is not the end of the world, but definitely get on top of it very very quick. I got my husky rescue at 13 weeks and he was dropped in shelter very young. It took many months to break his bad habit. Though now he is not mouthy at all.

 

[Bordercollie]

I got Zorro at six weeks and for the most part he's turned out fine. Although I probably have the two Jrts I had at the time to thank for that. I've always given all my pups their first vaccination at six weeks. Like Dawnben mentioned you might have to work a bit harder on things like bite inhibition and socialization, but health wise as long as he's on a good quality puppy food, he should be fine.

 

[novasmom]

I picked up Nova at 7 weeks took her to the vet at 8. breeder had given her first round of vaccinations . My vet said that was a waste of time for her to do that . the reason he said is because the puppy has moms immunity. but your puppy was weaned early so that immunity may not be there. when you do your vet check asap I have a feeling your pup will need the vaccinations right away hope this helps. Congratulations on your new puppy!!!!!

 

[Jeru]

I picked up Chester at 6 weeks as well. Get your pup vaccinated as soon as possible, and keep it in a very safety proofed area. The tend to be very nippy at this stage and usually love to chase your feet, which is very annoying to say the least. Teach bite inhibition from the start. That means let the pup mouth your hand but the second it gets to hard say "ouch" in a very high pitched voice and remove yourself. For food just make sure you are giving the pup a decent quality puppy kibble, and maybe add some water to it to soften it up. They will also sleep more than half the day at this stage and go to the washroom tones.

All the nipping bothered me for awhile but Chester grew out of it, and has turned out to be very friendly and obedient though he is only 6 months now so I may not see the end results yet. Good luck

 

[kathyt]

Many years ago we took in a 4 week old lab puppy. The family that had the litter was moving across country and they were either giving away the puppies or having the ones not taken put to sleep! They had said he was weaned but that was a lie. I found the only thing he'd eat was the kibble moistened into a slurry and then I'd hand feed him every few hours for the first couple of weeks. Our vet had said that it was a fifty fifty chance he'd survive at that young age. He actually didn't even see very well yet. But the reason I'm telling you all this is because it all went fine and he grew into a very happy, healthy and well adjusted dog.

 

[samanthalynn25]

Thank you so much for the advice everyone!! I took Fitz to the vet today and he received his first vaccines and a clean bill of health I also signed him up for a puppy training class for when he turns 8 weeks old. I'm hoping that will help him a little bit with the bite inhibition and socialization.

 

[Loraura]

I highly recommend the book "Puppy Start Right". You can find it on Amazon.com (digital download).

 

[anele]

Petco has free "puppy playtime" classes, too, once he has a few more shots. Check around as not all of them offer it . . .there is one fairly close to me that has it 4Xs a week. That's a lot of opportunity for bite inhibition training and socialization!

 

[fruit loop]

Hello, and welcome ..congratulations on your new baby too x. i can only say what everyone else has said, weaning a pup early is not ideal but sometimes there is no choice. thousands of pups all over the world have to be handreared and most do just fine. He is young so with good training im sure he will be just fine. My pup is a rescue, and was handreared from a week old, she is totally fine. I have a safe secure garden so she did go into the garden before she was vaccinated but only because i knew no unvaccinated dogs had been there, my normal vet wanted her vaccinated at 8 weeks but my holistic vet wanted me to wait till she was 10 weeks because her immune system wasnt as developed because of not having mums milk and she didnt want to overload her system with jabs so young. I opted to wait till 10weeks, and then she started puppy class after her 2nd jab at 12 weeks. She is great, fantastic, growing , learning she is happy and strong. im sure your boy will be just fine too

 

[zoorun]

Yes, you want them vaccinated as soon as possible! They do have the mother's immunity while they are still nursing. Also you should get the pup dewormed.

My dad's puppy was 4 weeks and 5 days when she came home, and for the most part has turned out fine, but you will want to start with training boundaries and bite inhibition NOW. Lucy is really in your face, which could have been prevented with positive training young. She is (we think) a similar mix to yours, Border Collie/Husky. She's very sensitive, agile, and HIGH energy. Read all the stickies on the forum, they will help

If your yard hasn't had dogs in it, I would say it's fine to take the pup outside, but there only. Good luck! Keep us updated.