Placing pups at 6 weeks.
I am looking for advice from anyone who may know about the old english sheepdog. Friends of ours have two english sheepdogs,and the family are about to move to a new life outside of this country.Unfortunately,in the chaos that this has created ,both have been too busy and stressed and when they took their dogs to a groomer to have their show coats cut to a more managable length,the groomer informed them the bitch was pregnant.Luckilly the only dog with access to her is their male english sheepdog as they live in the country on a large fully fenced property.The litter was born 17 days ago,3 female pups.By the end of week one they had doubled their birthweights,by the end of week 2 they had trebled them,eyes are open and pups are beginning to vocalise.Bitch is coping well,even though its her first litter. Heres the problem.When this family leave to fly overseas,the pups will be precisely 6 weeks and 1 day old,so they see their only option is to place the pups with their new owners at 6 weeks exactly.It is not feasible or indeed possible,to delay the familys departure or to take the pups overseas with them,though they will of course be taking the bitch and dog. I have owned 2 english sheepdogs.The first,a female,was bought around 1974,and at the time,pups were commonly placed at 6 weeks.I had no probelms with her at all and she lived 13 years.Our second english sheepdog was purchased around 1990 and lived 14 years.She was the only survivor of the litter,thus named Only after a dog in a book,and placed with us at 6 weeks when her mother died in an accident.Again,we had no problems with her,temperamentally or healthwise. However,in the intervening years we have purchased several spaniels,gundogs and a poodle and these were all purchased at 8 weeks of age,the breeders telling us thats the optimum time for a pup to leave the litter. So,what I need to know is,what are the problems associated with this breed ,when a pup is placed at 6 weeks?Can anything be done to overcome these problems?The pups are being placed with a vets wife,and a dog handler and myself.They are not being sold,they are being given to us and they will come with a contract stating they are pets and must be desexed at the right time.They cannot be shown nor bred from.This is fine,none of the 3 are dog breeders and both the vets wife and handler are confident they can overcome any issues the forced early placement may present. None of us have children living at home,all own one other dog.(not english sheepdogs).All matrue females(poodle,spaniel,labrador). The vet has advised us to massage the pups gums daily,to prevent oral fixation,and to eat in front of the pup and then feed it last,and other such strategies,to establish the pups place in the pecking order. Whenever I attempt to do an internet search to discover information on this type of situation,all I get is dire warnings not to ever take a pup at 6 weeks of age,they wont socialize etc,but no specific information on english sheepdogs.As a large breed,would any problems be worse/less bad? The owners are very responsible and loving people,the wife immediately abdicated her moving responsibilites and hired others to pack etc so she could concentrate on the pups and the bitch.They deeply regret the whole situation,their dogs have done fairly well in the showring and were retired to begin breeding once they were settled overseas,so this first litter experience has been a blow. So,accepted the ideal would be the pups being placed at 8 weeks,the reality is what counts,can anyone offer any advice.Thank You. |
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| Guest....
I am not a breeder and really a newbie to all of this. But someone here can help!!! Your thread is very detailed and direct..... "This has happened and I need help when I get this 6 week old puppy." There may be some options that forum members can offer..... Please consider joining the forum and keep checking often for answers. Good luck and with all the love this puppy will have I am sure she will be fine!!!!!!! |
| I got my OES puppy when she was just 6 1/2 weeks old. I too had another dog which I think helped her not get lonely. I spent as much time with her as I could when I was not having to go to work. From day one, I began crate training her. While I was at work, I had my neighbor (which I paid her weekly for her services) to let Lulu (puppy) and my other dog Dudley out for a potty break, give them lots of attention and a few treats. Once Lulu had gotten all of her vaccinations, I began taking her with us to the dog parks so she could learn to socialize and learn all about the world outside of our home. Lulu is now 3 1/2 years old and is a great dog with no social issues and loves everyone.
Good Luck! |
| OK first problem is they are missing out on the socialisation aspect of siblings and mom. That can be overcomed by after it is safe with the full set of puppy vaccinations taking the new one off to Puppy Kinder for play and exploration with pups around the same age. Most vets run these sort of kinders for young pups. After that going to obedience and out and about with other dogs to parks etc so she is well accustomed to other dogs and learns to socialise.
At the moment too at 6 weeks your baby should be on at least 4 small meals a day. With the dry food make sure it is a premium one for large breed puppys. Boil the kettle and pour some hot water over it to soften the dry and you can also add cook chicken flesh, fresh beef or fish & vegies (that is pumpkin, carrot, brocoli, zuchini) to the softened dry mix. Yoghurt in one of the meals too or if you have access to goats milk then a drink of that once a day as well is good for them. If not goats milk then get a pet milk that is low lactose for her. After 8-12 weeks then you can cut her down to 3 meals a day. Under the circumstances you are behind the eight ball getting her a 6 weeks but not impossible for her to turn out OK. Socialisation is the key aspect after all puppy vacs are complete and including her in everything from then on. In the meantime you can take her out in the car, let her sit in their and see out the window people walking past, cars zooming past, just the big wide world for her to peruse from the safety of the car. I actually take young puppers in the car and if I am not going to be long let them sit in the car while I duck into the shops and let them watch all that is happening outside those car windows. Also let her bond with the other dog and let them sort it out within reason, I'd be wacking the two of them together straight away, you will find an older dog will discipline them but never hurt them as they know they are only babies still. Your other dog will teach the new baby plenty. Good luck with it all, I am sure it will turn out all good and please register with the forum and share your new little one with us all, I am sure there will be others that will chime in as well and of course along the way when ever you need to ask about the breed, plenty of wonderfull people to help you along the way with any queries. We are all a family of lovers of OES here 
Does she come with at least the first lot of puppy vacs and wormed? If not then you need to get to a vet asap, especially the worming aspect of it. Puppy Vacs 7-8 weeks, 12 weeks and 16 weeks then all safe for out and about. And also speak to the vet about a worming schedule for her and when to start on heart worm if you live in an area that has heart worm. |
| While not ideal it can be done. My OES came home at 6 weeks to the day through an unexected set of circumstances. I took two weeks off and stayed with him. He is happy and haealthy and did not suffer from his early seperation. |
| Another way to stack the odds in the puppies' favor is to keep the three of them together for a couple of more weeks in the household with the most sensible resident adult dog. The ideal would be a bitch who'd had puppies herself, but those are few and far between in most households today, so at least an adult dog (breed is irrelevant but a larger breed is better than a toy for obvious reasons) with known superior dog skills.
Frankly, from what I see of dogs out there I sometimes wonder if people know what an appropriately socially skilled dog is, so though tales of younger puppies who do just fine may mean they don't eat other dogs, they are probably still somewhat socially retarded. I see this sometimes in obedience dogs whose owners believed the old study that 7 weeks (49 days) old is the ideal time to get a puppy so they will bond with you. All fine and dandy, but then about half of the time depending on the skill and the canine household of the owner, they still end up with "other dog issues". It probably wouldn't be so noticable in a pet as most people don't do much with their dogs, but a dog who competes in obedience is a different matter and the holes in their canine education can be really obvious and annoying at best for the rest of us. After their first shots, even though you still have to be very careful, another way to hedge your bets is to start taking them to friends' houses who have dogs whom you know the medical history of and who don't do a lot of extracurricular activies (showing, classes, dog park, day care). And who are also known to be good with other dogs/puppies. Kristine |
| Sorry Kristine I should have logged in above. you.
While I don't dispute anything you say and am a firm believer in letting puppies stay with their litter longer Tasker, at 14 truly has been "just fine". From the sound of this post, there is not a choice whether the pups can/will stay longer it appears to be a done deal. And while he does not compete in obedience and I surely am not as knowledgable about training as you Tasker is a well socialized dog who has had very rare behavior issues (ok I confess he doesn't like cats and he is a counter surfer). So while not supporting seperation at 6 weeks I believe it is possible to give the poster hope that the pups are not doomed to live lives of obvious educational disadvantage. |
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