Bringing Home an Older Puppy? **Update** She comes home tomorrow!

[GTownPride]

Hi everyone! Currently I'm in the waiting stages of bringing home a new puppy. The puppies are currently 10 days old so I have about another 6-7 weeks to wait. Recently in talking with the breeder she mentioned that she also has a 13 week old puppy that was bred by a co-owner of one of her dogs. She was supposed to go to another home to someone interested in showing her but that home didn't work out and she asked if I would be interested in this puppy instead.

So are there any pros or cons to bringing home an older puppy? I've missed the 1st month already but I'm not so sure that's a bad thing considering this is the 1st dog I'll have on my own. It also sort of puts a rush on things a little, because if I know I'm getting her, I'm gonna want to go pick her up ASAP, and I don't have anything ready. I was prepared to do things a little at a time to make the waiting time go by faster. I'd have to go out and buy supplies and puppy proof my house this week and if all goes well pick her up on Saturday. Thoughts?

**Update**
So after talking with the breeder and finding out all about her, followed by some thoughtful deliberation, we decided she'd be a good fit for us, and we're going to pick her up tomorrow!!! She's 14 weeks, yellow, and, they've been calling her, Bunny. I think its pretty cute but I don't know if we'll keep it or not. So this afternoon, I went out and spent WAY too much money at Petsmart. This is the short list of things I bought:

* 36" Wire Crate w/ divider
* 2 Stainless steel bowls
* Purple collar and leash
* tons and tons of toys (including a med. sized Kong)
* small bag of treats
* nature's miracle
* grooming supplies (brush and nail clipper)
* Bag of food

Is there anything else that I absolutely cannot live without? I think I got all of the important ones but I may have missed something.

[talleyJudy]

It really doesn't "cost" anything to look. Especially if the 13 week old was raised in the house (as opposed to being in an outdoor 'kennel' all of that time since weaning.) Lots of pluses if the pup was in the house all the time; it's likely to be already housebroken and crate trained, and socialized to people and other dogs. :educated:

[JustineNYC]

Your only talking about a months difference.

[Neska74]

I brought Saba home at 11 weeks. What I noticed is that he only cried for a night or two and was house / potty trained within 4-5 days.
This is my first dog - so I never had to deal with an 8 week old, but hearing from friends that had 8 week olds - it takes just a bit longer to house train them.
I think that's the only difference.
They're still small cute and cuddly

[imported_ChowHound]

Personally, I wouldn't hesitate to look at an older puppy -- and definitely think there could be a lot of positives about it (as TalleyJudy mentioned).

Good luck!!

[Paddysmom]

Megan (girl beagle) was 12 weeks when we brought her home. All my other pups (labs, another beagle) were 7 weeks. I couldn't say there was a jot of difference in training or adjustment.

[kaytris]

I wouldn't see any difficulties UNLESS the puppy was kennel-raised. You're in a critical socializing period, so a kennel-pup may have some deficiencies that a house-raised puppy wouldn't.

[labby]

As long as the puppy is well socialized it's probably a bonus since dogs can't seem to grasp the idea of potty training until they're about that age. Until then, you're basically setting patterns for training and waiting for the dog to catch on.

[GTownPride]

I emailed the breeder asking for all the details and I told her I might be interested. So I'll wait to see what she says. I'm home all week from Tuesday on so I should have time to prepare if I decide to pick her up. I'm pretty sure she's been raised in the breeder's home with her family and other dogs so I don't think socialization should be an issue. I was just curious as to whether I would be missing something important in that time. It may be that instead of one month, I'll be bringing a puppy home in one week! :surprise:

[GTownPride]

Update at the top!