[Daisy]

Hello there! I was wondering if anyone could possibly help me. My neighbors dog had puppies about 6 weeks ago. They are a mix between beagle, treeing walker coonhound and something else. We're thinking boxer or bulldog. We can't decide.

Anyways, the mother has always been an outside dog, much to my dismay. To hear that she also wasn't fixed was even worse. But my husband and I have agreed to take one of the puppies when they're old enough. The problem is that the puppies are now "outside" dogs as well, and I've always been worried about the heat, snakes, hawks or the plethora of other sicknesses that they could catch from being outside too young.

Now, at only six weeks old, they are getting out of the yard along with the mother. They were found by a neighbor down the block and brought back home this evening. We found out that they also got out yesterday. My neighbor has put them in a dog pen at the back of her property, which has really left me worried.

I guess what I am asking is if it's too early to take the one that I was planning on getting from her. The mother has already stopped feeding them, and will even run away when they try to feed off of her. Does the risk of the puppy being taken away from the mother a little early outweigh the risk of them getting out and getting hit by a car, or catching heartworm from the mass amounts of mosquitoes that we have in the area. I'm really worried about them. Any advice would be great.

[Yogi]

At this age based on the fact they are no longer nursing, they should have had at least their first puppy booster. If the dam simply is not monitoring their play than she is obviously not doing a good job imprinting or socializing. Are the owners going to get the pups vaccinated?

[Daisy]

Actually, I am going to vaccinate her myself. The momma and entire litter have been going in for deworming, and they have an appointment for next Tuesday for another deworming and their first shots.

I don't want to take her away from momma too early, but at the same time, I don't like the idea of her being outside anymore. None of my animals go outside for anything other than walks or to play in the backyard for a limited time due to the heat.

[cigwyllt]

Neither course is ideal is it but I think I would lean towards taking the pup - you have other dogs to help teach bite inhibition and general doggy behaviour plus he/she will be in less physical danger. I guess it is a case of choosing the lesser of two evils and for me that would be taking him now.

[Lunareclipse]

Tell your neighbor to get her dog fixed.

[Daisy]

Thanks, Cig. I have been thinking the same thing. I hate the idea of her becoming emotionally scarred from being taken away from her mother too early, but I hate the thought of her getting hurt or sick even more. After I took the pups into the vet after two of them died, I told her that they needed to be inside at LEAST until they could get their shots and get on some kind of heartworm prevention. She had them inside for about 6 hours until the momma got to be too rowdy late at night, and then she put them right back outside. It has been breaking my heart. And she feeds them puppy chow, which just makes me cringe. I bring over Wellness puppy formula twice during the day when she's at work, so I at least know that they're getting two good meals.

The real kicker is that she saw her dog being mounted by a poodle a couple weeks ago, so she might very well be pregnant again. I am hoping that she will take her in with the pups next week and have her fixed. I don't think I can go through all of this with her again. I love my neighbor, but the way that he chooses to raise her animals leaves a LOT to be desired in my book.

I'm going to go over today and bring my puppy home. It's a couple weeks early, but as it was said, I have two good dogs here that already love her a lot. And she will have some place cool during the day and warm at night to sleep. I'm thinking about at least getting some milk replacement to give he that extra nutrition over the next week.

[angiesample]

I got my dog at 5 weeks old bc the mother was hit by a car She has done great, we had some extra issues with biting but she caught on eventually. We didnt have any problems with her eating or anything like that and i didnt do any kind of supplements i just watered down her food so it was a little softer. Good luck!