6 weeks gsd

[JCTwo]

Hey everyone.

So I discovered in this forum that buying a 6 week old puppy is a big nono. The breeder refused him back. With that said, I want to maximize his behavior and training now. My pupp Lucian is 6 weeks and 4 days old. I have a 3 year old daughter and a 1 year old small mutt that is just as big as Lucian is now. They both play and my daughter is gentle. I have trained 1 gsd in the past and feel I have good experiance on doing it again. What I don't have experiance in is just now finding out I may have a social problem with my new puppy. Any good ideas?

He did cry all last night in his crate and I expect the same tonight. My original plan was to start clicker training today. Should I stick with my plan and start my training like any other gsd puppy or do I need to do something else?

[shepherdmom]

Originally Posted by JCTwo

Hey everyone.

So I discovered in this forum that buying a 6 week old puppy is a big nono. The breeder refused him back. With that said, I want to maximize his behavior and training now. My pupp Lucian is 6 weeks and 4 days old. I have a 3 year old daughter and a 1 year old small mutt that is just as big as Lucian is now. They both play and my daughter is gentle. I have trained 1 gsd in the past and feel I have good experiance on doing it again. What I don't have experiance in is just now finding out I may have a social problem with my new puppy. Any good ideas?

He did cry all last night in his crate and I expect the same tonight. My original plan was to start clicker training today. Should I stick with my plan and start my training like any other gsd puppy or do I need to do something else?

I don't know if you should wait or not. I'm not an expert but I think at 6 weeks he is still a baby. I have found the older they are the quicker they pick up on training, so I would maybe wait a little bit. What I do think is good is that you have another dog. That will help with the socialization.

[JCTwo]

Thanks!

He is going to go everywhere humans are. My daughter has soccer games for the next couple of weeks and he will be going. I found two dog parks near me. I think for now, i am going to load him up with treats when he is socializing with everything and everyone. I live in Pensacola Fl btw.

[mego]

Just be careful socializing at that age because thats soooo young and needs more shots.

That's b.s. that the breeder refused the pup back

[glinny]

Better read some of the dog park threads. I am pretty new at this myself but I don't think he has had enough shots to go out anywhere in public too much. maybe someone will let us know if you should wait a couple of weeks to start socializing.

[shepherdmom]

No please don't take him out yet, he does't have the shots he needs to protect him from getting sick. Your family and your dog are a good start on the socialization. My vet said wait for 3 weeks after second shot before taking puppy out to be socialized. Remember he is still a baby. Waiting a few weeks for his immune system to build up resistance to nasty bugs won't hurt the socialization process.

[mandiah89]

I wouldnt be taking him even to your daughters soccer games/practices as Im sure other dogs have and will be at the same field and there is a huge risk of your puppy picking up something like parvo! A dog park right now is definitely a no no for the same reason! Wait till he gets at least his second round of shots before taking him to places like that... try sticking too only dogs you know personally that have their shots... and going places where there is lots of human traffic like in front of a walmart or Lowes or something of the sort or even a mall... As for the training... give it some time give him a 2 weeks to even start clicker training.. he is only 6 weeks old and was just ripped away from his siblings and parents way to early and you dont want to overwhelm him... also this young he might have tummy problems if you give him too many treats right away, slowing introduce those... best of luck

[JCTwo]

Thanks everyone. You are all right. He has only had his first shots a deworming. His next ones are in two weeks. For now he will stay home. I will start my training around 8 or 9 weeks like I did with my last one. I did introduce the clicker to recognise his name only. He seemed very interested. I will stop for now so his stomach will not get upset. He has taken to my 3 year old daughter like she is his mother.

[katieliz]

read up on what to do when he starts (play)biting, as he would do with his siblings, and how never to punish him but only redirect him, because it's natural and he is missing out on some of the learning he would do if he hadn't been taken away from his litter too early.