Any experiences with 6wo puppy?

[SASM]

We have the opportunity to take in a 6wo puppy. The owners have to go out of town for medical reasons and they adopted all of the pups out early because they couldn't board them. One female is left. It is kind of difficult to tell their personality this young...definitely too early to do a puppy personality test (usually done at 7wo). The owner noticed that this one was the adventurous one of the bunch, explores and not as laid back as the other girl. So...any experiences with this age, both as a pup in need of care, discipline, etc AND, more importantly, as an adult? All I know is that the last 2 weeks with the mother and siblings is crucial for socialization and behavior development...that is why it is optimal to keep the pups together with mom until at least 8 wo.

Also, the pup is an interesting mix: mom is Mini Schnauzer & Cairn Terrier and the dad is Maltese. This pup should be "hypoallergenic" (I know...everyone is different) and shouldn't shed. I have had a lot of personal feedback from friend regarding the mini schnauzer side. All I know about Maltese is that the one that I watched for a week liked to dig...yikes! Hopefully, that is trainable. Any personal experiences with Maltese and cairn terriers?? I've already checked out dogbreedinfo.com...looking for personal accounts.

Thank you for any feedback! I definitely haven reservations and ammleaning towards "no" but I am curious what feedback you have. I don't want go miss out on a possible good opportunity. I've been looking at shelters off and on for a while and a dog like this would never be in there...wouldn't last. The way that I figure, shelter dogs would be a big question mark as well in regards to personality and history...at least with this pup would would know the age and history ahead of time to try and make adjustments to care and discipline ahead of time.

Thanks for reading my novel! So...any experiences with 6 wo pups, as pups and adult? Any experiences with these individual breeds? TIA...

[JBaxter]

I have pup experience and my mom breeds cavalier/bichons and she wont adopt out till 8 weeks. 6 weeks is REALLY young to adopt.

[kdeunc]

We have 2 8 month old puppies that we brought into our house at 6-7 weeks. They have done fine but were a little "needier" early on. We did have two older dogs that were able to help with the socialization and they had each other. I imagine that helped. Good luck with your decision.

[doberbrat]

I wouldnt unless you're a very experienced puppy raiser and more importantly have access to a female that has raised previous litters and can help socialize this one AND have other young pups available to socialize the puppy. weeks 5-8 are crucial for socialization and more importantly in a household w/young kids, Bite Inhibition.

[Momof3Labs]

I personally wouldn't do it. That's such a critical period of socialization for a puppy - they NEED to be with their mother and the litter for that period.

[SASM]

I wouldnt unless you're a very experienced puppy raiser and more importantly have access to a female that has raised previous litters and can help socialize this one AND have other young pups available to socialize the puppy. weeks 5-8 are crucial for socialization and more importantly in a household w/young kids, Bite Inhibition.

Thanks! I really appreciate this point. We have a female standard poodle who is 14mo. She was spayed at 6mo so the innate correction to the pup's misbehaviors is probably not there. The biting issue is a huge concern of mine. We had a handle on it with our poodle, as we were very diligent with obedience, however, she was 9wo when she came home. HUGE difference between 5w and 9w. THANK YOU!!! I just feel bad for this pup. they are giving it away for free...I am afraid where it might end up with these potential issues.

[SASM]

I personally wouldn't do it. That's such a critical period of socialization for a puppy - they NEED to be with their mother and the litter for that period.
Hi Lori!!

Thank you!! :)