Puppy too young but.... Questions

Hi. I'm brand new here & I have a question. I have an amazing 10 yr old Rottie boy that seriously could have his own Facebook page because he's so well loved! As he's getting older we knew we wanted another one by the same breeder who has AMAZING Rotts & a beautiful set up for years!

Well, my question is that even though the breeder is really amazing he did let me bring the baby home at 6 weeks old, per our request since my husband was oon vaca last week & wanted to be here to help her 1st week. ( I just learned today 6 weeks is too early it seems).

He did say he likes to keep the pups till 8 weeks but since we live just 4 miles up the road & he knows us as dog owners & how great we've done with our 10 yr old we got from him, he said it was fine.

We didn't research age, we just thought since the breeder was ok with it we felt good to go. She's 7 weeks old today & doing great but as I've been looking up training stuff today I've come across things that are kind of scaring me......reading all the negative things about them going this young. ☹

Now my question, sorry to drag this out. Could you tell me.....is she really going to be scarred for life, have personality issues, be super hard to train, etc, forever?! All these things the articles are telling me & that serious "damage" is done to the pups mind even into her adult life with training all because she left so young.

Could someone please offer me some positive thoughts....like she's not doomed to be messed up? We have figured "Well, if we keep working with her I think she'll be fine" but I'm not kidding, every Google search is telling me it's an issue that we'll have with her FOREVER!

Ok, this is long enough. I'm sorry. But thank you for some positive thoughts if there are any. I definitely have plenty of negative ones already but I have her now & I can't bring her back but she is really doing great! I've crate trained her already & she sleeps 7 hours at night, both of which I'm so excited about!!!

Here's our 10 yr old boy last week. He missed out on some markings so they told us ahead of time we couldn't ever show him, they do a lot of shows, and we got a great discount on him, but we didn't care, we just wanted a great family dog and he has been for sure!!

Ideally, between 7 and 8 weeks is the optimum age, but your pup won't be 'scarred for life' and coming home earlier.

Your older dog will show her the ropes and she will be no easier or harder to train than a pup being brought home a little later.

Enjoy her and stop worrying

Thank you so much for the encouraging words! You have no idea how many people have fussed at me just today which made me look up articles and they didn't help at all either. You're so right about the older dog teaching the younger. Part of why we wanted her now while he still is full of life. Minus a bit of arthritis. Caught this picture her 1st day with us. ❤ Thank you again. I'll stop worrying.

My little mini booga was barely three weeks old when she came into my life, unweaned and needing to be bottle-fed every few hours. Scarred for life? If you mean that at 2½ years old she still thinks she is a puppy, then maybe she was?! I do not think so though as she is the happiest "puppy" I have ever had the pleasure of sharing my life with. I am not sure whether I trained her though as I reckon she trained me!

Your big boy and your new bubba are both gorgeous

It’s good you are worrying, it means you care
Enjoy you new baby and by the way....that’s a fantastic photo, keep them coming

Yes, she was a little too young to leave the nest, but she is not from a vulnerable breed, and she has come to a home with same breed experience. Hopefully, your older Rottie will have the patience to join in with some of her play, and as she grows, can act as a role model for the types of behaviour which are expected in your home.
Relax and enjoy your puppy.

Thank you and I appreciate your thoughts! How wonderful to think of you taking in your sweet baby that young and caring for her and that she's turned out so happy! You would be surprised at all the articles about how mentally scarred the pups will always be when taken too young. I seriously tried to find a positive article to make myself feel better and could not! That is when I signed up here so I could ask some questions, and it's helped!
I kept saying "well I've already got her so how about helping me to train her now to be wonderful?" and they'd say "oh the mental damage of not having mom and litter mates till 8 weeks is already done so you'll just have to do the best you can with training but know she's going to be a real challenge". Anyway, thank you and your pup is adorable!

Thank you for your kind words, they help for sure!! We do care very much and that's why I started seeking out info IF it really does make a difference to have her too young. I appreciate it.

Hi Carole. Thank you for your input. I agree now that we did get her too young and that's why I've been searching to see if I need to do anything different to help her grow well despite her being too young. You're right though, she is not a fragile baby and our older boy is very gentle and kind to her but will yelp at her when she bites his leg too hard. Which his perfect I know, mommys not here so he's her adopted daddy and he's helping a lot! I understand the amount of training that goes into a puppy even if you get them younger so I'm pretty sure I've just added that much extra training time to my life. haha. 2 weeks extra anyway. But that's ok. I did CGC training with my big boy and will do the same with her and maybe more if time allows.

Kim, stop worrying and enjoy your new baby! I am sure she will be fine with you and your big boy. Both Pereg [the girl in my avatar] and Lexi, the one I had when I adopted her, were around 6 weeks old - just unwanted mutts and just settled in. Maybe they knew they had come to a safe haven?

Tikva, my little mini booga, was definitely far too young and when I first saw her I was told that I could not have her for another two weeks - and even that would have meant that she was really too young. But as it was I was told "come and get your puppy now" with an unspoken "or else" just two days later. A tiny scrap who got into more mischief than I could have ever imagined!

Aww she's so tiny! I definitely think dogs know when they've been blessed with a loving home and are thankful for it. I'm not worrying so much anymore. Yesterday was a hard day but I'm getting some positive feedback here and a couple other places so am feeling much better about it. She's so loved and doing great ,I know we all have many wonderful years ahead!

Oh Kim, Tikki Tikva was so unbelievable tiny but she survived although I frequently wonder how I did - and at ~6kg she definitely is the boss here now!

I would not have it any way. She is the reason I get up in the morning and the reason for life. If you understand what I mean.

I do! Dogs are very special creatures indeed. They grab hold of your heart and become one of your children! I feel blessed that I've been able to raise my kids and now my grandkids around them. I can't imagine a childhood without a dog.

I was not allowed a dog as a child, so I got myself a spare time job in the local dogs home, (a seven day only shelter), at ten years old. The cash paid for my horse riding lessons. Of course, it wasn't long before I fell in love with a sheepdog, which seemed partly obedience trained. I couldn't let her die, so I took her home, but Mum was definitely not amused. She set off to take her back to the kennels, but called at Grannies on the way and was persuaded that I had shown sufficient committment to keep Beauty, as I named her.
Perhaps I would not have become such a dog obsessive if we had just had a normal family dog, who knows?

Carole I think that's the best thing about being an adult is now we can have all the animals we want! Lol. I didn't have any pets growing up either. Well, for about 3 months we had a puppy, I was sooooo in love with it then my dad took her to the pound. My little 8 yr old mind and body was so depressed it wad horrible. Now I have had dogs and cats my whole adult life, and even chickens now for 5 years and my fav animal, 2 horses, but sadly that only lasted a year. I could never ride them. But, I did live my dream of owning 1 right in my yard so it was awesome! Dogs will forever be in my life I just know it! So glad your Grannie kept Beauty for you. That's a special thing I'm sure.

My new pup and older guy are now napping together. Progress! Yay!

Oh wow, yippee and all that - what a wonderful piccie of baby and big boy! I have a grin on my face from ear to ear just looking at it! Thank you for sharing the picture with us.

And now, Kim, and now, you do realise that we will expect more photographs of your furkids - and you really must keep us up to date with everything.

Or I will sulk!

Not sure where my post went with the picture but don't have time right now to type it again but I did say more pics are never a problem and that I'm very excited this baby is crate trained at 7 weeks!! Fastest one I've trained yet! Lol

Ah, just look at the little bubba - she is just too cute, although I am not too sure what she has in her crate with her. My bubbie sleeps in a crate but she does not have any toys in it - she did when she was tiny and had an unwashed teeshirt of mine, but for her since a long time her crate is zonk time.\\

I just want to reach in my monitor and cuddle your little girl - she is just so scruptious!