Help and suggestions for 8 week old puppy?

I think 8 weeks is a fine time to bring home a new puppy. Yes they still learn things from being with their 'pack' until about 12 weeks of age, on the other hand bringing them home at 8 weeks ensures that you KNOW what socialization they have had.

For socialization I would recommend carrying him/her around to meet different people, see different things and hear different sounds. If you live near a main road maybe carry her to the street and just sit or stand there letting her listen to all the cars go by. Go to a school as it gets out so that all the kids can pat her and she can hear all the screaming - bring some treats with you for the kids to feed her so that she'll associate treats with kids and learn to love them. Take her everywhere you possibly can (carrying her of course so as not to expose her to any harmful virus' she hasn't had vaccinations for)

Enroll her in a puppy preschool with other 8-12 week old puppies to socialize her with other dogs. These preschools are usually in safe environments and only allow puppies between 8 and 12 weeks of age who have had at least one vaccination. A good one will cover house training, socialization and potential problems as well as get you started on the basic obedience commands.

Take her to the vet once a week - even if she isn't booked in! This way she can meet all the staff and get lots of treats, get used to the smells. Also it will mean she goes 4 times a month and only once a month does something potentially scary and bad happen!

It might pay to desensitize her to lots of different sounds by playing different clips on youtube. So far I've done balloons popping, thunderstorms, kids screaming, dogs barking, a haunted forest (for all the weird sounds) and cars accelerating.

One last thing... with the doggy daycare, you want to exercise caution and make sure that all the dogs are vaccinated and that the person running it knows how to care for a puppy. The last thing you want to do is find that you're doing wonderful things for this pup at home only to have them undone by an ignorant daycare worker.

Good luck with your new puppy!

JillyBean is a total idiot and I see you know that. LOL she thinks a BULL Terrier is the same as a PIT BULL WAHHAHA dumb-da-da-da-dum... anyway. Your dog is not too young to be with you. 8 weeks is a great age. Good for you for being a concerned, and well informed dog owner. Wish there were more of you out there. Now you know your breed is not know for its great love of other dogs, so at this point if the people with the other Bull Terrier knows there dogs are good and well adjusted enough to handle having a cute, hyper puppy jumping all over him, then go ahead, the more dogs its introduced to now the better. As far as the day care idea thats better, most daycares require the dogs that come there to be fully vetted and most are well adjusted. I would ask the day care if they have other puppies your dogs age, to play with and I would stay there and watch and supervise. If the dog seems to not be able to handle it, then try something else. Try to bring your pup to events and other people gathering things. This will help socialize the dog to people and thats the most important step of all.

PS, your dog should be vetted at this point. To have to worry about all disease is silly unless you are planning to take the puppy around lots of UNVETTED dogs. I think you are a good owner and you wouldnt do this so Dog Park would be out untill shes a few months. However limited exposure to other dogs now is ok, you cant keep your dog in a plastic bubble people. WOW (not directed totally at you but others that think dogs are fragile sickly creatures)

I don't know why people would tell you to wait. 8 weeks old is just fine to bring a puppy home. All puppies and dogs need to be socialized, no matter if they are 8 weeks or 8 years, so please don't think that when she turns 10 weeks you don't need to continue exposing her to new experiences.

You are completely right in your concern about exposing her to diseases. Please resist the urge to bring her to pet stores like PetSmart and Petco. While you will get tons of attention and people that want to see her, you are also exposing her to potential diseases.

Until she has all of her vaccinations, socialize her in your home. Expose her to new experiences, smells, sounds, etc. Being around you and exploring your home is going to be a great learning experience for her. Have friends stop by to play with her, but make sure it's one or two friends at a time so you don't overwhelm her and have them sanitize their hands before touching her, just in case.

You can expose her to other dogs as long as you completely trust them and know for sure that they are up to date on their vaccinations. The daycare probably won't accept her anyway. Most require dogs to have all the shots and she obviously does not since she is only 8 weeks old.

One last thing, Bull Terriers can be very hard headed so start your obedience training the second she steps through the door. Set your rules and boundaries beforehand so that when she tries togo upstairs you don't have to stand there and ask yourself if you want her to be allowed there. Don't keep her in her crate all the time. Like all dogs, a dog that spends all of its time in a crate is not going to be a well-behaved member of society.

Dog parks on not where you want to socialize a puppy. Not every dog there wants to play and some are not friendly. You need to find a trainer who is offering puppy classes with supervised socialization. Your puppy can only attend classes that are held on floors that get cleaned with a germicide until she has had a vaccination at or after her 12th week. She is vulnerable before that because the pre-12th week vaccinations fade away in about three weeks.

Even though you think housetraining will be a breeze, I'll paste on my method in case you need help.

Schedule-Confine-Supervise

Schedule- the feeding and potty times. An adult is fed twice a day. A puppy is fed four times a day up to 10 or 12 weeks, then three times a day through adolescence. They need to potty first thing in the morning, last thing at night, within a few minutes of every meal, and every few hours in between. The “in between” hours are calculated by their age in months: 1 month = 1 hour, up to 6 months/hours. So, a three month old puppy should be taken to potty every three hours in between the other scheduled times. When the dog/puppy is taken to potty, wait with him as he ‘does his business’ and then praise like crazy. The neighbors should be able to hear you.

Confine- the puppy or dog whenever it is not being watched. Confinement can be in a crate (especially at night), an exercise pen, or behind a baby gate in a very small and puppy-proofed room.

Supervise- the puppy or dog whenever it is loose in the home. This means having eyes on it, not on the TV. Play with the puppy, do a five minute training session, groom it, or just let it lie at your feet with a safe chew, but have it within sight at all times. If it squats then give a loud “NO” or “ACK” as you scoop and run to the appropriate potty spot.

Do not let the dog return to the accident spot until it has been thoroughly cleaned and wiped with vinegar or a commercial enzyme product to remove all urine odor.

There is a lot of misunderstanding about early socialization of dogs. Yes, they need some time with their mother and litter to learn to be dogs. Also to get on solid food and some control over their bowels and bladder. If you go by scientific studies, you will leave the puppies together until 6 weeks, but have them in their home soon after wards, 7-8 weeks is ideal. I would really like to know why people say 12 weeks. it is well proven they no longer accept new things after that. It seems they must add rudeness to their ignorance.

The period between 6-12 weeks is a dangerous time. One sniff where a sick dog relieved itself in the last 6 months can bring on parvo or another life threatening disease. Fail to expose it to strangers, including men, women, children, noise, etc. and you could end up with a misfit you can't take out in public. They also need continuing contact with other dogs, but it must be limited to ones you know are getting good care. The dangers of disease continue after 12 weeks, but the best time for socialization is ending.

http://www.apdt.com/veterinary/assets/pdf/Messer_N...

http://www.apdt.com/veterinary/assets/pdf/Silvani_...

http://www.akc.org/enewsletter/akc_breeder/2008/wi...

Labman nailed it. Disregard everything else.

You can socialize her through play dates with vaccinated puppies and lots of encounters with friendly humans. I always bring my puppies out with me wherever possible - a great way to make new friends - just be careful not to let her sniff and lick where other dogs have been. I would be wary of adult dogs until she is a little older and has learnt the necessary manners to approach an adult dog safely. Dog parks are an absolute no-no in my book; they are bigger idiot magnets than free beer.

Dr Ian Dunbar has some great advice on puppy socialization.

Make sure to have friends and family visit every once and a while to keep her socialized to people and prevent aggression, since you don't want to take her to the dog park, just take her for lots of walks around the neighborhood and try to get her to say hi to the dogs you walk by on the walk. Make sure to have daily obedience training sessions to keep her manners. Go over 'leave it', 'sit', 'stay', 'come', and 'no'. to make sure that you can keep her safe during most situations. Just make sure to keep socializing whenever you can and training her these commands first before any tricks so that she can get these commands down, and try to make her fluent with these commands using words AND hand motions so if you need to, you can use one or the other and she will know what to do.

Puppies are ready to go after 8 weeks. No earlier. And also no need to wait longer.

I would avoid dog parks or any contact, they are not protected till they are 16 weeks old! Even tho they already had their first or second shots. So I would be careful especially of Parvo! It is fatal.

You need to socialize your puppy later on.. with other dogs and people so she/he will get use to being around them and not to pick up bad habits (growling, barking etc), bad protective habits.

WHOA Charlie brown 8 weeks old is a bit young for dog parks and such.Instead of a crate why don't you try a play pen until older.That poor puppy was pulled away from mom too soon so now you are going to have to be more careful with the puppy and the public.You are now mommy and you are going to have to make sure that is gets the proper nutrients and is well loved by you and or anyone else in your home.Since she was taken from mommy so young in age You now have to become her mommy.give her soft foods and some puppy formula or baby formula.

Good Luck to you

Not sure who recommends puppies to stay with there mom for that long. A bigger breed is okay to go at 6 weeks and smaller breeds stay for 8 weeks. Your puppy will be fine you want her/him to bond with you and that will be the perfect time for you to get some one on one time with the puppy. You become her mom per say. You play with her and socailize with her and she will be fine. If your real concerned about it you could get one more dog if that is an option but keep in mind the 2 puppies will bond to each other more then they bond to you.