# Young or Old? Ideal age to take home a puppy?



## Guest (Jul 13, 2009)

Hi there,

Not completely sure if this is the right forum.

I'm looking for information about the differences between a 16 wk puppy versus a 7 month old puppy.

Any information would help me. I would be a first time dog owner and thought perhaps an older puppy might be easier, but this forum would definitely be able to inform me better.

I'd love to know about the differences especially in terms of energy, obedience, noise level, training, and anything else relevant. Since I'm a first time owner, I'd prefer the age that's easier to take care of!

Thanks everyone!


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## princessre (Dec 23, 2008)

I would much rather a 7 month old puppy. I got Casanova at 6.5 months and it took only a few weeks to potty train him. Also I like to know what a dog is going to look like and at 16 weeks you can't always tell as a new dog owner.


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## myfairlacy (Dec 28, 2007)

Either age would be fine with me. I like the idea of an older puppy as you havea better idea of their personality, health and physical features. However, younger puppies are adorable and very fun too. I think it would be more important to me to look at the individual puppy and it's personality and how it looks..physical features, coat, size it ought to mature to, etc. I think older puppies are wonderful AS LONG AS the breeder has spent the time to socialize and train.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

An older puppy (5+ months) is definitely "easier", but by no means is it "easy". LOL :smheat: 

I have had 3 Maltese before, and got them all at at 12 weeks old. My first Maltese (who died from a liver shunt before age 2) I got when both my husband and I were working full-time. It was a horrible idea, in my opinion to have a puppy when both of us were gone for 8 hours a day (I would come home on my lunch, but that's only 1hr).

With my current two babies, I've been a housewife and that is one reason why I chose young puppies over older ones. Since you don't have another dog in the house, I would recommend getting an older puppy over a 3-4 month old if you don't want to feel like you have a newborn at home. They will wake you up in the middle of the night, they will play HARD and wear you out to where you need to nap when they do! lol I kid you not, it is like bringing home a baby from the hospital. Good and bad. 

At 6-7 months old, you have a general idea of what they will look like when they mature fully, and they have already gotten in some good basic potty training skills if the breeder was caring for them properly. Most likely they will be pee pad trained, so if you're against going with pee pads, you may have to work harder to potty train the older puppy. Older puppies are not quite as rambunctious and you don't have to watch them "as" closely, but they can still get into lots of stuff and cause trouble.

On the other side of things, a younger puppy will probably bond with you a little faster than an older puppy would (but I don't have actual experience with this, so I can't say for sure). A 3 month old puppy will have close to no learned behaviors or skills....you can look at it as either a clean slate OR as a lot of work... I had London who is 1.5 yrs old and wanted to add a 2nd one so we opted for a 3 month old puppy because we thought she would be more accepting of a puppy than she would with an older dog (we previously tried adopting a rescue but she didn't mesh well with him)...Preston & London love eachother, and it's only been 3 weeks. But it is hard at times because we were used to having a Maltese who was potty trained, knew commands, etc, and now we have a puppy and are doing it all over again. Sometimes I forget that Preston doesn't understand what "leave it" means yet or what "inside" means. I'm sleep deprived...we go to bed at 10:30pm every night, and Preston wakes us up at 5:30am. I was used to sleeping/laying in bed from 10:30pm-7am. lol I try and take naps when he does to get a little extra boost in the day. 

Is the older puppy a male or female? If it's a male, you will want to ask the breeder if he has developed any bad habits, such as marking indoors (if he's not neutered). I think it sounds like you would be happier with the older puppy since it's your first dog...just remember, a 6-7 month old is still very much a puppy, just without the middle of the night trips to go potty, etc.  If you work full-time also, I would not get a young puppy. They need lots of socialization and attention.


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## bellaratamaltese (May 24, 2006)

I dont' think there is a right or wrong answer here - I think it depends on the individual pup and the temperament. Either age should be fine, depending on what you are looking for. Bonding wise, there should be little problems.


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## Guest (Jul 13, 2009)

Thanks everyone, this is really helpful so far!


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## roxybaby22 (Feb 25, 2009)

QUOTE (BellarataMaltese @ Jul 13 2009, 07:02 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=804718


> I dont' think there is a right or wrong answer here - I think it depends on the individual pup and the temperament. Either age should be fine, depending on what you are looking for. Bonding wise, there should be little problems.[/B]


:goodpost: I agree, you could get an extremely hyper active 7 month old and a calm 16 week old, so it really does depend on temperament. 

What breeders are you choosing from?


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## myfairlacy (Dec 28, 2007)

I don't think age of the dog necessarily correlates to how quickly or intensely they bond to you. A young puppy would be more dependent on you as they require even more of a time commitment. I think as long as the dog has been well socialized and has no fearfulness or bad experiences with people, they bond to their new owners pretty quickly. I got Lacy when she was a young puppy and I'm the only owner she's ever known so of course we are very attached but she's a typical independent female too. Rylie, I got right before he turned three years old (almost two years ago now). He was my sister's dog so he had seen me off and on throughout the years..but I would say he's very attached to me...he's kindof like velcro at times. I also know several people that got adult dogs that are just as bonded to them as their dogs they got as young puppies. And as someone already said, a 6 month old puppy is still pretty young. So I wouldn't really worry about age affecting the dog bonding with you. I think any age will bond with their new owners.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

I agree with Stacy...evaluate each dog as an individual and select the one that is the best match for you personality-wise.


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## angelgirl599 (Apr 8, 2009)

Everyone is right in that it depends on the dog, but I just wanted to add that it depends on the breeder as well. For example, Lola came to us at 12 weeks completely potty trained. We've had 2 accidents where she got excited but other than she was good. I'm super grateful to her breeder for doing that for her puppies.


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## ilovemymaltese (Oct 9, 2008)

I personally like older pups. I got my Gigi at 5.5 months fully potty trained, no more booster shots. And we couldn't be closer if we were blood related. 
I like to know exactly what I'm getting, and with puppies that's kind of hard to do. Most puppies look the same. It's easier to tell the tempermant, physical looks, health, coat, structure, size, ect. when the pup is older. But I do agree with the others, it really depends on the individual dog.


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## I found nemo (Feb 23, 2006)

QUOTE (MyFairLacy @ Jul 13 2009, 07:45 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=804737


> I don't think age of the dog necessarily correlates to how quickly or intensely they bond to you. A young puppy would be more dependent on you as they require even more of a time commitment. I think as long as the dog has been well socialized and has no fearfulness or bad experiences with people, they bond to their new owners pretty quickly. I got Lacy when she was a young puppy and I'm the only owner she's ever known so of course we are very attached but she's a typical independent female too. Rylie, I got right before he turned three years old (almost two years ago now). He was my sister's dog so he had seen me off and on throughout the years..but I would say he's very attached to me...he's kindof like velcro at times. I also know several people that got adult dogs that are just as bonded to them as their dogs they got as young puppies. And as someone already said, a 6 month old puppy is still pretty young. So I wouldn't really worry about age affecting the dog bonding with you. I think any age will bond with their new owners.[/B]


great post, I agree totally. :biggrin:


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## Carole (Nov 1, 2005)

I brought Bella home at six months.
I brought Krista home at 12 weeks.

My preference is six months.


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