Hi!

My husband and I are looking to take a puppy home in June time of this year which would give us 2 months at home with it before we both go back to work.

I wanted to know at what age are you able to pick your pup from a litter, how many times do breeders like you to visit the litter and do they usually want you to take the puppy home at 8 or 12 weeks?

Thanks

When you are both back at work, how long would the pup be left alone for?  Many good breeders will not sell to owners who are both out at work full-time.

The answers to your first two questions can vary depending on the breeder, generally speaking, breeders will allow you to see the pups after 4 weeks and there are normally 2 visits, the one at 4 weeks and the second at 8 when you go to pick up the pup.  8 weeks is the norm for pup pick up, never earlier than 8 weeks but can be slightly extended if buyer is on holiday for example.  It is not recommended to be much longer than 8 weeks.

Thanks for your help!

We work shifts so the puppy would never be alone for a whole day and if there is an odd chance that we would both be working (not very common) we have friends to help out and would get a dog walker - but initially we would be at home full time with the puppy for 2 months before going back to work.

I thought that was the case re: dates from when I had dogs growing up - just wanted to check that things were still the same!

I can only speak for our litters - unless we knew the people well and they were experienced, we kept our puppies to 10 weeks.  No puppy went home before 8 weeks however.   Bassets are sensitive creatures and we were quite happy to keep them around for however long it took.   For their well being.   And for the record, we wouldn't sell to people who were going to be working full time.   Our breed in particular, along with most hounds, do not enjoy living solitary lives.

As the ears, such a big feature of my breed, didn't 'come down' before 5 weeks, we didn't let anybody intending to buy, see the litter before that age.   And better still after 6 - 7 weeks.   Most of our buyers came the one time to pick which puppy they preferred (with my advice!!) and then a second time when collecting their puppy.

Each breeder will have their own set of 'rules' when doing their litters.    Hopefully you will be making a good friend of whoever you will be buying your new puppy from - you'll need them for any problems you might have, early days.

The age of homing depends on the breed; the larger breeds are more than ready to go at 8 weeks (and 8 weeks is now the legal minimum), but the small toy breeds are often kept back until 12 weeks because of their comparative fragility.
In my experience there's little point in viewing a litter before 4 weeks of age (but you need to have made contact with the breeder and discussed your suitablility well before this!) because they don't have much in the way of personality before then. I personally like prospective owners to visit a couple of times before collecting their puppy, but some can't do this due to distance; I've had people drive several hundred miles for my pups! However I'd never sell a puppy to people I hadn't met at least once.

My breed club doesn't allow pups to leave home before 12 weeks (toy breed.)  I don't allow viewings until pups are 5 weeks old, and then only after vetting potential new owners.

Sorry to say, but I wouldn't sell to a home where a pup would be left after 2 months.  I have plenty of applicants who wait until they retire for this reason.

The reality is nowadays people work and your circumstances seem to have it well covered.As others have said it often depends on the breed.In general 8-12 weeks is acceptable.I would have expected the breeder to wish to meet with you at the very least once before pup is picked up.Good luck.

Is there a way you and your husband can stagger your time off work to make it last longer than 2 months?  By that I mean, if one of you took 2 months off and then the other, that would be 4 months total - which would be a much more sensible age to start leaving a pup for a few hours a day...

>I wanted to know at what age are you able to pick your pup from a litter,

I don't let owners pick their own pups.  I've lived with them for 8 weeks and know them inside out, and I've also got to know the new owners well and had them answer questionnaires about what they are looking for(!) so I will match puppies to owners.  This is done at 7.5 weeks old.  People will know they have a pup from birth but not which specific pup.

>how many times do breeders like you to visit the litter

It depends on the breeder and I would always be led by them and what they suggest.  With pups we have bought, we have not visited at all, and we have also travelled some distance to visit - whatever the breeder wanted from us.  As breeders ourselves, we live in a remote location and we have people from all over travelling to get pups from us so we don't ask people to visit, but we do Skype interviews, questionnaires and references.

>do they usually want you to take the puppy home at 8 or 12 weeks?

That probably depends on the breed.  For us, it's 8-9 weeks.  Toy breeds might be older.

> It is not recommended to be much longer than 8 weeks.

unless your talking tiny toy breeds where the advice is  anything from 10 - 12 weeks before they are ready.

Is there a reason you want to bring home in June? It may be that the right pup for you isn't ready then, but it's always worth it to wait and get the right pup from the right breeder rather than what's convenient

We've had 3 pups within the last 3 years (definitely having a break now!) and this is what we did with them all:

1. Visited when we first decided we wanted the breed to get to know each other so we were all happy, at this point the bitch hadn't even come into season yet never mind been mated! I was kept in the loop about everything (when she came into season, when she was mated, pregnancy confirmed). We visited a week before she was due then once they were born we visited about 4 times before pick up - we don't live too far away from each other which is why it was possible I had pick of boys because I had show intentions so we picked ours at 5 weeks - there were 4 boys but the breeder told me the two which were most suited for the ring and I picked from them. Picked up at 8 weeks and have remained friends still to this day even though I'm no longer showing him (he took so long to mature, and by the time he did he decided he didn't like it anymore! Typical!)

2. Actually doesn't live with me but his practically mine, I kind of made it happen and have done all his training and handled him in ring since contact made with breeder and 1 visit before pick up. Didn't get to pick which pup but was given the best boy for show intentions. Picked up at 12 weeks

3. Ahhhh my crazy youngster! While showing #2 I'd mentioned to my friend how I was interested in a pup from her for myself. She had a litter coming up so offered me pick of boys and alas, there was 1 in the litter! As the intention yet again was to get me in the ring with a dog in my own name again (this is when #1 had developed his aversion to a show ground) she said it all depended on how he developed. Visited when he was around 5 weeks old and we were all happy with how he was coming on! Picked up at 8 weeks

It's varied with all 3 for us

As you may have gathered the most important thing is to pick a breeder, (who breeds with the breeds best interests re health and temperament foremost), and bloodlines (producing the style of dogs that meets the standard and appeals to you), and that you can get on with long-term. 

An individual puppy other than the sex is best left to the breeder who will match up pups to homes based on their character and potential for the purpose beyond companions hip if appropriate.

I would always start with the breed club.  Anyone serious about their breed will belong to one or more specialist breed clubs, as to breed you really to work with your peers within a breed.

Bitches come in season around every 6 - 10 months, and then a breeder will have to fit a litter around their own timetables, so puppies are rarely bred and available just when you might want one.