What Is a Good Age to Buy a Puppy?
There are a lot of ideas about the “correct” age to buy a pup, or how to pick one. Really, there are no hard and fast rules about this. A lot of the process of picking a puppy has to do with individual taste and goals and a chemistry between the pup and potential owner. One person’s “pick” puppy may not be remotely desirable to another, and vice versa. So just because there is only a pup or two left, it doesn’t mean they are not going to be the “best” pup in the litter for you.
Also, while I tend to like to see puppies in their homes by 8 weeks of age, sometimes that is not possible. When I am dealing with my Toys or my more sensitive puppies, I like to place them in homes around 9 or 10 weeks. As long as the pup is worked with daily, and introduced to all the things he may encounter in his future life, it is not bad to buy an older puppy. You will find that with Aussies when they get older they do take a little more time to bond as they have bonded with us and they are used to our rules and schedule. We spend tons of time with our puppies and do our best to get them ready for your home. We raise our puppies on a farm and with tons of safe human interactions. We also like to crate train our puppies so when getting an older puppy, you will find that when they need space and alone time you will find them I the Crate a “safe place” for them to have alone time.
One good thing about the older puppy is that you may find that he housebreaks faster since he has more control, and if he’s been well socialized and trained by the breeder, it can save you time starting all these processes. On the other hand, if the breeder just stuck him out in a kennel and didn’t do much, you may have a harder time helping him adjust to life as a pet. So, take that into consideration and discuss that with the breeder. Make sure that you are getting a socialized puppy.
We raise our puppies around lots of livestock as we are a working dog breeder. Even if you choose not to use your puppy for herding, it is always good to have a puppy that has been around many different animals. Here we have ducks and like to start our puppies working ducks at a young age. It is always fun to watch them meet the ducks for the first time. We also have a rabbit and the puppies love to play with the rabbit. When the puppies get older, we like to work them on goats and then when they are adults we try and get them on cattle, if they are bigger Minis. Our Toys we keep on goats and ducks as they seem to be the safest and the dogs like them better. We also like to have our puppies using the doggie door to go outside to do their business as well as sleeping in a crate before going home.
As a breeder, I keep a pup or two back to grow out, and decide what one I like better. Sometimes I like to keep a puppy back just to see how they mature if I have not had much out of the bloodline. I will also keep puppies back and decide that they do not have the drive or temperament that I would like to keep back in my breeding program for one reason or another. We also keep back some puppies to put into service homes that end up not working out, but that will either make wonderful pets or breeding/show dogs. We have several reasons to keep a dog back. These may be very nice pups, but just not exactly what a breeder was hoping to add, and you have the benefit of getting a pup with some training.
As far as pricing on an older puppy, sometimes I may discount them somewhat, but others may not, as I have more time and effort in the pup as I have been working with it. The pup will have had his vaccination and worming schedule continued, and the extra training may justify a higher price, especially if it is a lot older puppy or young adult.