Puppy vs 11 month old (trained)

[Anonymous]

I adopted my yellow lab as a 10 mo old. He acted like a puppy until he was about five. He was found as a stray in rural SC and had never been in a house or spoken to. He came along really quickly and is a fabulous dog. I hate that you’re getting a dog from a breeder but there is nothing wrong with getting a young dog. I would clarify what she means when she says he is stoic though……..is he stubborn and hard to train? He’ll probably end up in a shelter thru no fault of his own if that’s the case. This is why I hate breeders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You've been posting a ton on here about getting a golden retriever. Based on the sum of your posts - get the 11 month old. A little puppy will take way more time and training and let's face it, that breeder is totally sketchy.

I have reached out to a lot of people (online) who rave about the breeder. I think they're ok just not warm and fuzzy like the higher end ones and it's definitely a business. Animals are living in nice kennels and tested but they are running a business. So many people I know got their dogs online.. insane. Like on Greenfield Puppies or Pawrade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It won't be fully trained and not trained to YOU so you're just bypassing some bad behavior phases and getting up in the night. Might be worth it.

Wait sorry I'm confused. Is it good she won't be fully
Trained or you're saying not worth it then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just hit the one year mark with our puppy and I would happily paid $5k to skip the year and just get what we have now. He’s finally calming down a bit and being consistent with training. We adore him, of course, but it was a hellish year.

I wouldn't pay $5k because I don't have it. But I'd absolutely take a 1 year old rescue over a puppy. Just went through the covid puppy phase after spending most of my adult life adopting dogs right around 1 year old.

The puppy months are HARD, OP, they are hard for even the most seasoned dog owners. I'm not saying don't do it. But be forewarned.

And I'd look for a rescue instead of some inflated price for an 11 month old "trained" dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just hit the one year mark with our puppy and I would happily paid $5k to skip the year and just get what we have now. He’s finally calming down a bit and being consistent with training. We adore him, of course, but it was a hellish year.

I wouldn't pay $5k because I don't have it. But I'd absolutely take a 1 year old rescue over a puppy. Just went through the covid puppy phase after spending most of my adult life adopting dogs right around 1 year old.

The puppy months are HARD, OP, they are hard for even the most seasoned dog owners. I'm not saying don't do it. But be forewarned.

And I'd look for a rescue instead of some inflated price for an 11 month old "trained" dog. [/quote

Thanks. I would love to rescue but we are never approved. In addition I need to know the temperament. I don't want a pit mix. We have never had a dog and i am scared of them at times. So really appealing to get a golden

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just hit the one year mark with our puppy and I would happily paid $5k to skip the year and just get what we have now. He’s finally calming down a bit and being consistent with training. We adore him, of course, but it was a hellish year.

I wouldn't pay $5k because I don't have it. But I'd absolutely take a 1 year old rescue over a puppy. Just went through the covid puppy phase after spending most of my adult life adopting dogs right around 1 year old.

The puppy months are HARD, OP, they are hard for even the most seasoned dog owners. I'm not saying don't do it. But be forewarned.

And I'd look for a rescue instead of some inflated price for an 11 month old "trained" dog.

Thanks. I would love to rescue but we are never approved. In addition I need to know the temperament. I don't want a pit mix. We have never had a dog and i am scared of them at times. So really appealing to get a golden

We aren't approved because no fence and no dog experience. Can get a fence though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We just hit the one year mark with our puppy and I would happily paid $5k to skip the year and just get what we have now. He’s finally calming down a bit and being consistent with training. We adore him, of course, but it was a hellish year.

I wouldn't pay $5k because I don't have it. But I'd absolutely take a 1 year old rescue over a puppy. Just went through the covid puppy phase after spending most of my adult life adopting dogs right around 1 year old.

The puppy months are HARD, OP, they are hard for even the most seasoned dog owners. I'm not saying don't do it. But be forewarned.

And I'd look for a rescue instead of some inflated price for an 11 month old "trained" dog.

Thanks. I would love to rescue but we are never approved. In addition I need to know the temperament. I don't want a pit mix. We have never had a dog and i am scared of them at times. So really appealing to get a golden

We aren't approved because no fence and no dog experience. Can get a fence though.

OK, gotcha. The ripoff with the trained dog, in my opinion, is that if you don't keep up the consistency with the dog, the dog gets untrained. And if your family members all do different stuff with the dog in terms of commands, etc, that gets confusing too.

I highly recommend training through the first year at least. My dog is 18 months and I still take him to training. Your Dog's Friend is a nonprofit in Rockville that provides lower cost classes specifically to help families acclimate to their dogs so they are less likely to rehome their dogs in the future. They have puppy kindergarten online and in person. I took online because that's all that was offered during the height of covid, and I thought it would be horrible. But it was great. Training the dog is really about training the human. And they are there to answer your questions as they come up.

Puppies need a schedule just like infants. Mine was up, out to potty, a little play (I got a playpen type area in the basement), breakfast, more play, out, and then he zonked out to sleep. Up, out, repeat. As they get older, their schedule gets better. I was working from home and after investing in the out, play, (short walk), play, he'd sleep close to a four hour block so I could work until lunch. Repeat, out, play, walk, nap. Life was easier by about 4 months. Much easier by 7 months. And pretty darned easy (as dogs go) by year.

I'd also recommend puppy socialization if possible. Not a fan of dog parks, but if you have friends with dogs, try to introduce them fairly often. And my vet told me about Dogs Day Farm, which is amazing. And a great place to board when you go out of town. They aren't accepting new dogs at the moment, but email them and put in an inquiry. They will work new dogs in as they are able.

https://yourdogsfriend.org/ Training

http://dogsdayfarm.com/ Day Care/Boarding

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It won't be fully trained and not trained to YOU so you're just bypassing some bad behavior phases and getting up in the night. Might be worth it.

Wait sorry I'm confused. Is it good she won't be fully
Trained or you're saying not worth it then?

Dp. I think what they are saying is training is more about the owner. If you don't know anything about dogs the dog may not do what you want. It is only trained/bonded with the person that trained them.

Personally. Because you are new owners, no experience I would fin another breeder. This situation looks like you are going to re-home the dog this time next year due to its problems or too much work.

Maybe you can look into fostering to see if a dog would fit into your lifestyle. Remember, a dog rehomed too many times dont get too many second or third chances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It won't be fully trained and not trained to YOU so you're just bypassing some bad behavior phases and getting up in the night. Might be worth it.

Wait sorry I'm confused. Is it good she won't be fully
Trained or you're saying not worth it then?

Dp. I think what they are saying is training is more about the owner. If you don't know anything about dogs the dog may not do what you want. It is only trained/bonded with the person that trained them.

Personally. Because you are new owners, no experience I would fin another breeder. This situation looks like you are going to re-home the dog this time next year due to its problems or too much work.

Maybe you can look into fostering to see if a dog would fit into your lifestyle. Remember, a dog rehomed too many times dont get too many second or third chances.

New breeders aside from puppy or the
Older trained one (they are two different breeders) one is great. What would a different breeder do to help? Meaning how would that change things?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It won't be fully trained and not trained to YOU so you're just bypassing some bad behavior phases and getting up in the night. Might be worth it.

Wait sorry I'm confused. Is it good she won't be fully
Trained or you're saying not worth it then?

Dp. I think what they are saying is training is more about the owner. If you don't know anything about dogs the dog may not do what you want. It is only trained/bonded with the person that trained them.

Personally. Because you are new owners, no experience I would fin another breeder. This situation looks like you are going to re-home the dog this time next year due to its problems or too much work.

Maybe you can look into fostering to see if a dog would fit into your lifestyle. Remember, a dog rehomed too many times dont get too many second or third chances.

New breeders aside from puppy or the
Older trained one (they are two different breeders) one is great. What would a different breeder do to help? Meaning how would that change things?

I dont think you are ready. Talk to your dog's friend like pp suggested. Sorry I was confusing I thought the dogs were the same breeder.

[Anonymous]

What the heck is a "stoic" puppy? Sounds more like they have a puppy that didn't sell or was more likely returned. Then given "training" to resell. Just stop with the crazy tring to justify using this puppy farm breeeder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What the heck is a "stoic" puppy? Sounds more like they have a puppy that didn't sell or was more likely returned. Then given "training" to resell. Just stop with the crazy tring to justify using this puppy farm breeeder.

No
This isn't same breeder. She said she doesn't bark and wag tail if she wants something but gets close to your face. Different than American retrievers.

She kept 3 puppies to train then sell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What the heck is a "stoic" puppy? Sounds more like they have a puppy that didn't sell or was more likely returned. Then given "training" to resell. Just stop with the crazy tring to justify using this puppy farm breeeder.

The other breeder fine. This puppy maybe didn't sell but now she's trained so does it matter?

[Anonymous]

Honestly OP, you’re giving me “not ready for a puppy” vibes. You don’t want a rescue because you don’t know their temperament and you are scared of dogs sometimes? A golden is a large dog that can be very sweet, sure, but they have different personalities just like all dogs. It is also a very active, smart breed and the puppy year will be extremely difficult. You don’t know enough about the 11 month old dog for us really to weigh in - frankly, it sounds like you just want a puppy asap and don’t really care where it comes from or if it’s a good match. Not a good situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly OP, you’re giving me “not ready for a puppy” vibes. You don’t want a rescue because you don’t know their temperament and you are scared of dogs sometimes? A golden is a large dog that can be very sweet, sure, but they have different personalities just like all dogs. It is also a very active, smart breed and the puppy year will be extremely difficult. You don’t know enough about the 11 month old dog for us really to weigh in - frankly, it sounds like you just want a puppy asap and don’t really care where it comes from or if it’s a good match. Not a good situation.

I absolutely want a good match which is why I want the 11 month old. She's trained and chill and loving. I am happy to wait a bit but not years.