Anonymous wrote:We are probably getting a Golden Retriever puppy. The kids are dying for a puppy and have never had one. It seems daunting and also cute.. my kids are 14 and 16. There is an option to get an older puppy mostly trained and good temperament but fairly pricy and about 1k more than a puppy. Also not local so we would have to fly to meet it and see and cancel a puppy deposit. The puppy breeder isn't my favorite but ok... that's another story. The trained puppy is almost grown so looks like an adult.. beautiful but not puppy like. She said she is stoic.. a few things still need correcting..but sounded minor.
My daughter has been begging for a puppy. I know we are the adults so who cares but I will be so upset if got this older one and my kids didn't bond or were constantly sad they never had a pup to raise. I almost would prefer an adult like a 3-4 year old instead of 11 months. I also like we could mould a puppy but we have never had a dog.
Curious your thoughts on either.. I realize trained is amazing but it's a flight, expensive and then a little bit of letdown..
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.
Anonymous wrote:Go with what you feel is the healthier, better bred animal.
Anonymous wrote:Have you met the 11 month old? If so, how did you like the dog? I mean, just age isn't much information on which to make a decision one way or the other. Older dogs are easier in general, but, that doesn't do you much good if you don't like the dog.
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.[/qu
You mean not fully trained by 10-11 months?
Anonymous wrote:I'd get a puppy so you can train it.
Anonymous wrote:Why is the 11 month old puppy available? It sounds like someone returned it. I would pass.