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Perfect Adoption Age?

Jenny37

Well-known member
As we are undecided on what age puppy/dog we would like to add to our family, I pose this question to everyone.

At what age did you adopt your puppy/teenager/adult cavalier and why would you say their age was a good age to adopt a cavalier---or what would you do differently next time.
 
My first cavalier was Pippin. I got him at 5 months old and he was already housebroken and past his worst puppiness. He was such a dream that when he was 10 months old, I decided to get another one.

Merry was 2 months old when I got her. So we through all the puppy stages with her. A long haul. Chewing, a lot of accidents inside, not much sleep. I learned that she couldn't go to doggy day care until she was 12 weeks old, so that made it hard, since I work 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. I came to an agreement with my breeder, that between 8-12 weeks, Merry would live with the breeder during the week and I would get her on weekends. Then at 12 weeks old Merry came to live with me fulltime.

Luke came to me at 3.5 years old. Fully housebroken, but has some social problems because he hasn't been around anyone other than family. So that has been harder. He came to me this way and I have to work at getting him past his fear of strangers. We have a lot more work to do on this subject.

Also, I am not sure if I would want to get another adult dog to introduce into the house. I would have the weigh the individual situation very carefully. I know many people on this board rescue cavaliers, but it is a real challenge and responsibility and I am not sure I have the training skills necessary to do this. Luke wasn't a rescue, but he is a retired stud dog and he didn't get the socialization with outside people and things that he needs. I think I can work with Luke to get him past his problem, but I don't think I could handle more serious issues with an abandoned dog. I really don't have the skill set necessary to give the dog what it needs.

Jolly came to live with me at 13 weeks and I purposely chose to wait to bring him home. I could've brought him home at 8 weeks old. However, I did that before with Merry and it is hard housebreaking a puppy. So the breeder started his training and by 13 weeks he had the general hang of things. He could sleep for a longer time at night, so I got my sleep. I take Jolly everywhere, including doggy day care so that he is socialized with other pets and other people.

I think in the future that I would bring a puppy home at 12 weeks of age or older. I don't need them when they are real tiny. I would rather have them a little older, so they are more ready to listen and learn.
 
Sally came to live with us at 12 weeks old, sort of house trainned but still had a good few accidents. She was sleeping through the night and only cried for a few nights for about 20 mins at the most. I loved this age cos though she was still a young puppy and did and still is very puppish, she wasnt chewing and doing all the things a very young puppy does.
Sam who i homed last week at 6 years old is just great, though still very playful, at times u would think he was just a puppy, is so good. No accidents sleeps all night, no chewing(apart from Sallys ear.)Already lead trainned in fact the perfect dog. The only thing i can fault Sam on is that Sally copies every thing he does, saying that she also copies the good things.So reading back on that last comment it is prob Sally fault not Sam.
If i had to pick a age i prefer of the 2 of them, u know what i countnt. They both have their good and not so good points and i love both of them to bits.
 
I have had puppys at the normal 8/12 wk age and also rescues at 4yrs and roughly 8 yrs and now have a beautiful "Gifted" Cavalier at three yrs, thats her on the left my Whitney....and all I can say is that age isn't an issue, all have their own qualities for who they are.....they are all so different, all offering such wondeful different things...to love a Cavalier is to love ANY Cavalier... :lotsaluv:

My very, very favourite though must be the oldies.....especially the beautiful Blenheims...they pull at the heart strings :lotsaluv: we all love the oldies!

Alison, Wilts, U.K.
 
Yes I agree with Alison, age is immaterial (sp) . Whitney has just slotted into her family and she did into mine when she came for her holidays too :flwr:

I too adore the oldies and consider every day with my seven year old to be a major blessing. I know I'm not goimg to have him forever and it hurts just to think about it :(

In fact, i have my name down with several rescues for fostering and all of them know that I actually prefer the oldies :flwr:
 
I got Wesley when he was 6 months old, but he had ZERO training and ZERO socialization (pet store reject with major kennel cough :x). Their loss. He was such a handful, extremely hyper and anxious (still is to this day but is getting better with time). Potty training Wesley took well over a year because of being stuck in a crate with newspaper for the first 5 months of his life. He is such a lover that it outways his faults. I am always amazed at the resiliancy of dogs.

We got Cody at 10 weeks and he was much calmer and more serene. He is coming along with the potty training :roll: , but the poor little guy is trying his best.

I wouldn't mind getting an older pup next time, maybe four to five months old so we could skip the major chewing and potty issues. I have three dogs already so introducing an adult may not be the best route for my pack.
 
We got all of ours at 8/9 weeks (preferred to leave nearer to the 9 weeks), if I had the room and the money I would not mind what age I could get a Cavalier as long as I could give them a good home. :)
 
Puppies are adorable, but I prefer adults (cats or dogs). That said Jaspar was the one of my three I got as a puppy -- 8.5 weeks -- and I have a very close bond with him that could relate to having had him so long or could be just that he is that 'special dog' for me, just a little different from the other two, though I love them all. I'd have liked an older third dog than Lily; was wanting a dog at least about 4-5 to have some space in age between the boys and a third dog so they won't all grow old together, but Lily came along as a rescue, and she is between 1-2.

Puppies are a LOT of work and I do enourage people to think through that responsibility and time commitment carefully.

With rescues I have never yet had a real problem dog of the 25-30 dogs I've had pass through. Only minor issues like food guarding.
 
We brought both of ours home at about 16 weeks more by conincidence than planning so I can not relate to having an 8 week old puppy. My husband and I both work full time so having a 16 week old puppy that can be left for at least 3 hours at a time was a HUGE bonus for us. Also, both dogs slept through the night within the first week of being home. Arthur has more separation anxiety than Duncan but he is only 6 months old now and still very attached. I can't imagine the bond I have with them being any stronger if I had them 8 weeks longer.

So I guess my advice, if you have a life as busy as ours and want a puppy, consider getting an older puppy -I think it has been easier on all involved.
 
I brought both of mine home at 8 weeks. Second time round seems to be easier because Oakley has Merlin to play with and you are not so tired trying to be the other puppy to play with. Merlin was easy to potty train (probably because he never drank or ate much!) whilst Oakley is getting there on the poo front but wee's just happen whever he may be stood!

I'm glad that I had the time to bond with Merlin and got him trained before getting Oakley as he is the role model for Oakley - and formal training seems to be easier - Oakley just copies what his big brother does. Whilst I adore them as pups, I love them as adults because you can do all the good things like go for big long walks, go to the pub with mum & dad, and generally join in all the activities we do without the need to do all the "baby" stuff.

So really, my post won't have helped you at all :lol: I love 'em as pups and as adults!
 
I got my "rainbow bridge" cavs both at 12 weeks. That seems to be the age when most cavalier breeders I contacted separate them from their mamas. I did not have them at the same time and both were sleeping through the night by the first week.

I got Abby, my little rescue, when she was 10 months. She has some anxiety issues and came with zero training...didn't even know what a leash was for. I got Cappy with in 24 hours of Abby. He was 12 weeks. He slept through the night with in a few days. Abby didn't.

Abby was still young enough for us to work through some of her anxiety issues and is definitely eager to please and therefore doing well with basic training. I don't know how she'd do if she came to us at age 3+. I'm sure we'd love her just as much, but her issues may have gotten worse or be harder to overcome.

I didn't plan on having two cavs at the same time, but I'm enjoying the heck out of it! I feared that they'd bond to each other more than me, but that isn't the case.
 
I got Mia at 7 months and Wrigley at 8 weeks...which is why I got Mia at 7 months-ha! She slept from night one, was 80% potty trained and is about 95% trained at this point (9 months). Sometimes she just forgets to let me know and I forget that it's been an hour or more since she's been potty. :roll:

I'll never say "never", but I don't PLAN to get a young puppy again. Mia was such a good experience at 7 months--past most of the puppy issues, but still puppy-ish enough.

At first I wasn't sure if Mia and I would bond like Wrigley and I have since I've had him from such a young age--but we definitely have, so I don't know that age really plays much of a part. It just depends on how much work you want to do. Puppies are a lot of HARD work--but worth it in the end!
 
Bella was 8 weeks old when we took her home.

Crikey! It was challenging, we had chewing, lots of household accidents and some sleepless nights! :yikes

It was so lovely to see her as a tiny little girl though and I wouldn't have given that time up for anything. Bella, however, does owe me some new kitchen cupboards, new skirting boards and a new armoir unit in my lounge! :?
 
2 of ours came to us at around 1 yr. old. and one was 5. Our youngest was 14 weeks old when he came home. I would take older dogs any day. Even though Casey was 14 weeks old, he is a chewer and was not easy to house train (word to the wise: do not get a young puppy in the winter: not fun getting dressed in overcoats/boots, etc. to take the little one out: worse if you count on your DH to do it when football is on). Our little Jaws ate part of my dresser, venetian blinds, countless books and papers, eye glasses/frames only, etc. He was also the alpha in his litter...never an alpha dog again. But we love him dearly even if he is too smart for his own good. So give me the oldies any day!
 
We got our Buddy at six months. I had never adopted an older puppy before but I had spent the previous ten months with a young Clumber Spaniel (Hadley), home with us at 11 weeks, AND with a thirteen year old English Cocker Spaniel (Abby) who shortly after Hadley arrived developed Canine Cognitive Dysfunction, which is sort of Dog Alzheimer's, and then congestive heart disease. After Abby died and we started looking for a Cavalier, I decided that after raising Hadley and nursing Abby I did not have the energy to do a very young puppy. I was really looking for a Cavalier who was about a year old, but we were lucky to find a good breeder who had a six month old and a one year old. We had them both visit for five days and we ended up with the younger one. Buddy is social but very quiet and has been a wonderful companion to my brother Michael who has special needs and for whom I am guardian. I think if we had gotten a 10 to 12 weeks old puppy the puppy would have ended up bonding more with me than with Michael because I would have ended up being the primary caretaker. Because Buddy was a little older Michael could take more responsibility right away and Buddy is his little dog (although I have to admit that we have our private cuddles!). So it turned out that my lack of energy was a blessing in disguise. (y) I would adopt an older puppy again and would eventually like to adopt an older rescue, when my plate is not quite so full, but I have to admit there is something special about raising a puppy from almost the start. :luv:

Phyllis in WV/USA with Buddy (Blenheim CKCS) and Hadley (Clumber Spaniel)
 
Well from the posts that I have seen so far, its definitely a personal preference. I love to read the stories and the reasoning behind the choices.

Not that this makes our choice any easier! :lol:
 
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