Not a one of my recent puppy owners has had any problems with their puppies, all of whom were at least 10 weeks and in a couple of cases over 12 weeks when they got them. They have all fitted into their new families very quickly and never given me a backward glance
I have taken on dogs of all ages over the years, and age doesn't worry me in the slightest. It is what happens to them before they get to me that causes the problems.
On a couple of occasions I have taken puppies back and they've come back with issues, one after only having been away from me for 2 weeks, another one was 17 months old.
It took me 6 months to sort out the one that had been away from me for 2 weeks, and well over a year to sort out the one that came back to me at 17 months.
What about puppies that come in through rescue and have had an horrendous start in life, you just can't completely blank out a puppy because it is over 12 weeks.

Gosh - its certainly divided everyone - and I'm none the wiser really. My vet has just confirmed they do the Lepto 2 vaccine and the breeder is using Lepto 4. If her vet will give me the serum my vet will inject free of charge, or, I guess, I could offer to bring her home and drive her back the 4 hour round trip to have the last injection?? I will call her tonight and discuss and also try to see what socialisation is going on. She came from a recommendation from another breeder who didn't have any pups, but she had taken a dog from my breeder 6 months ago to use as a stud. My breeder is also very heavily involved in Poodle Rescue so I know she does her best for them (my only concern is the socialisation as she and her husband are in their 70's so I'm not sure if they take them out much to meet children,etc?? I would also like to get him early for my own nurturing instincts, but they are not so important as her reasons I guess. I'll call her and let you all know. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH though for your opinions and anecdotes.

When I got my latest puppy (two years ago now) he had already had his first vaccination and, like you, it was a four hour round trip to the breeder. The vets around here use a different manufacturer of the vaccine to Hertfordshire so I had a choice of taking him back (2nd jab was already paid for) to the breeder's vet, starting the course again or having the second jab with a different manufacturer's vaccine. I chose the last option, mindful that if I had any problems, both manufacturers would deny any liability.

I know it's probably different with the lepto vaccine as it's a bit more complicated but I would rather start any course of injections myself.

I hope you get it sorted and enjoy your puppy when you finally get to take him home!

I never understand why breeders let the pups go after the first vaccine, either let them go with none or have them fully vaxed.
It is quite common for small breed pups to be fully vaxed and chipped before they leave and 12 weeks is not unusual. Two of my Pugs were fully vaxed before leaving the breeder and one not vaxed at all and although I took her out and about in my arms I didn't get her first vacc's until she was 15 weeks old and a reasonable weight. A lot off small breeds seem to react to the vac's.

One of Keshi's brothers from last year went back to my vets for his 2nd vax, this time I was more on the ball with it all and told all my puppy owners which vax my vets used and they then phoned round their vets until they found one who did it.

Me neither! Never come across it before and it caused such a problem. I would ask for it not to be done next time if it arose.

My new puppy owners are always very appreciative of the lengths I go to to ensure they get a healthy puppy, I would be quite shocked if anyone was against it, then again they probably wouldn't have a puppy off me anyway as I make all my applicants for a puppy aware of what they get for their money, so if they wanted a puppy without any vax etc then they would more than likely have to go elsewhere.

I would never take on a puppy younger then 10 weeks old now. My terrier was 8 weeks old when I brought her home, my Lurcher boy, 10 weeks, and he is just a DREAM to own. Seriously. Didn't know the difference at the time or thought anything of bringing him home later. It's only when I did further research and heard from other owners of puppies that were brought home at a later date, that those extra two weeks they get with their littermates and mum plays a huge part in shaping them for their new homes. They learn better bite inhibition and are more social and confident in my experience. Of course, that also depends on the breeder, but Tyler had already been out and about in their gardens and was getting the hang of housetraining. He was fully housetrained by 12/13 weeks old and he only ever had one accident indoors. Also he never ONCE play nipped like other puppies. He was incredibly calm and mature for his age and I do credit that to his slightly older age and his rearing up to then. By the time he was fully vaxed and ready for walks he was about 13 weeks old, and have never had an issue with him. He's been dog social all his life. My next dog will be coming to me at 15 weeks old! But that's because he's being imported and that's the youngest he can travel to the UK. But I have no concerns about him being older at all. In fact, I'm MORE excited because it means we can go out on walks from the off, he will be largely, or even fully housetrained and will have learnt the basic commands. Not to mention he will be staying with mum and other adult dogs for the remainder of those weeks and will learn an incredible amount in that short time.

Like Trouble said, it's not unusual for small breeds to be kept back for longer. I was just looking a litter of Maltese pups advertised on CD the other day ( I have an obsession with looking up litters for the fun of it ) and they was not ready until 12 weeks old. I wouldn't let it stress you to much, although definitely raise your concerns with your breeder who should be able to reassure you.

As I commented in a previous post, I don't think you can generalise as it very much depends on the individual dog. My four year old bitch was like your lurcher although I had her at 7 weeks. She is a calm dog who housetrained herself in a couple of weeks and never bit in play either. Mind you, I imagine my experiences are affected by the fact that my new puppies are always joining a pack so their upbringing is transferred from mum and littermates to the rest of the pack who, I think, sometimes are better as they won't put up with any bad behaviour! As I am heavily into competitive agility, my puppies are always straight into socialisation, whether it is at a show or training.

Way back when I bred Griffons it was the custom to keep them until they had had their third [and final] puppy vax and they were usually around 13 weeks old when they went.

Now? Little One was probably only around 5 weeks old - the bitch was an outside dog and had litter after litter as the owners did not believe in "altering nature". So the bitch, who was fed on scraps ran out of milk very soon and the puppies were then fed on stale bread soaked in half milk, half water. I do not think that she had ever had proper dog food until I brought her home and telephoned Yehuda from the little pet store in town to please bring me some puppy food.

Pereg was probably around 6 weeks old and again I telephoned Yehuda for puppy food as soon as I had gotten home with her.

Neither had been wormed or had any vaccinations and although they were not taken out for walks or socialisation, they both were out in my unfenced front yard from the day I brought them home. I shared a large front yard with neighbours when I got Little One - [at a different bungalow] and they had four or five children who played on the grass outside so Little One quickly got used to being handled and played with.

I had moved to this bungalow before I adopted Pereg - who also had to go out in the unfenced front yard, but she had Little One who sort of adopted her.