Best age to see a new litter

Hi - we tragically lost our little Schnauzer on Christmas Eve as the result of an attack by a Staffy. My little Alfie was on his lead when the dog ran from its garden and attacked him. His injuries were too severe to save him and so, on Christmas Eve we had to have him put to sleep. We then had to go to hospital for our daughter (who's 23 not a child) to have her hand dressed as she was bitten trying to save him. When we got Alfie nearly 11 years ago, he was the only boy in the litter so he was the only puppy for us. Our house is too quiet and we are thinking of getting a new little chap (probably a miniature poodle as I have been doing a lot of research into the breed and our compatibility.) My question is, please, at what age do you look at a litter and choose your chap? I know we can't have him until he's 10 weeks old but we need to look at the litter and choose between 3 boys. At what age are they showing their personalities and traits? Many thanks.

Welcome to Dogsey and so sorry to hear your tragic story.
I hope your daughters hand is recovering. Did you report the incident and was something done ?

In my breed large breed we usually visit around 3 to 4 weeks old and by 4 weeks to 6 weeks they are showing their personalities and you can usually take them home between 7 to 8 weeks old. Breeders do differ though.
Good luck in your search.

Thank you Lynn for your quick reply, and you kind message. We did report it to the police, but they said they do not act on 'dog on dog' attacks. They said Katie (our daughter) was bitten trying to save Alfie, and not because the staffy attacked her. The vet was pretty horrified at the injuries (every rib had been broken, he needed open heart surgery to name but some) and knew the owners. He was recommending the dog was put to sleep - which I believe he has been. Katie's hand has healed well - though it will be forever scarred and currently has no feeling around the injury. Hopefully the sensation will come back. A tragic way for our cherished Schnauzer to go - he was a gentle, loving, chilled boy.
Part of me thinks its too soon for a puppy and part of me is longing to have something else in the house needing loving, walking and fun. Thanks for your advice.

I think you need to take guidance from the breeder of the pups, what age does she Allow her first visit...I would say usually from around 4 weeks old before that you wil not see any individual character in the pups, from around 4 weeks you will see their own little personalities develop , you also need to speak to the breeder as to your needs in a pup. Do you want the go getter, the quiet one, the one that's up to mischief and so on, they breeder will be best placed to match pup with owner.

Also depends on locality to the breeder , if you are near , you may be able to do more visits, speak to the breeder and see what they say.

Hello Jane, I am sorry to hear about your Schnauzer, how terrible .

Many breeders will not allow you near young puppies because of the risk of infection, also it can upset some bitches to have strangers near.
I would say 6 weeks to view a litter and maybe choose your puppy.

You can of course ask breeders to email photographs of a litter to you when they are younger than this .

Sorry to hear about your boy, it's shameful that the police won't do anything, and yet every day nearly there are stories in the papers about dog attacks. If only they'd crack down on those dog on dog attacks it might prompt more owners to be responsible for their dogs and their actions.

I wouldn't let potential puppy owners through the door until pups were older than 4 weeks. But I met all bar one of them before the pups were even born, so they could meet my dogs and see whether they thought that was the sort of personality they were after.

When you're looking for a breeder, ensure they are doing all the health tests relevant to the breed, and try and meet the breeder and talk to them before hand. Once you see a litter of pups on the ground, your heart will make it difficult to make decisions with your head.

Good luck with your search, I hope you find a good breeder, don't be afraid to ask them lots of questions, I love it when people subject me to the Spanish inquisition. It's more off putting getting enquiries from people who just ask the price and when I've got a litter due, which in my case is very infrequent, just the one so far, but I do help pass enquiries on to good breeders.

Hi Budha,
Welcome to Dogsey
Just wanted to say
I'm so sorry you lost your little Alfie in such a devastating way
(( hugs))

Run free sweet Alfie xx

Gosh - you are all so friendly and lovely. I've just joined this (its the first forum thing I've ever joined) and I'm overwhelmed. The breeder I have been speaking to has come highly recommended and Kennel Club approved and also re-homes poodles. She will not give me her address yet as I can't see the puppies until they are 5 weeks old and she wants to keep them until they are 10 weeks of age (I would like to bring him home at 8 weeks personally). She is very VERY careful with her dogs and puppies and I guess she is in her mid 70's as she was talking about her daughter being 50. She is very experienced but she lives 140 miles away so I could't keep going to see the puppies. We do speak weekly and she is proud of her mummy dog and her puppies and although they are still in the weaning pen, they have had trips out in the car (once to get a check up after the home birth, and once to get dew claws clipped). She sounds like she fusses them and is cagey where they go as she sees too many abandoned dogs to risk hers going somewhere unsuitable. So I guess if I see them at about 6 weeks and choose I will be seeing them at an appropriate age to see some character? THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for replying to me.

Good luck we need pictures when you get your lovely new fluffy bundle home.

Looking forward to seeing pics