I have recently gotten a new addition to my home. His name is Kal-el, He is 9 weeks old and has the best personality. He is very loving, incredibly smart, and very playful. His favorite place is playing outside and laying on the couch and his favorite toy is a giraffe named George that he picked out himself at petsmart. He was pretty shy at first but is really coming out of his shell. The vet said that he is going to be a pretty big boy (at his 8 week check-up he was 14.7lbs). Thanks for letting me brag about my boy I really like this forum and reading all of the tips and stories.

Hello and welcome!

Your pup is precious. I love, LOVE the pic of him standing in the dish to eat.

I was going to say the very same thing! Congrats!

He is handsome! And yes he is going to be a big boy look at those paws!

He's so adorable! I understand the need to brag. The pic of him standing in his water bowl is priceless. Shaqua did that from an early age too. I wonder if that's a husky thing?

I love the picture of him all cuddled in the leaves. Cute boy!

He is too cute! My boy weighed 14 lbs at 8 weeks too.

Love the pics! Can't wait to see more and welcome to the forum!

14 pounds at 8 weeks!? The boy we got from the same breeder, Ashleigh, weighs 27 pounds at 8 weeks! @_@ Now I am starting to wonder if it was a "typo"... >_>

He is adorable! J/w though, how did you take him to Petsmart at such a young age? Our vet told us not to until he is 16 weeks when he has all of his shots since there are so many dogs there. We are trying to find a way to get him out to socialize with other dogs, though.

Chelsii wrote:

He is adorable! J/w though, how did you take him to Petsmart at such a young age? Our vet told us not to until he is 16 weeks when he has all of his shots since there are so many dogs there. We are trying to find a way to get him out to socialize with other dogs, though.

You can take him to PetSmart or Petco, but don't set him down on the ground. Sanitize a cart if you don't want to hold him, but you can take him. I posted about this a little while ago, but you can definitely take puppies to get them socialized. I feel like a lot of people miss out on crucial socialization periods because they don't want to compromise their puppies, which is definitely a good thing. You can take your puppy to outdoor malls, outdoor coffee cafes, walks down the street. Anywhere you can carry him, take him. While it is better to be safe then sorry, you still don't want your puppy to live in a bubble and miss out on socialization. I have taken all of my dogs to pet stores as soon as I have gotten them, but I never set them down on the ground. I either carried them in those puppy carriers or I sanitized a cart and put them in there. DON'T take him to a dog park or another high traffic area and let him walk around though.

Some people don't agree with what I do, but the age up to the 16 week mark is a crucial age mark. Do what you think is best, but just know there are other ways you can go about things.

We did carry him through petsmart and yep he is 14.7 pounds at 8 weeks.