Hi We have recently been to see a litter after having thoroughly researched the pedigree and breeder. The pups are just 4 weeks old. We took a liking to one goldengirl although noticed that the pup was very uneasy on her feet. She was still crawling rather than walking and almost shuffling around flat. Some of the other dogs in the litter seem to have got the hand of walking and try to bound about but are still uneasy which is understandable. The pup does seem to have loved Mums milk and so is in the tubby side compared to others in the litter. Should we be concerned about this? Or is it normal for pups of this age to still not have grasped walking? Thanks
Hi there, hat doesn't sound quite right to me, I would expect pups to be walking and playing with the other puppies by four weeks.
The pup was quite inquisitive, but just didn't move as much as the rest. They were trying to walk but I wonder if they were struggling on the laminate floor. The other pups weren't nearly as large so I was initially wondering if they'd just put a lot of weight on and their little legs couldn't cope?!
Certainly a laminate floor wouldn't be the ideal surface for puppies just learning to walk... Maybe you could come back in a week to view the pups again?
At 4 weeks many pups are still learning how their legs move and in what order. A laminate floor certainly is not the best surface for pups to spend the days trying to walk on. Perhaps go and see the pups again and ask if you can see them in another room/on a different surface. If you have any doubts, walk away - there is always another pup.in another litter. Good luck
I'm afraid I would walk away if the pups are on laminate - or any other slippy surface - for any length of time. That's just asking for joint problems. When I collected my most recent puppy, I knew I would be staying somewhere with laminate floors for her first few weeks, so I bought a load of non-slip rubber flooring to cover it. I would expect nothing less from a breeder, as it's so important to protect their joints when young. As to the rest of your question, when I visited my puppy at four weeks, they weren't massively mobile and still crawled more than walked.
