*reads reply* So...why again was a 7 week old pup outside and unattended in coyote country? I know this wasn't you specifically, Pat, but I live in a rural part of Missouri and just because you all live in the country doesn't mean there should be a lack of common sense. Older dogs and a farm aren't babysitters last time I checked. That's a hard lesson to learn and sounds like the pup paid for it. I'd tell your daughter to check with animal control just to be sure.

A babysitter for a dog?????? Get over it - we are not breeders, just common folk who do not have the resources or the luxury of being able to sit at home to watch our dogs. Hasn't anyone ever lived on a farm and the female had a litter? Did you stay home to babysit?? Not everyone has kennels, not everyone has dog pens. Very unfortunate as to what may have happened to the pup. Was it intentional?? NO!! Was it something that could have been avoided?? YES!! Was there a possibility that sometime in the future that the pup what ever age or the older dog could have gotten lost or surrounded by a pack & killed or hit by a tractor running through a field? YES!!
Don't be getting after my daughter who has a lot of common sense and a great love of animals. She is devastated by this and wishes that this never happened. Maybe this isn't the right forum to be on. Obviously some breeders forgot what it is like to be just ordinary people. Simple - BUT not dumb or ignorant enough to offend someone who saved a pup from a fate of being put into a burlap bag and thrown into a pond only to be dealt another blow from mother nature's cruel twist of fate. Shame on you.

Maybe you're right about this not being the best forum for you -- Regulars here take animal rescue & responsible pet ownership very seriously, so they get upset when some baby puppy is just thrown outside for coyotes to eat, tractors to run over, or whatever terrible fate may befall them...

Sorry you took offense, but there's no use "saving" a dog's life if all you're going to do is let it get killed right away by some even more horrible means <:-(

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A babysitter for a dog?????? Get over it - we are not breeders, just common folk who do not have the resources or the luxury of being able to sit at home to watch our dogs.......

Just like the great majority here, from what I have read. I'm not a breeder. Most of us aren't. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

It wasn't just thrown outside to get eaten by coyotes - it's just that I meant to stress that sometimes life isn't fair. No one meant for the pup to disappear or to have cause for the pup any harm. For god's sake - no mean intention was meant here. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

I need to apologize for having a short fuse on my response earlier. I guess that I took offense when my daughter was mentioned in a post that she didn't have common sense.
I do want to stress - no intentional harm was meant for the pup. There was no way that if my daughter had known that the pup wouldn't be safe where she is living at - she would have found a better place for her. Please believe that her heart was in the right place.

Pat!!!!

We didn't say you needed a babysitter for the puppy (or at least that's not how I read it). I think it was meant that you can't use the OLDER dogs as a 'sitter' and trust a young pup won't get into trouble.

What I will say is that a 6/7 week puppy is a BABY!!!!! And I know they aren't human, but mentally and life history and all, it would be the same as letting a 4 year old human out on the farmyard and you'll be back at the end of the day.

Now maybe that toddler would be absolutely fine! But maybe not, kids (puppies?) can get into everything just cause they don't know better, and if you aren't there to guide it and watch over, it's no surprise if toddler or puppy gets into trouble.

For me, it's not problem to crate my dog in a safe place when I'm NOT home. And when I am home the puppy is where I can keep an eye on it. I like to have them bond to me rather than my other dogs, and if I'm only home for a few hours at night (full time job) and my other dogs are with the puppy 24/7, it's not surprise that my dog is more 'doggy' than I would like.

Did I post, and did you BOTHER TO TAKE THE TIME to read how our puppies (like human babies) go thru mental growth phases? And we can help them thru it so they become wonderful addition to our families. Or just let them work it out on their own and hope for the best. When I get a puppy I do it KNOWING I will intercede to make my puppy 'be all that it can be'. And if I am too busy and can't take the time, maybe I don't need a dog at all or should wait until my lifestyle changes. It's the PUPPY (uh, getting eaten by a coyote maybe? or falling into a hole, or eaten by a coon? or I have no idea what really happened OR WHEN???) who will suffer if we aren't prepared to put a little time and effort into raising it to adulthood.

Here's some great sites:

http://www.doberman.org/articles/puppy.htm

http://www.nwk9.com/early_life_management01.htm

http://www.vanerp.net/ilse/GSDINFO/understandyourpuppy.htm

http://www.gsdhelpline.com/willis2.htm

http://home.flash.net/~astroman/primer1.html

I always say 'When I know better, I do better' and I hope that you are open minded enough to learn and do the same.

Pat, like I said, I know this isn't you personally doing this and I am sorry for what happened to the other pup. I don't mean this as a personal attack, but I stand by what I said. You can kill a pup with kindness, sometimes literally in what happened. Would you leave a very young baby (the equivalent of a 7 week old pup) to roam around the house to follow their siblings (say some elementary school age children) around? I hope not. I'm not a breeder either, but I am a future vet, a grad student in biology, a behaviorist, and a volunteer and foster for the local humane society, so I do know taking on a puppy is an incredibly big responsibilty and I wouldn't let a female on the farm "just have a litter." Every animal in my house except one of my rats and my snake is altered, so that is never a problem. The rat will be neutered as soon as I can do it myself and if anyone knows how to spay a jungle carpet python, I'd be glad to hear it. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Btw, please remember to get your pup altered so something similar won't happen in the future.

Anyways, a crate for a young pup costs $30 or less (or often less at a garage sale). An exercise pen costs about double that for a basic one. A Hound Surround type kennel costs $300 or less. I should note however that none of my dogs are kept outside for any longer than a few minutes on a tieout while I am vacuuming inside. I see way too many people with neurotic dogs kept in their backyard all day and forgotten by people who assume the backyard is the babysitter and the treadmill all in one. People who live out in rural areas who think it is just dandy to leave their animals roam around all day are just asking for their dogs to be shot, stolen, hit by a car, get into fights with other dogs, pick up all sorts of pests or diseases, kill livestock, get teased or attacked by kids or adults, have unwanted litters if they aren't altered, etc. I see that kind of thing ALL THE TIME at the local shelter. But somehow people think letting their dog run loose in the country is just great fun for the dog. I'm not saying all this to be judgmental. I'm saying it because it's reality.