SO angry...inadvertantly "saved" a puppy...sorta.

I am not surprised that you saved this little guy. []Your heart is in the right place and you stayed true to yourself.
Good work.

Wow, I think we should print off Spiritdogs post on little cards to hand out to everyone so we'll all know what to do in these situations in the future when adrenaline takes over . . . like those little CPR reminder cards! Great advice!

Good for you. Although you hate to financially support a jerk like that, we are still talking about living creatures that need help. The pup is adorable and I sort of hope you keep him! But either way - a good deed for sure.

You could also contact the owners or managers of the fleamarket, I know one has to have a permit to sell in such a place.
You can tell the person in charge that you will be contacting animal control and the police, and then perhaps the management will shut him down.

You did what you thought was right at the time....good luck.

Having a soft heart when it comes to animals has me sitting here with 5 dogs, 3 of them rescues, and 2 rescue cats[]

I just want to give you the (((biggest hug))).
You did a wonderful thing and I hope this little one gives you all the love you deserve[]
 
Anne, you are amazing. You get a (((big hug toooooooo)))

Wow, thanks everyone SO much for being so supportive. [] To everyone who suggested "Moses" as a name...that's right at the top of my list right now. I'll just have to try it for a while to see if it fits. []
 
I still can't really believe that I actually TOOK the puppy from this guy. I'm generally a pretty big weenie in these types of situations...I was just so, so, SO angry that it just kind of happened.
 
I *just* called and got him an appointment at the vet for Thursday...it was the soonest my vet could get me in. Hopefully he'll give me an official estimate on his age (though I think what the guy said was about right...he's just big enough to toddle around and eat some solids, but he's still unsteady on his feet and he just seems too young to be weaned in general...and he was one of the two largest puppies in the litter.) Until he's been checked out, I'm keeping him crated in the spare room, so he won't be around the other dogs.
 
I know he could be harboring any number of things, but in general he seems healthier than I would have expected. His eyes are clear, his poops are solid, but soft...and that sort of orange color that I'm assuming is normal for really young puppies and kittens, since all of the ones I've seen have had it.
 
He sleeps most of the time, obviously. When he's awake he cries, fusses, growls, and barks constantly. I feel so bad for him...he obviously hasn't been socialized with humans at all...he cries when I pick him up, but if he happens to catch a glimpse of my other dogs he gets VERY wiggly, makes little puppy appeasement  gestures at them, and tries his dardest to get to them. He's a sweet puppy, I just don't think he's been handled at all. He's already getting better...he licks my face when I pick him up...but he seems to be a little afraid of people in general. He just doesn't seems to know what anyone's intentions are. Luckily, he's young enough that I should be able to repair the damage that's been done.
 
Really I think all of his fussing is just due to being torn away from his brothers and sisters...because if I get down on the floor and play with him, he immediately stops crying and licks my face and starts playing. He already has a favorite toy...a long tube of leapord print fabric that he carries with him constantly. Seeing him carrying it around and tripping over it is pretty much the cutest thing ever. [] And he's a pretty strong little nipper too...if he has something in his mouth, I can easily pick him up by it. He's a dog who I think may enjoy doing springpole one day. []
 
Right now, I'm leaning towards keeping him. There was an akita at a shelter about an hour away that I was planning on adopting, and fostering until he could find a home. I had to wait until last Friday to get him (since that was the first paycheck my husband was getting with his increase in pay) and due to some kind of mix up (which is a very LONG story by itself) he was euthanized last Wednesday. I had been pretty heartbroken about it, since I had spent nearly a month deciding whether or not to foster him, and was all ready to do it....this just seems like it may have been fate. Like I didn't get that dog, because I was meant to have this one. I know that sounds corny, but I really do feel that way. And the whole reason I was planning on just fostering that akita, rather than keeping him, was because of his size. I didn't want to deal with having TWO huge akitas in my house long term. Well, this pup's dad was probably about 60 pounds, and his mom was about 30-40. That's a much more manageable size...and something I think I can make room for. Besides, both DH and I are already attached. []
 
I do have a few questions though...I've never had a puppy this young...the youngest I've ever gotten a puppy was 8 weeks. I've bottle fed kittens, rats, an opossum, and a few other animals...so I'm familiar with baby animals in general, just not very young puppies.  Should I get some over the counter wormer now, or wait until Thursday and have the vet do it? Is he too young to housetrain at this age? I've heard of puppies being started on house training at 6 weeks, but never as young as 4-5. He doesn't have the motor skills yet to walk around steadily, much less control where he poops. Also, does what I'm feeding him sound okay? (Formula twice a day, then formula with some canned puppy food and ground beef mixed in every two hours, and one during the middle of the night.) Also, all of his little puppy teeth seem to be in...so is it okay for me to give him a little muscle meat to gnaw on a couple of times a day, just to get him used to raw? Or should I wait until he's a teeny bit older?
 
Again, thanks everyone for being so supportive. He certainly did pick a bad time to arrive, it being the week before christmas. I've got ALOT of plans this week on top of christmas shopping, and he's also going to have to make the trip with us to my parent's on Christmas day. I'll probably just get a big roomy purse and smuggle him with me while I get all of my shopping and everything else done, so I can be sure he gets to potty and eat on time. []

Here's what I would do now.  Take him to your vet yesterday and get a professional estimation of his age.  Then, call you law enforcement agency that handles pet sales (SPCA, state veterinarian, whoever).  Inform them of the practices going on at that flea market.  Next, call your state representative and ask what the laws are regarding the age at which an animal can be legally sold.  If it isn't 8 weeks or better, explain why it is important to wait that long, and ask the rep to file legislation for you that will require it (you'd be surprised at how fast some reps will do this - helping kids and puppies makes them look really good LOL).  Then, take your puppy everywhere - socialize the crap out of him and tell his story - the same way you told it to us - until no one in your area visits that flea market until they stop selling puppies.  If you can get some dog people to picket the place, the local news might cover it if you can guarantee them a crowd.

 
 
thanks so much for the awesome advice, Anne. [] After his vet visit on Thursday, (when I have a vet to back me up on his age)I'm going to contact everyone I can think of about stopping these people. Honestly? I don't know how much good it'll do. There were actually police officers AT the flea market watching this go on. Most of them were directing traffic at the entrances, but I did see a couple walking around. Either they're not aware of the laws, or Georgia doesn't have laws regarding the sale of puppies, or they don't care. I also saw a guy there with three SKELETAL pit mix puppies in the back of his truck. They looked to be about 4-5 months old, and I think he actually had them all hog-tied. [] I didn't get a very close look,a nd I don't know if those puppies were for sale, but they WERE in plain sight and I would think, having seen it, one of the officers would have said SOMETHING about it. I just hope that, when I do report this, I don't get blown off. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more than a little afraid to cause trouble...but, I think I'm going to do it. If nothing gets done, at least I'll know I did all I could.  Thank you for the advise to call a state representative to have something done about laws regarding puppy sales here. That's something I never would have though of, and something that I'm defiitely going to do.

I cried as I read your post.  I am so glad you took the puppy from the guy.  You did a wonderful thing by rescuing him, I just hope the rest of the pups were as lucky. []
 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more than a little afraid to cause trouble...

 
Don't be afraid, causing trouble for abusers is the name of the game when it comes to shutting down people like that. Take it from me, my middle name should be trouble.......[]

Ohh, he is adorable! 
 
I also have an incredibly soft heart for animals.  I also have real passion for any innocent creature that is being victimized.  Animals, children, you name it.  It gives me a "righteous" anger.  There is such a thing, you know - anger that does not come from a place of hatred - Christ showed this kind of anger in the Bible, and I believe that such anger is appropriate and necessary at times when you know in your heart that you're being called upon to take a stand.  And that's what you did!  Good for you.  I know you probably wanted to take them all - I know I would have wanted to - and you did what you could.  Good for you.
 
I will really enjoy watching this guy grow up. 

Alright, I am going to flame you.  Go back and get the rest of them.  Just kidding, it was a wonderful thing you did and I admire your self control in such a situation.  I probably would have done the same thing.  When a dog is in foster care, puppies go really fast.  But because this is a boxer/pit dog, be extremely careful who gets the dog.  Take care and good luck.

Should I get some over the counter wormer now, or wait until Thursday and have the vet do it?

 
I'd say, let the vet do it. I don't think a few more days will hurt anything. Puppies can handle high protein but I wouldn't know what the calcium requirement for a puppy that small would be. Normally, they would be getting it through momma's milk, I imagine. Or, in the formula you are giving them. But may some soft puppy food. You might ask your vet what to feed, even if you plan to feed raw later.
 
As for the lackadaisical cops, not suprising. Many of them may simply not know, and some may not care. Well, turn about is fair play and ignorance of the law is no excuse. They should investigate any suspected case of animal abuse. In McKinney, Texas is a flea market called Third Monday (it's on the weekend of the 3rd Monday of every month) and there is a "pet" row of supposedly AKC pups. They just have to pay their stall fee. You'll find everything from dogs to ducks and sugar gliders.
 
In a sense, you didn't exactly support a byb, you rescued a pup and plopping down money kept it from being theft. IMHO, what supports byb and puppy mills is indifferent legislators and an uneducated public. You are certainly not uneducated. Nor can you rescue them all. Even after you leave, the seller is talking to gullible galoot number next and advising them on home surgery, just as he was before you happened by.  What has to change is the public not wanting to by from someone who has to sell at a flea market. If you sell cigarettes and 8 out of the 10 people that wander by don't want to buy cigarettes, you'll quit selling them. That is, people will do what makes money, sell what sells. It also takes education on the part of responsible people. All the liquor ads I have seen recently forgo how cool or romantic you can look with their drink and, instead, say to know your limit and drink responsibly, even if that means not drinking at all. In that same effort, we need national ad campaigns to not by from bybs, puppy mills, and pet stores. If some celebrities would speak out against that, rather than worrying about who's wearing fur, we might get somewhere. I am not against the wearing of fur. It was good enough for First Americans, it is still good enough for the Inuit and the Chukchi. In any case, proper animal husbandry should always be primary.
 
We need a national ad spot during NASCAR season and on every hunting and fishing show. That's the target audience that needs the education. Of course, that means they would have to set the beer down and pull their hand out of their pants, but I have faith, as misguided as I may be.
 
You did the best you could in a bad situation, just as I rescued Shadow from certain death doesn't mean I supported the Bubba with a box o pups.

When we found Lucy hobbling around in the middle of the street, huge belly, full of worms... the vet estimated her to be just at 4 weeks. 

She whined and cried so much I thought I was going to rip my hair out.  Especially at night.  We had her in a big tupperware container with blankets, toys and a clock wrapped up underneath everything.  She HOWLED allllllllll night for about a month.   I swear for a while I was so sorry I had taken her lol... of course I knew it would stop.

We did very gently start potty training her from the beginning.  I would just gently pick her up and put her outside in the grass and stand there with her and say outside.  I never ever got rough with her or had a harsh tone, thats just too young to blame them.  She did however take an extrememly long time to catch on.  About 3 months Id say before there were no more accidents. 

Good luck!  Heres Lucy lol... 

This is how we found her.  Vet said maybe not even 4 weeks yet... I have no idea...


This is at about 7-8 weeks I think....


And finally, about 9 weeks... []

And all grown up and spoiled rotten lol[]

This is one lucky pup, kiddo, to have a momma like you.  Sometimes we get directed in ways we don't anticipate but truly, you are doing the right thing.  Congrats on the beautiful baby pup.  It is absolutely appalling to me that people can be so very ruthless and cold to the most faithful of God's creatures.  Bless you.[]