So, other than appearance, do pups inherit anything from their parents? Any stats, or anything? Or is there zero benefit of waiting to get stats up before breeding, as opposed to just breeding them when all their stats are basically zero?

If your wolf has high talents then the pups born to that wolf will have some CP placed on them when they get born. Pups also inherit talents and weather vitals. If the parent or grand parent (not longer back) has a boost or defect then there's a chance pups will also get that boost or defect. You'll find help here: Game guide and FAQ Hope you can use it :)

Ah! I read through both of them and missed that somehow. Thank you!

I was wondering the same thing.