One of the most common questions we are asked is; “I am about to bring home my first Husky puppy. What do I need to know?” Actually, there is something that you need to know even before your puppy leaves the breeder’s facility.
What you need to know that early removal of a puppy from the mother can cause major problems. Your puppy should never leave its mother and littermates before they are at least 8 weeks of age.
Huskies being removed from their mother early result in a large percentage of the behaviour related questions we receive. Releasing a husky puppy too early has no benefits for the puppy. It can cause a host of sometimes irreversible emotional and behaviour problems in dogs.
This practice only serves to harm your dog and make your job as the owner of this dog difficult.
The only benefit for removing a puppy from its mother early is for the breeder. The practice reduces costs associated with keeping the puppy for additional two or three weeks.
Why Do Breeders Allow Early Removal of Puppy
Unless it is a true emergency (death of the mother or extreme illness of the puppy), any breeder that releases a puppy too early is doing so from either extreme ignorance, irresponsibility, or greed.
Sadly, I am noticing a growing trend among people taking ownership of their puppy at the age of only 5 or 6 weeks of age because the breeder insists on it, the owners don’t know enough not to do this, or sometimes it is the new owners themselves who refuse to wait for the full 8 or 9 weeks before taking possession of their puppy.
Uninformed and unscrupulous breeders adhere to the practice of early removal of the puppy from its mother, so they won’t have to put effort into dealing with the now more mobile puppies, and so they can save on food costs related to these growing puppies.
They do this without ever giving a second thought about what is in the best interest of the puppy and how their decision will go on to impact you, the owner of this puppy.
Impatient or uninformed owners do this due to not taking the time to become knowledgeable about this issue. This is true for all dogs, not just snow dogs.
Buyer Beware
Arm yourself ahead of time with information regarding this issue. Ask your breeder what his policy is on early removal of the husky puppy before you enter into a binding contract with them and then make sure the release date appears in writing in the contract. If a breeder doesn’t agree to keep a puppy until he is 8 or 9 weeks of age, then walk away.
Walk away if the mother of the puppies is no longer on-site to interact with the puppies. I will explain why later in this article.
Getting a puppy that has been removed early is predisposed to psychological and behavioural problems. No matter how badly you want the dog, you must be aware of this potential.
Emotionally Immature Puppies Are A Lot Like Three Year Old Children
Nearly every time I am asked for behavioural help for a puppy who is showing difficulty adapting to his new environment, the most prevalent reason for the dog’s difficulty, even when the new owners are doing everything correctly, is due to the early removal of the puppy from his mother and his litter mates too early.
To help you to understand the gravity of this situation, relate it as if we were speaking about a 3-year-old child. Removing a puppy too soon from their family unit is the doggy equivalent of taking a 3-year-old child and sending him off to boarding school and expecting him to be able to cope emotionally and socially with the experience.
Sure, the now somewhat autonomous 3-year-old child can now walk unaided, he can talk well enough to make his needs known, he can feed himself if you give him food. He may even be able to tell you that he needs to go to the toilet but is this young child emotionally equipped to be on his own and away from the protection, support, and emotional nurturing of his mother and family unit all day long?
The answer is no. And while a husky puppy is not a human child, a 5 or 6-week old puppy is not ready to leave the emotional support of his extended dog family either.
Emotional And Psychological Abandonment Has A Cost
Very young children who are denied the emotional support and guidance of the family unit go on to have all kinds of emotional and adaptational issues.
These children tend to be timid, fearful, less outgoing, have more than the usual number of fears and phobias, have fear relate sleep disorders, are irritable, anxious, are unable to self soothe. They become easily frustrated and have trouble coping with normal frustrations, display inappropriate and unreasonable outbursts of angry behaviour, and are more likely to display dissociative and attachment disorders.
They also seem to have an above-average likelihood of displaying and struggling with, socially unacceptable behaviours when it comes to their peer interactions. Puppies that are removed too early from their litters eerily mimic these very same behavioural and emotional issues displayed by these young children.
While we should avoid trying to humanize dogs, the truth remains, that the basic primal social and emotional needs of the pack oriented canid are not that different from the basic primal physical and emotional requirements of human beings.
A Hierarchy Of Needs
As Abraham Maslow pointed out in his theory of the Hierarchy of Needs, complex living organisms have an inherent basic hierarchy of needs (physical and emotional) that must be met if the being is to survive and then go on to thrive physically. The most basic physical primal needs are physiological (air, food, water etc.) and then there is a need for physical safety (shelter from the elements and someone to administer care to those unable to care for themselves physically.)
The more advanced higher needs for Love and Belonging, while not so much of a primal physical need, are emotional needs. Animals (human included) that live in societal communities, to feel emotionally secure, must have these two emotional needs also met, or it causes the being to be insecure, emotionally unbalanced, and unstable.
Just as a young child needs the comfort and security of being with, and belonging to his family unit, so does a very young puppy need the security of being with, and belonging to, his extended family unit.
The Rules Of Society
Learning the rules as they pertain to our societies, constitutes part of our evolutionary transformation as we move from childhood to adolescence, and then to adulthood.
The other members of society teach the rules for knowing how to orient ourselves in our social circles. No human or puppy comes into the world, knowing the rules that apply to his social group. These rules are mutable and reflect the unique circumstances of each particular group. The rules must be taught to the group members.
How Humans Differ
In humans, the first 5 or 6 years of life is spent not only physically looking after a child, but teaching the rules of being human how to live (and survive) in human society. The next 10 years of human life is spent developing social skills, social associations, and further understanding the complex social rules of human society. These are the necessary skills to learn to be able to transition to a well balanced and well-functioning adult.
This human development is similar to the developmental stages in dogs. Except in dogs, this process is accomplished in weeks, not months and years. Therefore, a week of development in a husky puppy’s life is the equivalent of several years in a human’s life.
Still, think that releasing a puppy one to three weeks early is no big deal? Clearly, for the development and functioning of the puppy, these few weeks are a huge deal.
The Five Stages And Transitions For Dog Development
Behavioural scientists and researchers, for the most part, agree that the five standard stages of dog development are as follows:
- The Neonatal Stage (birth – 2 weeks) – The puppies eat, sleep, pee and poop. There is no other social interaction at this stage.
- The Transitional Stage (2-3 weeks). The puppies move from just eating and sleeping to become more aware of their surroundings as their eyes and ears open.
- The Socialisation Stage (3-13 weeks). The puppies move from just eating and physical survival to interacting with the other dogs and learning the social rules of their society.
- The Critical Period (6-13 weeks) This is not a separate stage of development but a component of the Socialization Stage. This period of development is so crucial to the development of social skills; it merits its own mention. It is within this developmental stage that a dog’s potential as a companion animal is either fostered or impeded. It is also within this stage that at least 50% (nurture vs nature) of the dog’s eventual temperament is developed.
- Adolescence (13 weeks – 6 months). The puppies are now autonomous but are still learning about the social complexities of their society. At this stage, varying amounts of latitude are given for socially immature dogs displaying inappropriate social behaviours—the members of the society correct behaviour.
- Adulthood (begins at approximately 6 to 8 months old). These are fully autonomous dogs that are required to know the rules of society. To operate within the parameters of these rules. Dogs that challenge the rules or don’t conform to the rules may be physically forced out of the group.
It is important to understand that transition from one stage to the next is gradual and not abrupt. The progressions are smooth, and there is considerable overlapping of behaviours from stage to stage.
Crucial Puppy Social Development In Weeks 6 Through 8
During these two weeks, mother dogs with good instincts interact with their pups very differently than before. The puppies are no longer nursing as they are now eating solid food. Mom’s job at this point has changed from physically nurturing the puppies to giving the puppies their first lessons in submission, compliance, social order, and social ranking.
Puppies that once climbed all over Mom, nibbled and chewed on her, and hung and swung from her ear by their teeth, are now physically shown that this behaviour is less tolerated. For the very first time in their lives, the puppies have behavioural expectations placed onto them by a dog that outranks them socially.
Mom As Disciplinarian And As Boss
At this stage, very attentive Moms can be seen flipping puppies over onto their backs and asking them to submit to her. The puppy is asked to submit and lie there in submission for no other reason than, “Mom said so, and Mom is the Boss.” This is the very first situation where puppies learn to deal with being asked to comply and submit. Up until now, puppies did pretty much whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted to it.
Social Ranking As Established By Natural Temperament
It is also during these two weeks that the puppies’ natural temperament really begins to emerge.
Some puppies are more naturally confident and pushy. These are the puppies shoving other more timid dogs away from the food and taking the lion’s share for themselves. These dogs are found sleeping in the best and most choice sleeping spots. These dogs are the ones that will come up and physically wrestle a toy away from a less dominant puppy.
Some puppies are less confident, less pushy, and soon learn that other more dominant puppies will socially outrank them and at times, dominate them. These dogs have to learn how to deal with the frustration of being challenged by a more dominant force.
These kinds of social hierarchy interactions with littermates are crucial building blocks for a dog to be able to understand the complexities of social hierarchy, rank, and order. Without these experiential social opportunities to learn appropriate social behaviour, a dog enters adolescence and adulthood devoid of necessary and crucial social skills training.
Long Term Social Problems
And sadly, dogs that have been removed from their family unit before they are 8 weeks old, these socially immature dogs go on to be the dogs that are involved in most of the social skirmishes at the dog park, at doggy daycare, and in one-on-one chance dog encounters. These poor dogs don’t stand a chance in social situations because they are clueless about what appropriate and polite social dog behaviour should look like. They never had a chance to see it modelled by their mother or their siblings, and they never had a chance to practice modelling these behaviours themselves.
These dogs know nothing about calming signals. They don’t know how to read calming signals given by other others, so these dogs are constantly under-reacting or overreacting to other dogs. They also cannot give calming signals, so other dogs find them their behaviour and reactions both baffling and irritating.
As you can easily see, most of the social rules are taught and reinforced by mother dogs on weeks 6 through 8, so the consequences of removing puppies from their littermates and mothers too early are both far-reaching and impactful.
And since companion dogs will be constantly required to submit, comply, and interact with humans and other dogs for the rest of their natural lives, intentionally or inadvertently (through ignorance) creating a puppy that is likely to be socially and emotionally crippled does not make sense nor does it benefit anyone.
Common Dog Behaviours And Problems Attributed To Early Removal
Here is a shortlist of common problems (physical, emotional, and social) exhibited by puppies and then later by mature dogs, who have been removed from their family units before the age of 8 weeks.
These puppies seem to have an inability to self soothe
They are anxious and never seem to be content. They whine, cry, and bark a lot. Many times they seem inconsolable even when given human attention. These puppies are the dogs that will continue to cry through the night long after the normal adaptation period has passed.
These dogs are quite likely to develop severe separation anxiety or minimally; they will hate being left alone. It is because they are unable to self soothe and because they become easily frustrated that they often resort to the physical destruction of their environment as an outlet for their anxiety and frustration. These dogs are also at an increased risk of becoming self mutilators.
Housebreaking these puppies is challenging
As their bladders and bowels are still immature, trying to insist on regulating them is often frustrating and unsuccessful for both humans and dog. Once they get in the habit of eliminating in the house, it becomes much harder to get through the message of only pee and poop outside.
Owners place newspapers and pee pads down to help contain the mess but are only helping to teach and reinforce the message that elimination indoors is permissible. Remember, dogs cannot generalize. Rules for them fall into one of two categories: ALWAYS or NEVER. If they are allowed to pee and poop, sometimes, they interpret that to mean ALWAYS. Bringing your puppy home after they are 8 weeks old makes effective housebreaking not only easier, it makes it possible.
These puppies will often exhibit a myriad of psychological issues
They lack the confidence to handle new situations, people and often are not able to have proper social interactions with other dogs because of crippling fears and phobias. Even when you take these dogs to obedience classes and give them socialization opportunities, these are the dogs that will become fear aggressive and be at an increased chance of becoming a fear biter. Often through constant management, these issues can be lessened but rarely are the issues eliminated.
These dogs often default to fear biting
They do not necessarily see this behaviour as being an offensive attack. In their minds, they are defensively attacking other dogs. Their fear is so great that they preemptively launch an attack of one bite and then they retreat, hoping to drive off the other dog (or person). They melt down and are easily overwhelmed by anything new in their environment. These dogs are uncomfortable and want to be left alone.
Because these dogs have gaps in their understanding of being able to read and model appropriate dog body language, they often are the cause of dog fights. They lack the knowledge behind giving and receiving the normal calming signals used by other more scholarly dogs. Interestingly, Mother dogs who did not get the benefit of being taught about calming signals by their mothers will not be able to pass this knowledge on to their own puppies creating yet another generation of dogs who have poor communications skills.
Not knowing what to expect from other the dogs causes these dogs to be constantly on guard and tense. Then other dogs react to the tense or fearful energy and body language displayed by these dogs. The owners of these unfortunate socially inept dogs are often at their wits end trying to teach their dogs how to become well socialized and how to be less stressed or terrified in social settings. Very often, no amount of socialization training helps to make these dogs fully at ease in dog on dog encounters.
How You Can Prevent This From Happening To You
- Education and correct information are always crucial to preventing a disaster from becoming your fate. Arm yourself with as much information as you can from a variety of up to date sources of information. Sadly, your Vet may not be the best source of information when it comes to issues of understanding the social learning and needs of dogs.
- Do not allow yourself to become complacent and naively expect that all breeders will act in the best interest of you or your puppy. Sadly, there are breeders out there who are very low on ethics and whose bigger concern is the profit to be gained by selling their dogs to you.
- Minimally, there are some breeders out there who lack the experience and information to be well knowledgeable breeders. Ignorance really is a weak excuse for producing a poor genetic product. If they are responsible for creating a living creature, then they should also take the personal responsibility to make sure that they are up to date on current and accurate information regarding the practice of creating healthy and well-adjusted puppies. Breeding dogs needs to about more than that just tossing two dogs together so they can pro-create and then selling puppies as a product of procreation.
- By taking the responsibility to arm yourself with information, you can recognize sound breeding practices and know what questions to ask thereby increasing your chances of being able to spot a bad breeder. Not all breeders are bad. There are ethical well informed dog breeders out there too. You have to know enough information to be able to spot the difference.
- And finally, don’t buy puppies, sight unseen, from breeders that advertise over the internet or from newspaper or magazine ads. From behind the anonymity of a computer screen or telephone, people can represent themselves in any way that they want. The only way to be sure that a breeder has good breeding practices is to be able to see the facility and the dogs for yourself.
Visiting The Breeder
With an appointment, you should be able to visit a good quality breeder’s facility. If a breeder makes constant excuses as to why you cannot visit them, walk away from the deal. If you insist on doing business with a person like this, you, and your poorly bred puppy will surely be paying the price for this choice for a long time to come.
When visiting a breeder’s facility, the puppies should be on the premises, ideally living in the house with the people. The parent dogs should be there too, but especially the mother of the pups. If the mother is no longer with the pups after they have been weaned, you are at an increased risk of ending up with a puppy who is missing crucial social development.
When a facility has many breeding dogs with litters on the ground, walk away. Don’t move forward if a breeding facility has many different breeds of dogs, all with litters on the ground. If dogs are kept in dirty and overcrowded conditions, walk away.
Puppy Mills
These situations all have the tell-tale signs of it being a puppy mill. Puppies that come from this kind of breeding situation will not only be poor genetic examples of the breed, but they will arrive sick and infested with parasites from living in dirty and unhealthy conditions. If you buy from a dog from a breeder after seeing these conditions you had better be prepared to spend a lot more money on Vet bills because trying to bring these dogs back to a state of good health, if at all possible, is a costly affair. Save yourself the anguish and the money. Just don’t buy puppies from questionable sources.
It is my most fond wish that we educate all Snow Dog owners and all potential Snow Dog owners so that no person finds themselves in the awful position of becoming the unwitting owner of one of these unfortunate dogs. Please, do your homework first before agreeing to purchase a dog from a breeder. Know what constitutes good breeding practices. And know not to accept ownership of a puppy before it at least 8 weeks old.
As always we welcome your questions and comment regarding this issue. Please share your stories with us because when we share our wisdom, we may well be helping someone who is struggling with their Snow Dog.
Helping All Snow Dogs …. one owner at a time.
The puppy does, in stunted development, psychological deprivation, emotional duress and even physically, by being deprived of the very important next six weeks of rearing with its mother and litter. Those weeks teach the pup important social skills, confidence, and behaviors no human master can replicate in the pup s rearing.
Likewise, it s the quickest way for an honest, ethical breeder to sort out an irresponsible potential owner one who willingly buys and takes home a puppy that has been weaned from its mother and littermates prematurely.
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I NEED HELP. Ive had my husky wolf for 3 days now and she hasnt ate at all. To my guessing is she probably misses her mom and litter mates beings she is only 6 weeks old and walks around sometimes crying. What can i do to help her feel better and get her to eat?
I put a deposit down on a puppy that is about 2 weeks old from a reputable breeder. Unfortunately, the mother of the litter passed away shortly after giving birth. I am being assured that the breeder and his family are doing everything they can to get the puppies to thrive (taking shifts to feed, etc). Should I be worried that the pups won’t get the “normal” socialization that they would get if their mother was alive? Should I back out of the deal to purchase the puppy?
I am supposed to pick up my Siberian husky puppy in 2 weeks, that makes her 7 weeks old.
I didn’t think anything of it until I saw this article.
The breeder is AKC registered and supposed champion blood lines. The breeder was welcoming for us to come to their home, I was shocked to learn that there was about 25ish dogs in the property between adults and pups. There was at least 3-4 kennels with breeding pairs. The breeder didn’t seem like they wanted me to go to the back yard where the dogs were but they did allow me to see the parents from a back door. I was able to see dad from a distance & mom came up to the door to visit & for pets. The breeder claimed to have been breeding for nearly 30 years. The dogs seemed healthy and their kennels cleaned. What should my concerns be besides the puppy being taken too early.
I believe we made a mistake we took her puppies away probably too soon or something but she basically ignored them she wouldn’t nurse them every time they try to feed from her they were 5 weeks old mind you and she kept growling at them when they try to nurse so for their safety we got them out of the house at least I think that’s the right thing to do or did we over Act thinking the situation was worse so what it really was we still have one staying at a friend’s house but I’m scared to bring them back for safety of pup
The mother dog growling at the babies at 5 weeks of age is part of the normal weaning process. She is setting boundaries and discouraging them from nursing. She should still have access to the babies and spend some time with them. A mother dog stopping nursing at 5 weeks is not unusual, the puppies still need to stay with her and their litter mates until at least 8 weeks of age.
What will happen to a mother who now just noticed her puppies are gone but really ignored them and now she’s just crying like crazy what should I do there’s only one top left and the organization won’t take that one due to not having enough space?
In your eyes she was ignoring her litter when she wasn’t. Dogs give signals such as a growl, placement of ears and tail. I read your first comment when you said you removed her from her puppies at 5 weeks. She would have still nursed her pups 2 or 3 times a day at that age. You’re humanizing your dog and not letting her be what she is and that is a dog. I have said that first time dog owners should have to take and pass a test if they want to add a dog to their family. I bred Golden Retrievers and I never removed my mama from her puppies. I let her do her job as a mother and even her mate was very involved with his pups to. My puppies stayed with their parents for 12 weeks they weren’t allowed to go to their new homes until they received their rabies vaccination and had 1 final vet check. Not one of my pups were ever rehomed by their new human families and every puppy grew into a very happy confident stable family pet. It was my dogs job to educate their babies to have good manners and to be respectful dogs. My job was to make sure they were healthy and to start training them to take commands from humans such as how to walk properly on a leash, get their nails done to be obedient while being bathed and groomed. Their mother house trained them. I’m not saying this to be mean but sadly it’s people like yourself that kepted me in business for many years having to rehabilitate unstable dogs. Give me a fighting 90 lb American Pitbull Terrier any day of the week then a dog with having to deal with the problem of early separation. Please no more breeding your dog get her fixed there are way to many backyard breeders.
Damn that part about the human babies really got me. I have at least half of those negative personality traits, and at the age of 46 I can still vividly remember the day my mom dropped me off at a private school at the age of 2. She had to go back to work because my dad was gambling in Vegas every weekend. Oh well, life ain’t fair and you can’t go back and get a childhood/adolescent do-over.
So my fiance and I recently got a puppy from a friend of a friend. We have never owned a dog before and were not quite educated on these things. We received the puppy at 5 weeks. What are some steps that we can take in order to help her mature psychologically and to prevent social immaturity. She tends to be very shy around people at first but after a few minutes she is always very playful and energetic. We are good friends with the couple that adopted her brother (also 5 weeks). Would it be beneficial to let the two of them spend time together even without the mother? I was unaware of the negative effects of taking them at such an early age and now I am just trying to do what I can to ensure that she is well taken care of in every way possible. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Being they are littermates it would be good to do that. Puppies start getting vaccinated at 6 weeks and you don’t want to expose them to other dogs until they have recieved all 3. If there would be away to get your puppy and the sibling of you pup together for the next 5 weeks full time would be best. Having the puppies submit to you just by making them show their tummies to you helps also, just flip them over and make them stay there until you walk away from them. When they are playing with you and they bite to hard make a loud yip and stop play. Talk with your friends and see what they would like to do, if they want to be the one to keep their puppy with them and willing to take your pup for this time let them, it will benefit your pup and you also and save you a lot of money, behavior rehabilitation therapist are not cheap and your obedience trainers don’t rehabilitate, they train.
My dumb Mexican parents let my two dogs mate. And know they have 6 puppies. I want to keep them till their 2 months but my parents don’t. I would tell them about these things but they don’t care. It’s useless. I’m gonna have to sell them at 6 weeks. The worst thing about this Is that they are left outside. My mom doesn’t want them inside. So they sleep on the floor not on the dirt though. I try to take care of them and keep them clean but it’s hard. It’s so stressful I’m never gonna let my dog mate.
You could put a unreleaseable high price on the puppies and that could give you 2 weeks the puppies need.
My boyfriends mom irresponsibly bred puppies and is now giving them away at 4 weeks because she doesn’t feel like caring for them anymore. I am so upset but there isn’t much I can do.
I have just rescued a 7 week old Mastiff female with a broken leg, my first action with this pup was to take her to the vet get her leg looked at and get her vaccinated. The leg has a hairline fracture below the left rear knee and has already started to heal, the vet bandaged her leg and I am to take her back every 5 days for redressing. Well as the bandage was 3 times longer than her leg she could not move without being in pain she couldn’t toilet properly and she couldn’t interact with me, her distress at this bandage distressed me greatly and so I removed it. She is now very happy to seen me come home from work (is baby sat by my mother during the day) she spins round in circles and bounces around like Peppy LA Pew, she is walking and running on her leg now with no difficulty even standing up wanting a pat.. Yes she was removed from her mother to early but she does not display the “symptoms” described here she is very interactive does not cry endlessly and will submit to me when I new to control her… My opinion is …. Not all pups are the same some can handle being removed too early where others cannot… Its a bit like the human world where some children are born whingers they cry over anything and nothing while some are born mentally tough and do not feel the need to cry endlessly…. I guess I was lucky to rescue this pup she has a strong mind which I intend to nurture and love….
Is it ok to get a beagle pup at 6weeks
No! Read the article. Jeeze
Would appreciate some advice. My 2 puppies are 5 months. I got the 2 puppies at 6 weeks. I know better than to do this normally. They are rescues, the previous owner abandoned them in my friends front yard at 6 weeks. They were alone way too young, but we were not exactly able to relocate mom, and even if we did that person was clearly not fit to have them, so this was the only solution. One of them is pretty good aside from constant barking, but it has gotten to the point of her annoying neighbors. One of them shows most of the behaviors described in this article. Resource guarding, nipping at owners and occasionally other dogs, destructive chewing. Both have been a challenge to house break but are making good progress. Both are pretty demanding of attention but I sort of think its cute and don’t need to break that habit. :)
I am getting a husky/pit bull puppy in a couple of weeks, when she is 7 weeks old. I have an 18 month old puppy with horrible separation anxiety, so I’m hoping that getting another one will help her. She acts very different at my daughter’s house, with her three dogs. This one I got at 9 weeks. I believe that all dogs are different. Some have problems, and some don’t. It depends on the individual dog, and not always when you get them. I’ve had a lot of dogs in my 50 years, and they are all different and unique. Some just need more attention and training than others. I did find this article interesting, as well as the comments to it. To all us dog lovers, good luck to us all for all the puppies and dogs we get. When we provide a good and loving home, that is most important!!
I have two black labs. One we took at 14 weeks who is more responsible trustworthy and sensible than most of the people I know and the other who we were told was 8+ weeks but the very put her at more like 7 :( she turned into a velcro dog, obsessed with me, destructive in my absence, worried when she can’t find me. I haven’t been to the toilet on my own in 10 years. She’s so so much calmer now and she really settled down in her middle age, but I’m sure this could have been avoided had she stayed with her mum longer like my other one. Her saving grace was that our other one was 6 months old when we got her so she did have some older dog assistance. She is my baby and my absolute love, it’s hard not to be devoted back to someone who loves andneeds you this much, but I wish she’d been that little bit older that she might have felt more stable younger.
I purchased a Goldendoodle from a reputable breeder. He was 11 weeks old when we picked him up. Although they had been weaned and were eating solid food, the pups were still in a pen with mum up until they were sold. The breeder said this was the first time she had done this. The puppies certainly seemed well socialized, with no fear of people, no attachment issues, when we picked him up.
He has no resource guarding problems and will literally let you take food out of his dish while he is eating. I put that down to having to share with his brothers and sisters for a few extra weeks.
He’s a very loving family dog.
However, I work from home, so he is seldom alone. As a result, he has become very attached to me and has developed some pretty strong separation anxiety. (I take complete responsibility for this, as I obviously didn’t realize I had to leave him for longer periods in order for him to become accustomed to it.)
So there is some anectodal evidence that nature does not always win out over nurture. You have to reinforce training, whether they have been removed at 6 weeks, or 11.
I jus bought a frenchie puppy from a well known breeder. She breeds pugs, frenchies and english bulldogs. I visited the site when the pups were 3 days old. Although she has a lot of pugs, she only has 4 frenchies, 2 males and 2 females. At the time she only had the frenchie litter and 1 pug litter. Mom and pups kept in a pen in the house, she has an incubator where the pups are kept and taken to the mom for feeding. She sent regular updates and photos and kept in touch throughout. I was concerned that she took them for their first shots just before 6wks, which is too early. She also said they can leave at 8wks.
This week she called to say 2of the pups are leaving this week and if I’m ready, I can have mine too. The pups are 7wks today. I got my girl yesterday. I know it’s a bit too early. I do have 2 grown dogs, an english bulldog and a boxer, 3 and 2 years old respectively. The pup immediately started playing with them, showing no signs of any fear. My 2 play quite rough, but seems to be okay. The boxer is a female and although she’s quite rough, she is already very protective, like a mother. The pup immediately settled in, doesn’t mess on the floor and uses the training pad, which I slowly move further and further until it’s outside. We take her out as much as possible to do her thing outside. She slept through, but got up twice to do her thing on the pad, and went straight back to sleep. No wining, nothing. Should I be concerned that she left a week early, or will my older dogs help with teaching her and sorting out all she needs to know?
I got a 4 month old black lab when we got her we found out some one threw her away in the trash I love her and so does my wife and Kids my only fear is reading about behavior problem when the puppy is taken away from the mom to early do I have to be worried about there safety being bit by her there 3 and 5 years old only because my wife just called me telling me out our the blue Bella just bit her hand and when she looked at her it seemed Bella looked mad will classes be an answer or am I just wasting my money.
Thank you
Todd
Hey, We got a puppy that was almost 7 weeks old, the mother got sick so the family who was housing the puppies had to try and get them out instead of run the risk of them getting sick. Is there any way we can help the puppy adjust easier due to this unforeseen complication??
Thank you for this article. I am currently dealing with a breeder who is trying to pressure me into taking the pup 3 days before she turns 8 weeks. Do I run the risk of her having problems at this point? He says no but my gut says otherwise. I noticed when we first visited the puppy a month ago that she was whiny but when she came to our house for a visit, she was much more calm and seemed at ease in our home quickly. I don’t want to harm her. Should I just insist that he hold on to her until she’s reached the proper age? I also don’t want to run the risk that he’ll try to back out of the deal since I’ve already put down $500. I’m in a quandary. Can anyone help me?
Great article! This leaves me with a question of a dog whose mother was pulled from a litter at 6 weeks but the puppy remained with the litter until 9 or 10 weeks .
WOW! So my partner and I are receiving two husky puppies next weekend and I wanted to research on a few things and ran across this article. And just reading this and the comments im so torn about getting the puppies too early. The mother has not been really feeding the puppies and while the breeder has been feeding them formula and taking good care of the puppies, im wondering will it still be a problem taking the puppies at 5 weeks (brother & sister) since the breeder themselves have already separated the puppies from the mother already? I need help because I want to give the puppies a very good and stable home. Thanks in advance.
Never take 2 puppies from the same litter. They bond with each other and never bond with their human owners.
I purchased two brothers from the same liter and never had any trouble with either bonding with humans.
I have two sister pits and they don’t really like each other they get jealous of each other though
If people get 2 pups from the same litter to make it easier on theirselves and do it so they don’t have to deal with night whining or so the pup has a playmate and they don’t have to be the one they should become cat people.
I have a husky pup, she’s seven months now, she lives with a German sheppard pup, they’re both the same age. My german sheppard loves attention, but my husky seems to hate it. We only get to touch her when she’s eating. How do I make her trust me so I can touch her? Her mother died on birth, the sailer told me. I bought her when she was 36 days old. A week later I bought the german sheppard, and they’re growing togheter ever since.
I have a 3 1/2 week old husky baby he was abandoned I have had him for about a week now and he just got his teeth and started biting do you have any advice for me on what I can do to be mommy I guess
What about puppies whose mom dies? I met with a breeder in person and met the mother dog before going on a waitlist. The dogs on the premises are well taken care of and have great temperaments. There were complications with the birth, they went to the vet and 8 puppies were born by Csection. Mom died of a blood clot a few hours later while still under observation. The puppies are being hand raised with puppy formula in the breeders living room. They will go home at 8 weeks the same as they normally would. Will these puppies have behaviour problem without the experience of interacting with mom? I’m hesitant about taking one now, when before I was very excited waiting for my puppy to be born.
Good questions, I am actually in the same boat and was wondering the same issues. can I be notified as well if you got an answer? Thanks
Same here. The mother rejected all the puppies, and refused to feed them. All but one perished. The breeder has separated the last one from the mother to avoid a similar fate. Are there techniques to counterbalance all the concerns you express?
I enjoyed reading this article despite its humanizing of the puppies. I often joke about how similar small children and puppies are ( I have had both)
The reason I am commenting is response to the section about a puppy being separated too early, then becoming a mother herself and how she will not be able to pass on certain educative qualities to the puppies she rears. My snow dog was received by us right at 6 weeks old because of her mothers deatb. Now, luckily she did get almost 6 weeks with the mother so maybe that has something to do with it. She recently became a mother and she is doing a Fabulous job in all areas!! I’ve witnessed her teaching them gently that she is done with their suckling, she has let them “self-soothe” to get to sleep, and she nudges them over onto their backs (what I now know is her teaching them to be submissive). The point is, there IS still a chance that your pup whom was separated *just a bit* too early, to still have the much needed (and human-desired!) coping and caring skills to be a wonderful mother.
I appreciate the author for writing this article as I found it in the perfect time as I was arguing with the “new father” of one of the pups that 6 weeks old was too young for him to take the pup home. I know he loves the pup and has consistently come by every 3 days to visit with him and the rest of the litter so I know he will be a good “dad”. This article, I believe, helped him to understand that I am not trying to keep the puppies longer than needed just because I love them, but most importantly, because I want them to have the opportunity to be well-adjusted, awesome companions. Thanks again Snowdog Guru!!
Hello. This is more of a rant.. so im sorry im advance.
A friend took a husky puppy home at 3 weeks old because the mother wasnt always feeding it. She does have a year old male dog she got when it was 5 weeks old but i dont think that will help the new puppy learn like they think it will. They also baby the puppy like a human. It is always swaddled in a blanket and in the bed. Or laying on its back to drink puppy milk, because “thats the only way she drinks”. Which ive fed it like a normal puppy would drink off mom no problem. The puppy is always being touched and held and tossed around. They let it eat some nacho cheese.. not a lot.. but a 3 to 4 week puppy should not have any..They took it to a little river where people swim and had it in the water. This puppy is only 4 weeks old right now, has no shots, and has already been put in a river to “try to learn to swim”. Id say it gets a long with people just fine but it is only 4 weeks old..
Will this puppy be okay or is it going to grow up to be a nightmare.
What a load of alarmist nonsense. Obviously around 8 weeks is ideal but over 6 weeks is fine. Dog behaviour is down to the training and treatment they receive. Proffering your opinions as fact is irresponsible and self indulgent.
Absolutely correct. Couldn’t agree more. I am a very experienced dog breeder. The person writing this article clearly doesn’t have first hand experience and is very naive misinforming so many people. I’ve had dogs from 6 weeks old. The earlier you train them the better they are. I also had dogs from 8 weeks and they turn out worse because of no training at an early age.
Great article, unfortunately however I adopted a dog at 8 months only to find out later it had been sent away from its liter at 3 weeks. All my animals are rescues so dealing with the breeder directly isn’t how we came to adopt. Any Suggestions? He’s extremely sweet but noticeable difficult to train compared to the other dogs I have taken in. At 9 Months old he has the personality of a 4mo old puppy. He’s nippy, food guards, puppy guards, and unphased by correction. The only thing that seems to work is his love of food so I try to redirect a behavior and praise him and give him treats when he’s doing well. But even then he’s a challenge. At first I thought he was just a stubborn Husky but having trained other huskies I quickly realized their had to be more to the story.
Oh no.. my friend took a husky home at 3 weeks.. i didnt think itd be good but oh no… how is yours around other dogs? Im worried about taking my dogs over there.
I have the opposite problem. I have a maltipoo, she is 2 or 3 yrs. old. She is a rescue. They told me she was a runner. Well every time I take her out side. She is frantic, and whimpers like she is crying. MY thought is, her puppies were taken from her, and she is looking for them. When she is in the house she is fine. Outside very upset dog. Is it possible to change her mind thought. This is very sad.
I beg all of you to listen to these instructions. I ended up adopting a mix breed dog that was born from a stray and pulled from her mother and litter mates at a very young age. I got him at 12 weeks and the damage was already done. It has only worsened with age and no amount of training will help. This can cause permanent psychological damage to dogs. He is very fearfull of all dogs and strangers. He has shown signs of fear aggrrespionage since day 1. So much so that I had to leave puppy socialization classes due to his extreme fear. He was dealt a horrible hand at life and if you have the option of avoiding this, please do so.
So could you tell me your thought on a breeder separating the pups at 12 weeks? Do you think this is to old??
Actually the perfect age to remove a puppy is 12 weeks. They longer they stay with mom and family the less issue you have in the long run. My breeder would not let my pup go even one single day before 12 week mark. So good for you.
I took my puppy from his litter at 5 weeks old, and he is now 7 weeks old. He shows absolutely none of these signs claimed, he is already almost 100% peepad trained (will be moving tht to outside when he is ab 2months old). its an animal not a robot, its all about how you treat it and take care of it, if you keep him happy, play with him, maintain his needs, use a high tone for good things and deep tone for bad things he will learn the difference of right and wrong. although im experienced and have had dogs before him, for the people its new to; it’s really not that difficult once he has coped to his new home. Just never mistreat or neglect the animal
What a load of nonsense!! It beggars believe somebody can make such sweeping statements, especially drawing an analogy between the development of puppies and children. I am a child psychologist and the majority of “facts” described in this article and totally inaccurate. I have been a dog breeder as well with well over 40 years experience and naturally I agree the optimum time for a puppy to leave the litter is about 8 weeks. I stress ABOUT 8 weeks, a few days either way will not be detrimental to the puppies development, nor will it impede their ability to forge permanent relationships with people or other dogs.
I have seen many troubled children in my career and am of the opinion that removing them from their original family unit, to be cared for in a loving substitute situation will in many cases have saved their life.
this entire article id devoid of any references to research. If this kind of article is the passed of as a true picture of what people will expect, it is very poor information and I pity the mindless people that believe it.. Did anybody check this article for accuracy before it was posted on line? It shows clearly the danger of the internet.
Unfortunately your credentials do not do you justice. This article is quite accurate. My dog was pulled away at 6 weeks. I got the dog at 3 1/2 after being moved from shelter to shelter for behavior issues. He is on xanax and I cant leave him at all. He snaps at people, has eating issues and has to be fed water with a syringe when the xanax wears off because he gets dehydrated from not drinking. Luckily I work from home, and I can take care of all these things. And ironically, I have a degree in psychology too. But I have more going for me then just a degree and brains. I have a heart too.
I have a question. I was ignorant and brought a puppy home before 8 weeks. I want to give her a chance to be a normal and happy puppy so I’m taking her back. She’ll have been separated from her mom 4 days when we give her back. Will she still have a chance?
Our puppy was taken away at 2 weeks and we rescued her at 5 months. We are going through all of the issues you mentioned..I really don’t know what to do. We are prepared to live with her for the rest of her life as we are aware no one could handle her. We have two other well behaved dogs that were raised properly and they do help her a bit..but she is so messed up (anxious, throws tantrums, suspicious of anything we do, destroys things, eats everything etc) Any suggestions or hope for her? I don’t want to put her on meds and I’ve had dogs my whole life and know how o train them..I just wish I knew if it would ever get better?..
Thank you for a great article! My husband and I were *this close* to bringing home a 5 week old puppy tonight. On our way to the ATM I had a chance to do a little bit of research on the subject and am so glad I did. I saw the true colors of the seller, too, who was pretty cranky when we said, “She’s too young, call us in three weeks if she’s still available.” They were obviously more interested in the money over their puppy’s health and well-being. But someone else will likely take this puppy in the next couple days, continuing a cycle of ignorance and overlooking the needs of these animals. It’s very sad!
Is it okay to take my pitbull puppy from its mom at 8 weeks, I have read your article it’s very good..My previous pitbull puppy i took from its mom at 1 month old she had a lot of the problems you talk about, she passed away at 4 year, s old. She will always be in my heart. This puppy pitbull I just got is 3months old very sweet dog.Any suggestions will be good thank you..
I got my people at 8 weeks through the spca.. She was fostered by a family along with her sister from birth. Her mom died while given birth and the ownwer turned 4 of the 5 puppies over to the spca because they didnt know how to care for them. The fifth puppy died in the birth canal. My dog is 6 months now and she is so clingy..and demands attention at all times..My husband and I can not enjoy a movie or dinner at home without her whinning and barking for attention. She only calms down when one of us is touching her.. Do you think that this is caused by the fact that she never had time with her mother? How can i fix this?
I am a breeder and agree with no sooner than 8 wks but the issue I have with article is reasons to walk away [ must be raised in home] Many quality breeders have awesome facilities also moms like their privacy in the first couple wks. important to bring pups in home for many reasons but not necessary be raised in home
Great article. I may have 2 puppies that were separated at 6 weeks … litter mates, girls. And they ‘ran’ away 3 weeks ago at about 12 weeks … I was working on socialization skills and appropriate behavior.
Thank you!
Wayne
Thank you for this article. Sadly, I purchased a baby chihuahua about four days ago. I have only had one puppy before this and from the picture I thought she appeared the 6 weeks they claimed her to be (which unfortunately someone had told me is the earliest age they can leave mom). They brought us the dog saying they were selling it for their mom. After they left it only took about an hour for us to realize the dog must be closer to 3 weeks old. I sincerely do not want to take this pup back to those irresponsoble people, I do not trust them. But I have been researching how to take care of ‘orphaned’ puppies and I am concerned for the upcoming weeks when she should be learning how to interact with other pups. Is there anything I can do? Thanks for any advice.
Puppies early removal actually a very bad idea and so hurt too. If this happens there have chance to reverse and bad reaction. Like your post, it’s really helpful. Thank you.
I have a terrier mix rescue dog from a Missouri puppy mill, separated at about 7 weeks. I had to become the mother and try to place age-appropriate boundaries for him, and it has been a serious consistent effort to get him through to adolescence. Fortunately for the both of us, we are runners. A daily 2 mile run calms him, focuses him, and endears himself closer to me.There can be only one leader on an outback trail run or someone gets tripped or hurt. And he has learned to take my pace and body cues like a champ! Yes, it is clear this pup was separated from mother too early. And yes, it takes a lot of work and consistency to bring a dog like this into a good adult behavior pattern. But never forget that they want to belong to the pack and abide by the leader’s rules. They live for this.
Our pup was let go at 6 weeks. We questioned the breeder who assured us it wasn’t too soon. She has horrible separation anxiety. She cries whenever we leave the house, even if we’re just gone a few minutes to get the mail. House training was extremely difficult; however, we’ve pretty much got that under control now. But she is nearly a year old now too. She still mouths like a young puppy would and she doesn’t sleep well either. She will only sleep in her crate or our bed. She doesn’t seem able to lay down on the floor or couch for a nap. She is also very restless and paces the house frequently. I wish we had been more persistent with the breeder. We’ve had puppies before, but two were 9 weeks when we got them and one was 12 weeks. All good dogs.
I have a litter of shih-poo pups that are 7 weeks old. I had a lady who wanted two of the puppies. The problem was she wanted them at 4 weeks old. She told me she had experience raising a litter of puppies whose mother had died. I told her I was sorry but regardless of how much experience she had I was not going to let the puppies go at the age. If a litter is orphaned it’s a totally different situation. Apparently she didn’t like my answer because I never heard from her again and that is fine with me.
I am picking up my Golden Retriever puppy in the coming days and one vet adviced me that the puppy should take his first round of vaccinations at his place of birth and prior to leaving his mother and liter .. is this true ? cause other vets don’t agree .. please advice me ..
I got my dog at exactly 3 weeks old because I was afraid the owner of the bitch would toss them away before they were old enough. Admittedly, I had a lot of problems that arose due to that. I couldn’t leave his sight because he would cry non-stop even if other familiar faces were around him, which led to unimaginable seperation anxiety up until he turned roughly 6 to 7 months old. His social skills were awful because I couldn’t find enough stable dogs in my town I could introduce him to, which led to over-excitement when he saw a dog and great anxiety which caused him to hump males and females only because he didn’t know what to do and how to act.
Half year later, after I moved into a city and found enough dogs, we got into training and he started showing calming signals when meeting any dog, agression where needed (such as when confronted by another male), grownling when another dog annoyed him, playful stances that he didn’t know before, and stopped humping as well.
Now, he’s a decently trained dog that doesn’t pick fights but his confidence had grown and he feels more sure with himself and his ablities when another male confronts him. He’s nearing two years old now, and I’m more than happy for his proccess. He even listens to me when a female is in heat around and leave from a dispute with a dog after my command.
Lastly, I wrote this this so people who somehow end up with a premature puppy know what is waiting for them. It’s no way easy to raise a puppy from 3 weeks until adolthood and not have any problems show up. If your puppy if too young, care for it with pre-caution and do the best you can in sense of training what his mother was supposed to teach him. Look for any possible problems from early on so that overcoming them will be much easier for both of you. But if you have the luxury of chance, leave the mother do the work for you by letting the puppy with her for a week or two more.
I need direction. Yes the authorities are involved trying to locate the people who sold pit bull puppies at 2 DAYS old. I am fostering one of these babies and I am aware of the problems that can arise. She is now 2 weeks and 4 days old. I can not find anything that helps me to help her with potential problems. How do I teach her “Dog Talk”? There is a 12 year old Shilo Shepard in our home and she is very gentle. Can she help teach the puppy? Thank you!!!!
I got my female pit bull puppy at 2 weeks old. We ran across a homeless couple who had been told they could not stay in a shelter with the momma and 7 babies. They we’re only allowed to keep the mom, but had to get rid of the 7 puppies. For the most part, she has been a awesome puppy so far at only 6.5 weeks. She potties outside and on the pee pad when she can’t wait for us to take her out. There is only one small issue we have had a couple times and that’s her attitude a couple times. She has snarelled and snapped at me and my husband a couple times which has worried my husband do to the breed she is. I am just firm with her and tell her no to let her know it’s not OK, then put her in her kennel. I am just hoping you or anyone else has some helpful tips on how to raise her up right, since she was forced away from mom so early? Also how many times a day should she eat? She definitely isn’t lacking, but I don’t want to over feed either. Thank
Hey friend
Its a very informative blog and I really like the way you have explained the things.
I do have a very cute jack russell and its never happened that he create nuisance.
Great blog and really looking for more informative blogs. :-)
I have a 4.5mo Sib Husky who was brought to us at 6 weeks from a “friend of a friend”. The breeder was in a situation w his house and, long story short, we unwittingly got this dog too early. She is showing pretty much all of these alarming behaviors. Two behaviorists have expressed alarm w her fear-aggression at her young age. We have young children. We love her so dearly but I’m concerned for my kids safety, their friends, etc.
Is there hope for rehabbing a dog like this?
We are distraught.
We had the same issue with our dog. Dog behaviour experts advised us to put the dog last behind our children so the dog knew. i.e. Feed the dog last. Open the door and kids (and us) go in before dog does. He then learns the pecking order is owners, then children and he/she is on the bottom. It stopped all the aggression towards our children when the dogs previous order he thought was owners, dog then children. Just feeding the dog after we had all eaten was a significant change to his behaviour and so easy to do. We were telling the dog that he was below our kids by feeding him last and he just adjusted to it almost straight away. In a pack apparently thats what they do too they eat in pack order. I hope this helps you it certainly helped us.
I’m sorry to say I brought a husky puppy after the tragic loss of my previous elderly dog. The husky puppy I brought was 5 weeks old at the time, and I hardly slept the first week I had her, making sure she wasn’t getting into trouble, she came out with me in a little carry case I had made for her, I never let her out of my sight, and more importantly I started her training early, and she was socialised almost straight away. She is 2 now and she is fully traine and she has been on holiday with us a few times and always settles down with us. So I do believe it depends on the dog and environment, because to me, I’ve won the dog lottery and got the best dog in the world, she has a lovely temperament, loves to play with other dogs and humans, and loves her cuddle times and belly rubs, and I had her at 5 weeks. X
I got a dog and I have had her for a year. She ended up pregnant. She gave birth on Thanksgiving 2015. The problem is the article made a lot of sense. I now realize that i recieved her before she learned those valuable social skills. Is there anything i can do so that my puppies do not have those same problems?? They obviously can not learn the appropriate social behaviors from their mom.
I’m so glad I read your article. It’s helped us enormously
I just bought a Boston Terrier puppy. We did visit the site when the puppy was 3 1/2 weeks old. The breeder did have several other dogs, but no real alarms went off. She also said that she was going to introduce canned food the next day. Later, her story changed to that she weaned them at 3 weeks because Mama was snapping at them.
The original understanding was that we couldn’t have him until 8 weeks. Gradually, that age decreased to finally wanting them gone at 6 weeks.
When we picked him up, we were horrified to see a 12 week old litter of Boston Terrier puppies outside, as well as litters of other breeds, playing in a cold dirt pen, with one coop for all to share.
Inside, she had a 4 wk old litter of another breed, sleeping with my puppies sibling. Another sibling left b4 6 wks. Mine was curled up alone on the floor. Mama was nowhere to be seen.
I was only given a shot record, despite asking for actual medical and delivery records.
We thought we were getting a great deal on a Boston Terrier puppy. Normally $800-1200, this one cost $500. While full breed, they have no papers, which doesn’t matter, as we intend to neuter him asap. We’re now worried about the extra medical costs we will have.
This article is very informative and important for all pet owners to read. I’d like to send this to her, but I am sure she’s aware. It all seems to be about the money for this breeder. Shame on her!
What. Wonderful article! Found on Google trying to back up to my husband why we should absolutely not bring our new pup home early.
I got my puppy a day short of 5 weeks. He is now 6 years old. And a pitbull, no less. I have NEVER had a problem with him. He never tried to bite anyone, is always loving and swetsweet to people, babies, kids, and other dogs. Just because yoh think it’s ddetrimental, it’s not the case with every puppy out there, as you made this ppaper out to be.
Thank you for the very informative article. Where can I get information about how to raise a puppy that was removed from its mother too early? Many of the comments are from pet owners who, for one reason or another, have ended up with puppies who were removed from their mothers before 8-9 weeks. We’re in the same situation–someone gave us a puppy as a gift, who had been removed from it’s mother at 6 weeks. What can we do to help the puppy grow up without the problems you described?
Thank you for this very informative article.
Unfortunately, due to the breeder claiming housing issues (stating that the home they were renting had been sold out from under them so they were essentially homeless trying to find a new place just as the pups were born,) we ended up getting our Husky at 5 weeks. he is showing a few of the symptoms you listed on the page but not all of them.
The idea of returning him is heartbreaking as we have already bonded with him deeply and he seems to have bonded with us as well.
The only real issue we have been experiencing is biting inhibition. We are working on that one. (I saw your article on that and will be using those techniques)
Where I am going with this is the following.
Your article is excellent for what to watch out for and how to proceed before you get a pup. And before we get another one I will review and follow the guidelines you list as they make perfect sense.
My question is…what if you already have one. Our boy is 14 weeks old tomorrow. We have him in puppy training classes and he seems to be doing well in them though there have only been two sessions. The vet says we can’t really start socializing him with others until he has had his 3rd set of shots including rabies. That’s not happening for another two weeks.
What if any suggestions can you make for us to work with our little guy and help him adapt as much as we can to provide a stable loving home for him and to make our experience with him less stressful all around.
I purchased a Husky @ 6.5 weeks of age; admittedly I did question the breeder/seller if this was premature. However, I live in Thailand the land of smiles (more like land of greed) but she seems very well adjusted and I did everything I could to make her transition as easy as possible; such as sleeping in our bedroom until 8 weeks of age and a few things like that. I have her sitting, coming when she’s called and a few other things but I’m still having trouble with two issues: i) Peeing anywhere (she ‘number 2’s’ on newspaper inside every time now) she sleeps inside on the tiled floor over night so the clean up is an easy job. – I’m unsure if this is bladder control, the Husky excite excretion, simply not comprehending my training request or just her age? She always goes after sleeping where ever, a number of times has pee’d on the newspaper (hen placed there) but doesn’t seem to ‘get’ my request while alone? It seems total random or not marking. ii) She is still mouthing and probably could be view as biting hands/legs/feet in excitement (playing and alike) but she loves human company. She is a beautiful animal and while we’ve had our ups and downs in trainability we are progressing – she hates being washed with a passion but, I think the last bath I saw the light switch turn on that it isn’t so bad after all! Following many arguments while becoming refreshed. I’d love some help for my training to improve as seeing a professional trainer here is not possible with the language barrier + not even sure if they have K9 training here? TNX
Im buying my first Husky pup, a friend of mines has her husky pregnant and will give birth sometime in december, thank God i came across this article, it was very helpfull and ill take every step from this to raise the pup. ill take the pup once it hits 8 weeks.
Can you please tell me where you got your information? I did not see any references or research. Is this your opinion, or based off research? Very interesting read.
I would like to know this also..
Lol I’m wondering the same thing
Information on this subject has been written by experts in many articles that are posted on the Internet. Experts with experience and education, Do your research.
My malamute was a private rescue at 4-5 weeks. She’s not a problem at all with the house-training, or self-soothing etc. The only issue with her has been that after she was attacked as a little over a year old (unpreventable, dog that attacked her showed no signs of aggression, but tried to rip her throat out after bowling her over on her back) has been now she attempts to push other dogs away before they can hurt her. I’ve taken to distracting her when around other dogs by making her sit, even if she is huffing and barking at them, and keeping her in that position until she quietens down before walking off – as soon as she is quiet, she gets some praise, so she knows that’s the behavior I want. This has worked, as today on our walk, she saw four dogs. Two she ignored, one she huffed at then carried on walking…it was the last dog that she had a hissy fit over…and that was because the owner allowed it real close to her, despite me saying that after she’d been attacked, she’s no good with strange dogs.
After reading this im so worried. I just got my first puppy and he is only gonna be 7 weeks old. I had no idea what so ever that he wasnt supposed to leave. I feel so bad now. I do realize he is very young so i have been trying to comfort and show him physical affection as much as possible but now im worried. Myself and my husband are gonna be getting a dog behavioralist is this something he could help with. P.s . have 2 yr old son and 4 month old daugher.should i be worried about them in the future
Dangelque717, I just saw your post so it’s been a couple months. You said you plan to get a behaviorist. Even if you have already chosen one please, please check their training and credentials, certifications. I adopted a shelter dog and the shelter recommended a behaviorist. When she arrived I realized almost immediately that the only thing that made her a behaviorist was the word “Behaviorist” printed on her business card. I had experience and training with a top notch humane society and certified behaviorists so I was able to see that many of her skills and techniques were counterproductive. I do not say this just to scare you or make you feel worse. I’ve always gone with a gut feeling that if you feel uncomfortable doing something to or with your dog (child, etc) then maybe you shouldn’t do it. At least not until you can thoroughly research from outside resources. And lastly just because you got your puppy so early I don’t think it means 100 percent that he will have major problems. Heck we all have some problems from our childhood.
You do realize not everything posted on the internet is actually the truth,right? I’m sure your puppy will be just fine. This is prob just her personal opinion. Anyone can write there experience, but it doesn’t Mean it’s going to happen to every person every dog .
Thank you for stating that. I have always gotten puppies, when they were at least 6-7 weeks old. NONE OF THESE PUPPIES, ever had any of the issues in her article.
I have taken in and fostered Puppies and dogs of various ages, and they have always gotten along just fine, turning into one big, happy furry, four-legged family.
I have to agree with you on that. I’m getting a Daschund and Chiuauah mixed puppy in 11 days and he will be 6weeks old. I’ve always gotten my dogs and cats at 6 weeks old. I did have a separation anxiety and barking problem with my last dog. Yes, it could have come from leaving his mother and litter mates to soon. Or it could’ve come from being spoiled rotten. He never bit anyone. He loved kids and he had good socialization skills with other dogs and humans. He was so loving to other people. And I know the mistakes that were made with him. I won’t be making with my new fur baby. I haven’t quite chosen a name yet. It’s either Hunter or Riley. I’m leaning more toward Riley.
These are facts, most states even have laws that puppy’s have to be 8 weeks old before they can rehome the puppy’s. I’m a K9 behavior rehabilitation therapist and most of my clients are people that got a puppy under 8 weeks of age. Why anyone would want to take the chance and when people have learned of early separation and the affects it has still don’t care, proves that they don’t care what’s best for the puppy.
Pat, bless your heart for doing what is best for these puppies <3
Great article! We will not send a pup home until 10 weeks old and always stay in touch for just these reasons.