20/10/2023
Full credit Dogs Disclosed
I STILL NEEDED MY MOM - THE CONSEQUENCES OF TAKING PUPS TOO YOUNG
The early life experiences of pups are vitally important and extend through to adulthood, influencing behaviour, temperament, physical, emotional, mental and social development.
There are still so many “breeders” that allow pups to be taken away at 6 weeks. Uninformed people just accept this as the norm, without question, and are unaware of the consequences.
Just because a pup may no longer depend on mom for food, doesn’t mean they are ready to leave the security of their family unit and are ready to cope in the world.
A puppy younger than 10 weeks is still reliant on mom and littermates to learn appropriate social behaviour, impulse control, a tolerance to frustration, bite inhibition, develop self-confidence and other skills that will help them become well-adjusted adults.
Scott and Fuller’s influential 1965 book about the social development of dogs recommended that 6 to 8 weeks was the best time to remove a pup. The “ideal time” in this context was the best time from the person’s perspective and not the dogs. Keeping a pup after this time resulted in added financial costs and was time consuming.
We have learnt so much about dog behaviour and development since then and our focus has changed to what is best for the dog, not the person.
Many reputable, ethical, educated breeders now keep pups with their mom and littermates until 10 to 12 weeks of age.
We don’t live in an ideal world and having to rescue and care for pups much younger than 8 weeks is often unavoidable. In these cases, we do the best we can for them.
This post is not about this kind of situation, it’s about spreading knowledge, creating understanding and encouraging people not to support breeders that allow their pups to leave too early.
