Standards Opinion: Should a puppy leave home at 8 weeks?
1994 Sheila Booth

Occasionally we should review some of our long-standing philosophies and question why we hold many of these concepts. One such accepted tenet is that the puppy should or must go to it's new owners between seven and eight weeks of age. So many people accept this, with such strong conviction, that they sometimes believe that a puppy is a 'reject' of a 'throw away' if it remains with the breeder for a longer period. The eight week of age leaving period is written as if 'carved in stone' by many training books. It is also encouraged by many kennels who sincerely believe that is the right time for bonding with the new owners and by kennels who really are ready to have the pups move on for a variety of other reasons.

Perhaps there are many reasons for the pup to leave a kennel situation at an early age. I would agree that a puppy that spends its life in a kennel and has already been separated from its mother should definitely go to the new home, as soon as possible, as it may not be receiving any further socialization, thereby causing that social process to stagnate.

I firmly believe that a house-raised puppy should not leave the home as early as a kennel dog because it is in the right place to learn so much more from a good mother. I never let my puppies leave before ten weeks and prefer to keep them longer. It is more time consuming and a whole lot more work, but the rewards are worth the effort.

Between eight and ten are weeks of age, I have observed immense social growth in the puppies raised in our home. The Mother is allowed to continue nursing if she wants to do so. Many times, one pup will be allowed to nurse longer than another, at the mother's discretion. Some pups wean early and some will continue to occasionally nurse right up to ten weeks, while they learn to free feed. Their mother will often jump into their kenneled area and share food or toys with her rambunctious pups, and jump out when they become too much for her. The mother has a chance to observe and accompany her pups when they are ready to venture out of kenneled areas and into the general household. She supervises them on many of their discoveries. We watch with delight as she encourages the pups to climb the stairs, and find new rooms. She calms them if they get frightened at a loud or unusual noise in the household, supervises their interaction with the other dogs, and herds the excited group when a doorbell signifies company. The mother remains a supervising and calming influence as they learn about car travel and other locales including other houses, playgrounds and vet offices. She licks them dry after a rainy outing and cuddles them for warmth. The pups watch as their mother retrieves and swims and she supervises their early attempts at these endeavors. The mother reacts to and checks on puppy night startles, intervenes in puppy wars, prevents over exuberance with older dogs, and spends hours in rolling play, chase, and tug-o-war games. The mother becomes a disciplinarian if a puppy nips or gets nipped by an older dog. She accompanies her pups on their first group trip to the grooming salon and remains a calming influence as they get crated, bathed and dried in a strange environment. The pups learn that it is okay to be left alone and also okay to be woken up for company visits. They learn routines and they learn to accept routine upsets. They learn to share food and to allow treats to be taken from them. They learn to sleep under the table as we eat, without begging for food droppings and they learn wait patiently for their frozen cookie treat at bedtime.

At crate training time, sometimes couple of pups are allowed to share a crate for the first few lock-ups. Often the mother will share crate training for an evening or two if a puppy who needs a little more encouragement. Puppy purchasers bring their crates and the pup gets established in his own traveling home for at least a week before he leaves my residence, while we attempt to put him of the schedule that he will be on in his new home. If possible, the new owners will visit their pups and often take him out for a fun social outing once or twice, prior to taking him home to live with them. These outings encourages the pup and owner to find out about each other and often introduces an information period for forgotten instructions on health, welfare and training of the puppy. These puppies become outgoing and social animals that have no problem adjusting to their new homes. They have no problem moving forward in their new lives and they form strong bonds with their new owners.

We feel the weeks between eight to ten are too important to miss in our kennel.