When Should a Puppy Leave the Litter?
Welcome to CAAT Community Corner. For this post, we are answering a much asked questions about when to let the puppies go to their new home.
Let’s face it, raising a litter of puppies is a lot of work, they can be stinky, loud and demanding. Although this may make you want them to go to their new home as soon as they start to eat mush, it is too early. Ideally, they should not leave until they are about 8 weeks old.
WHY??? It seems like letting them go a few weeks early shouldn’t make any difference BUT it really does.
What is the mother dog doing during this time?
Between 6-8 weeks of age a good mother dog begins to interact very differently with her puppies, she will begin to spend less time with them and will begin to correct them for bad behavior. She changes from being the main source of food to giving puppies lessons in how to behave around other dogs.
She will teach the puppies when they are biting too hard, and will correct and interrupt any other unwanted behaviors. She is also giving the pup affection and nurturing when they are exhibiting good behavior. She is teaching the puppy to understand how to read another dog’s body language and signals and social cues and how to interact and behave.
Puppy Litter Mates and Lessons Learned
Between 6-8 weeks is also when the puppies’ individual personalities start to emerge. If you watch a litter you will see that some pups will be naturally more bossy and confident. Others will be less confident, less pushy. During play, littermates will yelp, cry, growl, or otherwise react when one puppy plays too hard.
This teaches the rough puppy to change his bite level to be less harsh and will help him to learn social skills. The other pup will also learn how to show some submission to a more dominant dog. These lessons teach them both how to socially interact with other dogs. The litter mates are teaching each other how to understand and interact with other dogs through play.
What difference does this make as the puppy grows up?
If they don’t have this interaction with their mother and other pups between 6-8 weeks of age, they miss learning social cues, they will either under-react or overreact to other dogs. It makes them constantly on guard and tense. Other dogs react to the tense or fearful energy and body language displayed by these dogs. They are often, unintentionally, the cause of a dog fight.
NOTE: Mother dogs who did not get the benefit of being taught about dog communication skills by their mothers will not be able to pass this knowledge on to their own puppies so it can be a problem for pups without a skilled mother.
CRITICAL TIME
There are definitely other factors that effect a dog after it has left its mother and litter that can influence their behavior BUT leaving too early is one of the biggest negative impacts there is on future behavior. The lessons learned between 6-8 weeks old, from their mother and litter mates, will serve them throughout their life.
