i am supposed to be picking my puppy up on the 18th june and after coming away realise she will only be 5 weeks old. ive spoke to someone at the pet shop and they have said its too young for her to leave mum. if i do go ahead and pick her up what do i feed her? someone said weetabix? so confused!

5 weeks is far too young; pups shouldn't leave their mum and siblings till 7 weeks at the earliest. They may be (nearly) weaned at 5 weeks but still have a lot to learn about canine behaviour, so those two or three weeks shouldn't be missed out.

As for feeding; the breeder MUST give you a written diet sheet as to what the pup is already eating - and it won't (or shouldn't) be weetabix! Changing a puppy's food quickly is guaranteed to result in an upset tummy which can set back a small puppy's development quite drastically.

thats what i thought. so do i delay picking her up? obviously we want her with us asap but her health is more important.

Yes, definitely wait another two or three weeks before picking her up. Do you have other dogs? If not, she'll be away from canine influence for 7 weeks (until she's had her second vaccination) so is missing out on a huge amount of vital socialisation with her own species, which can adversely affect her bahaviour as an adult. What breed is she?

> her health is more important.

This is why choosing the right breeder is so critical.  IF the breeder thinks it's OK to let a 5wk old puppy leave for a new home then what other corners has he/she cut?  Go the breed club sites or the KC site and look at what health tests are necessary, use the KC registered names to check health test results, research the breed clubs General Code of Ethics and their Members Code of Conduct to understand the breeders obligations. 

If you are in any doubt walk away.  Even if you delay collection, others may not, and your pup will miss out on those vital stages of interaction with it's siblings.

I don't have other dogs. She will be our first one. She's a staff

5 weeks is way too young for a puppy to be leaving her mum and siblings.
In all honesty, if the breeder is willing to let a 5 week old puppy to go to her new home, he/she is not the kind of breeder you want your puppy from.
I would double check the dates to make sure you got her age right and check with the breeder that really is when they meant puppy is ready to come to yours. If all is correct, ask the breeder isn't she too young to leave her mother and then walk away as apart from what the puppy is missing out on, you do not want to support this kind of behaviour by purchasing from such person. Then find a another puppy from a responsible breeder.
Maybe have a look at the champdogs breeders list for litters and contact the breed club.
A good breeder will let you visit and play with the litter  and your puppy earlier (and get to know you better in the process)but will not let them go any younger than 7 weeks.

I wd. walk away and not buy from that breeder myself.

A friend of mine has a rescue JRT and even though the bitch is four years of age now, she suckles on a blanket and paddles it with her feet. It makes me tearful just to watch. The rescue centre where my friend purchased the dog was told the puppy had been removed from the mother and sold on at four and a half weeks of age.
I'd run a mile from this breeder and quite happily pay a good price for a well reared pup with a breeder who has done their job properly.

> even though the bitch is four years of age now, she suckles on a blanket and paddles it with her feet. It makes me tearful just to watch.

In this case it is probably caused by the early weaning but not necessarily as it can also be a habit so don't be too upset.
I have two adults that do this when setting down and going to sleep...
One left her mum at 9 weeks another is 1.5 years old and still with her mum :) so nothing to do with early separation from mum.

Thanks

I genuinely thought that it was illegal to sell a puppy this young.

IMO you should NOT have a puppy from this breeder. I agree 100% with everything the others have said. The pup should, in no circumstances, leave his mother and siblings at 5 weeks. This breeder sounds extremely irresponsible and you should not support their breeding by buying a puppy from them. I wouldn't even go and see them cause it'll be much harder to walk away after you've seen them. Normally the first viewing is at 6 weeks old, so picking up a puppy at 5 weeks old is just wrong! 

Well now, IMO the only reason to let a pup go before 7 or 8 weeks of age is:
A/ the breeder is incredibly stupid
B/ the breeder is incredibly lazy
C/ the breeder is incredibly greedy

Walk away, having checked the dates, and look for someone who breeds with the interest of the dogs and puppies as the most important factor. The most worrying reason could be that the dam is so aggressive that they have to remove the pups before she kills them in which case you do not want one, believe me.

Oh dear :(

Agree with others here, please walk away from this.... hard as it may be.  I had to do it once when I was first looking for a SBT pup 12 years ago.  Toughest thing I ever had to do, BUT, it has meant that I have had 10 years + (and hopefully a few more) of enjoying a healthy SBT :)

I'm so glad you came here and asked for advice.  As other posters have already said; 5 weeks is far too early to be leaving Mum. 
Are the parents of pups health tested?  Staffords MUST be health tested for L2-Hga & PhPv/PPSC & hereditary cataracts (eye conditions).

If you do make the decision to walk away from this litter, perhaps getting in touch with your local Stafford club or the KC, who can direct you to to healthy, health tested pups that are available?

best regards

Please don't get a puppy from this breeder, can't be a responsible or knowledgeable breeder anyway, no-one would ever let a pup go at 5 weeks, which means this pups lines for hereditary problems and temperament issues will not be known. A good breeder will be there for you with every bit of information you will need for the whole of your dogs life.

If you have already seen the pup, I know without a doubt you have fallen for it, :-) who doesn't fall for a puppy? But there are other puppies from good breeders and you will see and feel the difference straight away, and believe me fall in love just as hard, a dog is for the next 10-18yrs don't make a mistake at this vital stage.

As already said look up your local breed club or have a look for a SBT on here, plenty of good breeders. :-)

Please be very picky and take your time in finding the perfect, lovable, well socialised puppy from a good breeder. :-)

Unfortunately it appears to be quite common for SBT's to be sold at this age, some breeders claim it's because at this age they spend their time fighting with each other, which, in my experience, is a load of tosh.
A caring experienced breeder won't let a puppy go at this age, I agree with others, harden your heart and walk away.
Have the parents been health tested ? a responsible breeder will have screened for L-2-HGA and HC at the very least. You should really make yourself aware of L2 in particular, it could mean the life of your puppy.
http://www.staffords.co.uk/

> Unfortunately it appears to be quite common for SBT's to be sold at this age, some breeders claim it's because at this age they spend their time fighting with each other, which, in my experience, is a load of tosh.
>

It's because so many are bred by people who are doing it casually and after five weeks they become really hard work, really noisy, really hungry and really need more space and time than the careless breeder wants to spend, and of course from 5 to 8 weeks each pups will eat as mcuh as an adult, which costs.

A freidn of ours had her pup at 5 weeks as the person who owned the mother couldn't cope with the noise the two pups made by this age.  They had a little sympathy for her as she didn't know the bitch was pregnant when she got her.

How do ur friend do looking after a 5 week old puppy?

> Unfortunately it appears to be quite common for SBT's to be sold at this age,

I wonder if that may be a cause of dog-aggression in some Staffies? If they are weaned that early they will surely have missed out on a lot of the canine social learning which occurs between 5-8 weeks of age, not to mention bite inhibition.

Definately walk away from this breeder. If you've already put a deposit down it's likely to be small in comparison to the vet and behaviourist bills you will probably face in later life with a puppy from a breeder that sounds drastically inexperienced if they're willing to let a puppy go at 5 weeks.
Normally you choose your puppy at that time and pick them up at 7.5/8 weeks.

Weetabix is also a very poor diet for a puppy. At five weeks old my pups were still learning a LOT, still very vulnerable, and still drinking milk from mum!

Please, please walk away - there are really NO good reasons for a breeder of a planned litter (and to be honest, very few reasons for a person caring for an unplanned litter) to be sending pups home at 5 weeks.

That only leaves bad reasons and th ey are, to save money, to save time, to make her life generally easier, - its highly likely at this age that the pups are becoming a pain in the rear - mum quite possibly doesn't want to spend that much time with them, they are scrapping with one another and being noisey, eating a lot of food, making a mess everywhere...

At this time the pups NEED to be spending time being socialised and habituated to household life (which means a lot of running around after them), exploring a clean safe garden, meeting other resident adult dogs, meeting lots of people/children etc.

IF all that were happening then the pups (whilst still being hard work) would be learning a lot, sleeping a lot and not learning how to fight and bully one another.

I very much suspect that none of that is happening (as no good breeder doing all that would want rid of pups at 5 weeks!), so you would be taking on a potential nightmare which  for the sake of a few weeks upset and disappointment, would be pretty silly. Please, take it from someone who has spent 12 years living with a (lovely.. but) dog aggressive/fear aggressive dog who missed out on socialisation - yes, he has taught me a LOT but it is NOT an experience I will be repeating intentionally, ever again!

> How do ur friend do looking after a 5 week old puppy?

He is totally hopeless with other dogs, castrated at 5 months old he shows fear aggression which they found hard to handle so stopped taking him to classes as they found his behaviour too stressful. 

They keep him on the lead as he acts aggresively towards other dog, but he was attacked by a Jack Russell as a puppy, which didn't help.

The more I think about it, the more it seems to be an accepted thing to do ( sending pups off at 5 weeks ).

When I had Spud's litter, the ( at the time ) secretary of the Scottish Staffie club, really wanted one of the puppies, and he wanted her at 5 weeks old !. I turned him down, which really pee'd him off, in fact he got a bit intimidating, not a great tactic with me lol.

Hopefully things have moved on ( obviously not in the OP's case ) and it's not the done thing now.

Poor baby :-(

Have you considered getting an older staffie? Rescue centres are crying out for homes. They may have a youngish dog that will be ideal for you. They should have accessed it character and may have one perfect for you and your lifestyle.

I have never let a pup go at 5 weeks and never would I even consider it. They are at a rowdy age and need their mother more than ever to teach them manners.

This does not sound like an experienced or reputable breeder at all, and as awful as it may be I would walk away and find my self a puppy from a responsible and recommended breeder who has bred and raised this litter with thought and care and will always be there for there puppies and there owners throughout there entire lives.

>How do ur friend do looking after a 5 week old puppy?

staffybella, the fact that you are still asking how to look after a 5wk old puppy suggests that you are still intending on getting a puppy from this breeder - despite all the expert advice you're getting here.  (Sigh.)  Honestly, with a breed like the staffy - which can be more prone to dog aggression than other breeds - you need to make extra sure you get a pup from a reputable breeder and you need to make sure the pup has stayed with the mum until 7 wks, so she has a chance to learn manners from mum and to be well-socialised to other dogs (litter mates and mum).  Be it on your head if you decide to go ahead anyway.  Personally, it wouldn't be worth the risk to me.  Plenty well-bred staffies around if you look hard.

LIKE this post rabid agree with everything

Nessa