Is there a legal minimum age for pups to leave their home/mum?
I ask as I've just seen an ad for pups which were born on 18.08.13 and it says that some have already been sold and gone to their new homes :(

I think it only applies for licensed breeders and petshops and then it is 8 weeks. Poor puppies that left home that early. :(

Basically, no. Licenced breeders can only sell puppies to an agent (ie, dealer or pet shop) before 8 weeks, at which age they can sell direct to a member of the public. Unlicenced breeders can sell puppies at any age.

I don't think so but I wish there was. The other day I was out with my friend in her mobile dog grooming van. We went to a Yorkie. The owner came to the door and she had a tiny puppy tucked down her top. She proudly showed us her dogs new "sister". A 6 week old mini yorkie! I said that I thought it was too young to leave her mum. Apparently the breeder wanted them to go as they were making too much mess.

That is not the worst though. While we were grooming the Yorkie a young couple came and knocked on the van. They were carrying a tiny puppy and wanted to know how much my friend would charge to wash it. The puppy was 4 weeks old!!!!. They had just bought him but he smelt.
Again I said that it was far to young to have left mum but was told mum had rejected the litter! It makes me want to cry to think of this poor tiny mite taken away from his littermates at such an appallingly young age. Needless to say my friend refused to wash him. How traumatic not to mention the risk of infection for such a tiny puppy to be washed in a van. The owners obviously didn't have a clue.

Mine leave at 8 weeks or thereabouts. If they are 8 weeks old midweek then they may be allowed to leave the weekend prior to this. Some leave later than this due to holiday commitments of  new families. I must admit that I find this a bit of a pain because medium/large breed puppies can create 'merry hell' in your home but if the families are good ones I wouldn't want to lose them just for the sake of a couple of extra weeks hard work. I do, however, have the first vaccination done at 9 weeks and take steps to ensure that the vaccination programme is not restarted by the new vet -willing to explain this if necessary but am sticking to topic.

Puppies need their mum's nurturing and education up to the 8 week stage. 'Pushing pups out' sooner than this reeks of 'can't be bothered  with the mess' and 'can't wait to get the money' ! I 'm sure there are extenuating circumstances in which a puppy is better off away from mum sooner than  7-8 weeks but it must be a pretty rare scenario.

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Apparently the breeder wanted them to go as they were making too much mess.<br />

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">mum had rejected the litter!

This just shows the selfishness and ignorance.

yes at 4 weeks or so it often it only  seems that Mum is rejecting and seeming mean to the pups as that is when she starts to wean them so refuses to feed on demand, but once they are weaning and 'get it' that the milk bar is only open part time she returns to educate them, and will usually go on topping them up and allowing comfort  nursing until they go.

As for the mess, well yes from 5 - 6 weeks pups become very active, very noisy and very very messy, and jolly hard work for the human!!!

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">If they are 8 weeks old midweek then they may be allowed to leave the weekend prior to this

Ditto, especially to experienced owners.

>I said that it was far to young to have left mum but was told mum had rejected the litter!

You can bet your bottom dollar that mumhadn't rejected the litter but instead was just starting the natural weaning process, where she limits the time they feed from her to encourage them to eat solid food. This is perfectly normal and correct behaviour, and in no way means that the pups should be taken away.

Buyers need to be educated, not breeders.  Breeders like this don't care enough to want to change!  But knowing what you are letting yourself in for with a pup that's not had the proper socialisation from his littermates, might change buyers minds?  It certainly would mine.
I wouldn't even think of booking a pup if the breeder let them leave any earlier than 7 weeks.  That would just tell me how they actually felt about the pups and what else had they scrimped on?  If they were fed up with the pups/mess, had they actually spent any time with the pups?
Our pup's mum got fed up with them around 5-6 weeks and weaned them off her totally(no milky drinks) and she won't spend much time with them as they all bite at the milk bar but they all stay together as they learn off each other. 

As to trying to educate puppy buyers.......
I don't do Facebook at all, but I know a lot of people do and especially those younger then me (which is quite a few these days). When you get your first dog ever, many people don't seem to know a thing and the last thing they do is buy a book, these days especially. So Facebook is their learning curve. I have come to realise that there are 'dog groups' on Facebook and some seem to be closed shops almost, but is there anything on Facebook giving information such as mentioned in several posts above? In one of the posts, the puppy owners had no idea that getting the pup so early was a bad thing to do nor anything else it seems. Education is needed and Facebook, I would have thought the ideal place.

I'm on FB but CANNOT use these groups.  Don't you know, they are always run by an 'expert' that's had the breed for 3 yrs!!  Just raises my BP....idiots do that to me!

That seems so stupid cracar, what is the point of them if they don't let the I formation get to those that need it.

Buyers need to be educated, not breeders.  Breeders like this don't care enough to want to change! 

The trouble is, it's like with pet shop puppies and similar. If 9 people walk away there will always be a tenth that will take the puppy. So many people will love the idea of having a really young pup and being assured "it eats well on its own" they will have it. I actually, years ago now, once came home with a 3 week old puppy. Same story. Neighbour across the road had a crossbreed litter (before designer crosses, so no money in them) and claimed the mother had tried to kill this pup and therefore it had to go NOW. (She came to my door banging on it like mad asking for help.)There was no changing her mind and had I not taken the pup home, it would have been pushed onto whoever came next. I'd never had a litter of my own then so didn't even know it was most likely a case of the bitch simply weaning the pups.  The pup got lucky in that I had a Golden bitch who as soon as she met the pup started producing milk (she'd never had pups) and so she fed the pup and the pup was fine, was being mothered and had canine company. But that of course was just pure luck.

This topic just makes me want to cry - those poor tiny puppies. Goldmali your one was so lucky to end up with you, it probably wouldn't have survived with most other owners! :-(