I have always let my puppies leave me around seven weeks of age. Always settled beautifully, no problems.

Is it correct that they now must be eight weeks? The lady that did my microchipping told me that was only if you were a licensed breeder and she still lets hers go at seven weeks.

Thankyou.

Puppies should be 8 weeks before they leave you. Any insurance you might send them home with won't cover them until they are 8 weeks anyway, so new owners will not be covered if they take the puppy to the vet and it's found to have anything wrong before 8 weeks.

Bucksmum:  Leaving age:  Hi there.  It has been assumed for quite some time that Puppies should be with the Breeder until 8 wks old but hey, your new owners have had settled new additions so all good.  I personally keep my pups until 10 weeks simply because I worry about any adverse effects of microchipping & 1st jab.  (The 1st jab given by the Breeder is debatable so not saying all Breeders should do this).  As onetwothreefour advised, any Insurance Protection offered is not valid at 7 weeks but the term agreed by the insurer is still the same from starting date of collection at 10 weeks so fine.

It is now 8 weeks by law for all puppies.

The UK law says "Check the animal’s age. Puppies and kittens should never be sold under 8 weeks old – do not buy from anyone advertising a puppy or kitten younger than 8 weeks."

> It is now 8 weeks by law for all puppies

Yes it changed with the breeding law changes I believe.

I always used to let my midweek born pups leave from the weekend after 7 weeks.

As mine is a numerically small breed, most owners had long journeys.

As I prefer not to have more than 2 pups go on any day. Any more I found a nightmare, with people arriving in wrong order, or all at once. This was to allow plenty of time to go through all the paperwork, Insurance and time for refresments.

This meant that all pups would normally leave over two to three weekends, and be with new owners by 10 weeks.

(5) No puppy aged under 8 weeks may be sold or permanently separated from its biological mother. Taken from The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018. This particular clause applies to all breeders, not just licenced ones.

Brainless:  Everyone not arriving in order & all turning up at once: Yip, been there too a couple of years back and vowed never again!  Managed to turn that day into a Garden Puppy Party though and all new owners left knowing each other and two couples are still in touch - cost me a fortune in tea & biscuits!  On a serious note:  1 week in a Puppies life is a big thing and considering (in my case of giving 1st jab - that shouldn't be administered before 8 wks of age).  Sure there will be responses if I have got it wrong

Our (FCI) breed club requires that breeders keep puppies until they are 10 weeks old.  I have found both advantages and disadvantages to this.  I would like to see a minimum of 8 weeks with the breeder and the mother in the regulations,  and then a flexible time for giving the puppies to their new homes, allowing the breeder to determine when a puppy is truly ready.  I've found that some puppies in a litter are ready at 8 weeks and really need to get on with life!  Other puppies, even from the same litter, may need more time in a secure setting before facing the wider world.

Barbara that's exactly what I used to do as well for the same reasons.

Nimue:  Keeping Puppies until 10 weeks old: I must agree with (FCI) breed club requirements.  Just concerned I am doing the wrong thing though if you have found disadvantages.  Please share.  Think the others responses on this forum agree - 8 weeks at the earliest is the right thing to do and a necessity to follow animal welfare regulations.

> allowing the breeder to determine when a puppy is truly ready.

Yes, breeds vary quite a lot, and litter size can make a difference too.

At 7 weeks my pups are really starting to need more one on one attention, so as not to become real hooligans.

Larger litter play can more easily get out of hand.

A bit like too many chidren getting over boisterous in the playground.

Some toy breeds should not be homed before 10 - 12 weeks.

Brainless:  Hee Hee!    Think all Puppies after the age of 6 weeks are hooligans! Hilarious! Because I breed Labradors who sometimes have as many as 10/11 Puppies in a Litter and then Cocker Spaniels who have 5/6 (sometimes more) in a Litter that is certainly a point of interest:  At 10 weeks when my Puppies go to their New Owners they are very confident individuals and my intervention is needed more & more over time as I agree the 'litter play' can get out of hand.  Not sure if it is a smaller sized breed thing but I find 5/6 Cocker Spaniel Puppies are more of a handful than 10/11 Labrador Retriever Puppies! Spaniels seem to need 'busy busy' brain stimulation where as Labradors seem to need more 'thought out problem solving' distractions. No getting away from the OP question that new homes at 7 weeks old would be a concern for me.

I breed my last litter in 1989 but did not let them go before 9 weeks. If their adopters would wait till 10 weeks, they were usually going clean through the night, and had had a few outings in the car by then. The behaviourists have changed their stance about leaving ages over the years, but this always worked for my breeds.

It also depends on the home the puppies are going to. An experienced home with well-adjusted older dogs is going to be fine for a slightly younger puppy. A pup going to be an only-puppy in a less experienced home, might need more time with the breeder's dogs IMO.

>Nimue:  Keeping Puppies until 10 weeks old: I must agree with (FCI) breed club requirements.

I do think different breeds must surely present different considerations.  I have been breeding the Coton de Tuléar for over 25 years and have just stopped permanently, which is why I reveal the name of my breed.  I can imagine that a bichon breed like this is far removed from, say, a hunting breed, a collie, a Rottweiler, and so on.  And I do want to clarify that here in Switzerland, the regulations of the central organisation of the FCI in Bern DO permit puppies to be homed at 8 weeks.  But it is left up to the FCI breed clubs themselves to decide if they feel that their club regulations should require breeders to keep their puppies longer than 8 weeks.   Our club decided to make it 10 weeks.  I believe that there are certainly more advantages for the puppies in remaining with their siblings, their mother and other dogs in the family for 10 weeks rather than for 8 weeks.  However, I have observed over the years that some puppies can - after 8 weeks - become just plain bored to death, and I discover that I have sort of run out of solutions!  They know every inch of the house, the garden, their toys, and basically everything I can offer them in the way of entertainment.  I can see that what they really need is to begin their lives as individuals. They need to be recognised and treated  as individuals.  They need to learn their names.  In short, they need their new families and to go out into the world.  Existence as part of a litter has run its course.  This frustration or "boredom" can sometimes result in fighting.  They occasionally discover aggression.   This has not happened often, but I am always wary of it developing during the two weeks from 8 to 10 weeks of age.

>However, I have observed over the years that some puppies can - after 8 weeks - become just plain bored to death, and I discover that I have sort of run out of solutions!  They know every inch of the house, the garden, their toys, and basically everything I can offer them in the way of entertainment.  I can see that what they really need is to begin their lives as individuals.

Yes, 100% yes! With my two breeds, by 8 weeks they must have mainly individual attention to stop them turning into a bored, semi-feral pack, with the window of learning opportunity rapidly closing, and with litters of a dozen or more puppies not unusual this would be impossible for 99.9% of breeders.

> It also depends on the home the puppies are going to.

Totally agree, that's another reason why I like to spread out the homing.

Another important factor is Mum, who is not deprived of her pups all in one go.

It may seem that Mum has had enough of them at 5 - 6 weeks, but that is only because she is weaning them, and drying her milk up.

I have found at about 7 weeks my bitches really start to play/discipline the pups.

She will gently encourage quieter ones, and gently beat up rumbunctious ones.

They learn how to 'fit in', how to settle when she and other adults are resting etc.

I also find grumpy Grandmas, or even permissive cousins/Aunts teach pups how to interact with different others. Who will play, who is best left alone etc.

I have to say I do enjoy pups most when down to the last 2 or 3.

I think if I lived somewhere where neighbours were not such a consideration I would keep all the pups longer.

A whole litter sadly can become very vocal, certainly in my breed.

I have usually for one reason or another (export, new owner holidays) had pups up to about 14 weeks.

From 6 weeks I will have carried pups out and about to watch traffic.

Older ones may have been on the Bus (I don't drive).

I have usually managed to get a friend or relative to do car trips.

I never used to get pups vet checked (no specific likely breed health issues apparent as pups), but tell buyers to take pups to their vet.

It looks like Vet check before leaving seems to becoming 'expected' so will do it in future, but getting them there without transport will be a pain, so will probably arrange a home visit.

We kept our puppies to 10 weeks UNLESS we knew the new owners and they were experienced.  In which case, and depending on how well the puppies were doing, I let them go when they were OVER 8 weeks.  Mine is a sensitive breed and I was more than happy to keep them together that bit longer so I was sure each was ready for the outside world.   I bought my Whippet home at 9 weeks.   And my Frankie, at 4 months as he and his brother and sisters (2) had been 'run on' to make sure they still showed their early promise.   Mine is a slow maturing breed and they go through any number of ugly duckling stages before the 'swans' emerge.   And even so, Frankie sadly developed some conditions that meant he never went into the show ring, as I'd hoped.

As said, puppies must be kept by their breeder to at least 8 weeks now.   The extra weeks after mum has done her bit and they are well established in their diets are very important, even if the clean up, feeding and NOISE can cause problems!!

Our puppies always went with a health check from my vet btw.   I'd have them given their first shots at 10 weeks, which included those I was running on and those still to be homed.

This would be my biggest worry, a Vet visit before vaccination, as I try to encourage vaccination later over 10 weeks.

I probably won't be breeding again for another 3 years, if my hoped for puppy materialises.

> This would be my biggest worry, a Vet visit before vaccination, as I try to encourage vaccination later over 10 weeks.<br />

My last litter was back in 1997 so, my memory being what is is now I can't really remember what I did other than I only vaccinated those puppies we were keeping at 10+ weeks, plus any who hadn't been booked and were still with us.  With the few that went off around 8 weeks, I gave their owners strict instructions not to take them anywhere until they went for their first vaccination.   Those going close on 10 weeks went to their new vet, within the first 48 hours when their new owners had them in for a health check + first vaccination.

Any seeing my vet prior to their first vaccination, were sat on a cleaned table and on either one of my towels, or a blanket.   To keep risk of infection to a minimum.

Those I sold did go with a health check from my vet but in all truth, I can't remember how I worked that around not going with their first vaccination which I didn't do, to avoid a new vet starting again with puppy vaccination and risking overdosing.

Thankyou for all the replies.

I have all puppy collections now booked at eight weeks.

I have always found my large Gundog breed have settled so well leaving at seven weeks and become bored hooligans if they stay longer than that but if the law has changed that’s that.

Behaviorists also used to say 49days was ideal, due to the fact that pups enter a fear phase at 8 weeks, but as you say, and I found it's from 7 weeks they really cease to be a unit, but demanding individuals needing individual attention, and as a litter becoming hooligans.

The last week is difficult. I find that taking them for walks with mum (if you have access to a private field) is great. Also giving them more stuff to play with....