This is my 1st posting, so please be gentle.
We have bought 2 westie dog pups who are still with their mother. We are due to collect them in 2 weeks time when they will be 7 weeks and 2 days old.
We rang the breeder last night who said that the litter were almost fully weened - only a few squirts from "Mandy" now and then.
My question is - when is the best time to collect the pups? The "Perfect Ppupy" book, which is excellent, suggests that modern thinking should be at 6 weeks for socialisation purposes, other sources have said 7 - 9 weeks and others no earlier than 8 weeks.
We're obvisously eager to bring our pups home, but want to get the timing just right. Please help

It varies from breed to breed (and breeder to breeder, as some will have been socialising them already in their own houses which is great :)) 6 weeks onwards is about right, some bitches will keep feeding until the go, others will stop almost as soon as they start on solids, so you can't really go on how often they are feeding from Mum. The important thing IMHO is to get the puppy before about 11 weeks, as they enter a period known as the fear impact stage around then, and any distressing things which happen to them then can influence them for the rest of their lives (and leaving mum and travelling in the car for the first time during this stage can leave them with a fear of cars for example....)

HTH

Hello Phil , welcome to the Forum :)

Hi Phil,

Firstly welcome and welcome to westies also.

The breeder really will know herself or should be the best judge.

I have only had one litter so not greatly experienced but I do remember thinking I would keep them all as long as possible but when they got to 7 weeks exactly I could see a sudden change in them and this is when I felt was when they really needed one to one with their new owners. Both my Husband and I were both off at the time so we did do as much one to one as possible with them. Most went between 8-10 weeks as this is what we had pre-arranged but I do think that by 7.5 weeks they would have been fine. I just didn't want ot part with them..

Good luck.

Pam

My Spanish go at 7 weeks.

If the puppies are forward, plump and fully weaned onto 4/5 meals a day then I would let the boys go from 7 weeks, but no younger. The girls I usually keep til at least 8 weeks as I want to be sure of my choice. Any time between 7/8 and 10 weeks is fine as long as they are spending much of the day in the house/with human company at the breeders. A mainly kennel reared pupy should be collected no later than 9 weeks imo, and preferably at 7 - 7 1/2 weeks If I were buying a puppy over 8 weeks I would want it to have had its first vaccs - though I'd happily pay for it.

Hi Phil :)

I too consulted 'The Perfect Puppy' for advice for when to bring pup home.....It really does depend on the breed and at 6 weeks the pup is quite confident on its own....

We took our pup at 7 wks, it gave him an extra week to build on his dog social skills which are VERY important, by 8 weeks we could see a big difference, he was far more indipendant. I think it was important that we had that 7-8th week with him as he was still quite needy and it really helped us bond, also it was an ideal time to start him toilet training....

I would suggest to anyone that they consider bringing the pup home at 7 wks not 8 as there are so many benefits. A week might not seem like much but in puppy development it can change a lot! Talk to your breeder and see what she suggests.

Have fun!

Roxanne

Snap, this is my first post too !
I brought Monty home at 6 weeks old. He was fully weaned and a confident little chappy ! I was amazed at how quickly he settled into our family. As we had never had a dog before, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Friends of mine had told me that their puppies were timid when they first bought them home, not our Monty. He made himself at home immediately. He's 13 months old now and I can't imagine a life without my " Boosy Boy " ! I hope you enjoy your puppy as much as we enjoy having ours.