by Amy Denney

Created on: November 08, 2007   Last Updated: February 03, 2008

Puppies should be kept with their mother and litter mates until they are at least 8 weeks old and 10 weeks is even better. I had always heard that baby animals could be taken away from their mothers as soon as they are weaned which is at about 6 weeks. In some respects, this is true. They can eat on their on; therefore, will not starve but there are so many things that they learn from their mother and litter mates after 6 weeks.

Probably what I would consider the most important is the ability to control their biting during play. As everyone knows that has ever been around a puppy, when they bite it hurts. The best training method to curb this activity is when a puppy bites you, yelp loudly then turn your back and ignore him. This is actually the method that the mother and litter mates will do to the puppy when they are playing. The puppy learns that if he bites too hard, no one is going to play with him. Also, he finds out that biting does hurt when the others bite on him. He will learn faster and it is a lot less painful for the new owner if he can learn this from his mother.

Also, babies at the age of 6 weeks and younger are not mature enough to be on their own. They need their mother emotionally to feel secure. By taking away this sense of security at such a young age, it can cause some serious behavioral problems that are hard for new owners to address. For example, the new puppy could become very stressed about being left alone when the owner is out of the house and could turn to destructive behavior such as chewing. They are not old enough to entertain themselves in a positive manner.

Good breeders that truly care about their dogs will not sell puppies any earlier than 8 to 10 weeks old. They do this so that they know that their puppies are mature enough to go to their new families, they have had their shot series started, and best of all, the new puppy has started learning house-training from his mother and is going outside to use the bathroom.

Dogs do bond with their mother and litter mates but it is definitely different than humans. I believe that it is necessary to keep a puppy with it's mother for a certain amount of time but not forever. Dogs are pack animals and as long as they have a pack, which could be only one person or 8 people and another dog like at my house, they will find their place and will enjoy a happy life.

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