At what age should a pup leave its mum?

That sounds about right, i think most breeders prefer to keep them a bit longer though (i could be wrong)

on a little reading it seems 8 to 10 weeks is normal

I'd have expected another week at least.

Sorry updated after you posted, 8 to 10 weeks is more normal

I think I woul dbe more concerned about the reasons for letting the pups go at 7 weeks than the age as such.

Guide dog puppies leave their Mum and litter mates at 6 weeks. I would prefer my puppies to go between 7 and 8 weeks, (usually not before 7 1/2 weeks though) as at 8 weeks, some puppies enter a 'fear stage' and might not settle into their new homes as easily. But for me it also depends on each puppy individually and the new owner. I have kept a puppy until 12 weeks for someone who was holidaying and we both thought it best for pup to stay with me until they got back.

However, for pups that have gone to their new homes at less than 8 weeks, good socialisation with other dogs is very important as they will have missed out from possibly vital socialisation with other littermates and Mum.

Thanks Midori. Re the above - that was one of my concerns really. There are no other dogs in the family apart from mine nearly 70 miles away. MIL does have a friend with a dog so I guess they'll meet, and of course they'll see otehr dogs when they walk the pup. I've suggested they look for training classes too. And they have a cat, so at least the dog will know his proper place at the bottom of the pack ?

That does seem pretty young, when we got The Moog he was a couple of days short of 6 weeks (that's horrendously young although at the time we thought he was a couple of days short of 7 weeks)

He has some attachment and compulsive behavioural issues that stem from the fact he never learnt from him mother when 'enough was enough' he's very well socialised with people and animals though and in general a lovely little dog (with a new best friend in the form of a little kitten)

We had Hugo from 6 weeks. The breeder normally lets them go at 8 weeks but it turned out that his siblings were going off to other breeders and went at 6 weeks so he'd have been on his own. He's fine, in fact he's far better than Hudson who we got at 7 months ? Hugo was always a very brave puppy though, he was the one that ran off when let out of his pen.

8-10 weeks is normal but it does depend on both the breed and the puppy itself, some mature a little quicker and are able to leave their mum a week or two earlier. We currently have a litter of 9 Boxer pups and the first one leaves us next week, it will be 7 weeks and 1 day old. As I said, it really does depend, but 7 weeks is fine if the breeder is happy that the pup is ready. I wouldn't worry.

HTH

8 weeks is pretty much perfect. However, we got one of our huskys at 7 weeks as it was our 3rd husky from that breeder so she trusted us. Our pups at work start spending time away from their mum at about 5 weeks and are usually fully weaned from mum at 7 weeks. The most important thing to consider is whether the pup will be properly socialised as the most important time for this is between about 7-12 weeks. They must be socialised with children, dogs, cats and noise (eg traffic) and the experiences must be as positive as possible. If this isn't done, then they start to get behavioural problems such as fears.

Stazzle - please dont think Im stalking you (ha) ... just haven't really been on this forum much and just catching up. You may have noticed I commented on your photo; only because I, too, have boxer.

Have just read you have/had boxer pups. Are you a breeder? My boxer (Bailey) is 2 yrs old - and a complete bundle of madness and joy but unfortuantely he is epiletic (which is really quite damaging to his health and we nearly lost him last year) - boo!!

We viewed Bailey at 2wks old, "reserved" him from the litter immediately and had another viewing at 4wks old before collecting him and taking him home at 7wks old. My home has never been the same since, ha!!

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