[Carl484a]

I purchased two Dachshund puppies when they were 6-weeks old. The oldest (by two weeks) turned 1 today.

My first Dachshund purchase was 13 years ago. At that time I learned the mistake of buying a puppy mill dog. The dog was crazy and aggressive, but a lot of TLC turned him into a remarkable family member. And he still is.

With the two puppies I have now, I became aware of the "facts" that 6 weeks is too young and two puppies at one time is verboten.

While I agree with the evils of puppy mills and the problems associated with those dogs, I am not nearly sold on the 8-week requirement or the one puppy at a time requirement.

Those two rules seem to be set in stone, but my experience has been wonderful. In my eyes the dogs, and my relationship with them, could not have turned out better. They are a joy.

Now my question(s). Why are those rules stated as indisputable facts? To me they clearly should not be. Is it to protect new dog owners (like a mom stating as fact that you can't eat your pudding until after your meat), or do most experienced dog owners actually have problems if they break those two rules?

 

[PoppyKenna]

The age rule is because most puppies still need to be with their mother at that point. They can survive on their own, but they are missing out on key relationship building and they really do learn things from their mother and littermates at that age.

As for getting two puppies at once, there are a lot of risks there. Sure, it can be done - when I was young, my parents brought home Collie siblings and they did just fine. It's just considerably harder. You have to contend with littermate syndrome, not to mention taking on housetraining, chewing, energy levels, socialization, etc. for TWO puppies at once. One is a lot of work!

 

[Carl484a]

Possibly the breed plays a big part in whether two puppies are easy or hard. I think the biggest problem with 2 pups is the expense. We have literally had to redo the home budget to fit them in. They want for nothing

 

[Rain]

Puppies learn dog skills from their mom and littermates and those skills can best be taught by the mother and littermates. It's the reason why good, reputable, breeders do not send their puppies to their new homes before 8 weeks and why most keep them till they are 12 weeks old. It's also the reason that in some states it's illegal to sell puppies younger then 8 weeks old. https://www.animallaw.info/topic/table-state-laws-concerning-minimum-age-sale-puppies

Littermate syndrome is real, but not all puppies develop it, and it can be avoided if the puppies owner is willing to put in the extra work. Some of the effects cannot be seen until the owner tries to separate the dogs and finds that the other has suddenly developed separation anxiety when the other dog is gone. Sometimes the dogs hyperbond to each other. Some dogs that were fine together will suddenly decide that they hate each other.

Nothing with dogs is set in stone, although people do like to state stuff like it is. Feed your dog a high quality diet or it will die early, the whole spay / neuter debate, a raw diet will kill your dog / a commercial diet will kill it, all have people that will tell you that there way is the best. The truth is that dogs are pretty resilient animals and nothing with them is set in stone.

 

[amaryllis]

Because when you're talking about these things, it's much easier to say "Don't get two puppies at once, it's more than twice the work and littermate syndrome is a thing" than to say, "Except you, Bob, you've got the time, experience and money to do it right."

Bob already knows that, he doesn't need me to tell him. Everybody else would be well served to take my advice.

As for separating puppies from their mother and litter prior to 8 weeks, that has to do with development and is largely illegal in the US. "But it worked out great for me!" is not a reason to break the law. If you were given two 6 week old puppies, you were almost certainly not dealing with a good breeder. You were dealing with someone who wanted those puppies gone ASAP, because the longer they keep them, the less money they make.

 

[Carl484a]

As for separating puppies from their mother and litter prior to 8 weeks, that has to do with development and is largely illegal in the US. "But it worked out great for me!" is not a reason to break the law. If you were given two 6 week old puppies, you were almost certainly not dealing with a good breeder. You were dealing with someone who wanted those puppies gone ASAP, because the longer they keep them, the less money they make.[/QUOTE]

Good point. I live in Texas so it was probably legal (Dog=cow=chicken) The breeder seemed concerned (shoe coverings and sanitized hands before seeing pups), but I really don't know. She ok'd the puppies for release at 6 weeks because they were no longer breast feeding. The pups did great, so I think she knew what she was doing. Maybe?

 

[kelly528]

6 weeks is usually the accepted minimum. I'd consider it young, I prefer 8, but I'd only be super-concerned at 5 or 4 weeks. It's not like every puppy is born with an internal timer and they will 'ding' when they are ready to be separated from the mum. What we do know is that statistically, puppies have more behavioral problems when separated prior to 6-8 weeks. There are other factors at play in every real-life situation, like genetic temperament and socialization at home.

Again with littermate syndrome, yes, its definitely subject to the individual dogs. By and large, the average pair of littermates will develop at least a couple of issues but a factor like dedicated effort to treat the dogs as individuals, or their genetic predisposition can outweigh the circumstances.

 

[Carl484a]

Rain's link to animal laws shows that Texas does indeed require breeders not to release animals before 8 weeks. Very interesting. Perhaps my breeder wasn't on the up and up. Could explain my 20 pound mini dachshund with a Chihuahua type curled tail (though he is still a great pet)

 

[Grabby]

Nothing is set in stone when it comes to animals and their development. Most of the time the recommendations heard about age of puppies when they leave the litter, littermate syndrome, early and positive socialization are given because all of these can have enormous implications for the adult dog and the relationship with the owner. Because it didn't happen to you doesn't make it bad advice or untrue. The only problem I see is if you were to go around saying that all of that is rubbish and should be ignored because it didn't apply to you and your dogs. I'm glad things worked out well for you and for your dogs.

 

[traciek88]

They are general rules and guidelines. Like amarylis said though, they are not always true for every person and every dog. I think it's possible that two littermates can live together happily and in harmony, and still bond with humans. However I do NOT agree with allowing puppies to leave their mom/litter at 6 weeks. That's just too young, and the need some more time with their mom and siblings, even if they aren't still nursing. It's also very possible your dogs avoided some behavioral problems resulting from being sold too early because they had each other. And again, this does not sound like a good breeder. Any good breeder would be aware of state laws, wouldn't sell pups that young, and likely wouldn't sell two pups at the same time to the same person either. And if they just had one litter, and two adults this sounds like a backyard breeder. Even if she was careful about being clean, that doesn't mean she was a good breeder. There's a heck of a lot more that goes into breeding healthy, mentally sound dogs than that.