[Sunshine Adams]

Hi. I am getting atleast one possibly 2 Bassets this weekend. They will only be 3 1/2 weeks old. I am worried that this is too soon to be away from the mom but the owner is ready for me to come and get them. I need all the help and advice I can get. I also plan to keep them in the house and this is also a first for me. Please Help!

 

[Yogi's Mom]

I don't know where you are getting these puppies from but I absolutely would not get them at three and a half weeks old. No good breeder would ever let their puppies go at that age. Much better for them to stay with their mother and siblings until they are at LEAST eight weeks or later. They need that time to learn and I fear you will have many problems if you get these dogs so young.
We have several breeders on the board, perhaps one of them will chime in and explain it to you far better than I ever could.

 

[Kirska]

I don't know where you are getting these puppies from but I absolutely would not get them at three and a half weeks old. No good breeder would ever let their puppies go at that age. Much better for them to stay with their mother and siblings until they are at LEAST eight weeks or later. They need that time to learn and I fear you will have many problems if you get these dogs so young.
We have several breeders on the board, perhaps one of them will chime in and explain it to you far better than I ever could.

Agreed. No decent breeder would allow the puppies to leave the mother that young. One of my dogs was dumped when it was 5-6 weeks old and has problems because of it even now that he's 10 years old. Puppies learn an incredible amount of social behaviors in the first 8 weeks of their life with their littermates.

 

[Mikey T]

this thread reeks of "trollishness"

at 3 1/2 weeks they are not even weened from their mother.

Week by week development of newborn puppies

Puppy Developmental Stages - Raising Puppies Timeline

 

[hig4s]

8 weeks is the standard, but if properly weened and cared for puppies can easily be ready at 7 weeks, maybe 6, but 3 1/2 is ridiculous. Odds are not good that they would be healthy, possibly not even survive.

 

[Soundtrack]

The best advice I can give is simply: don't!

Don't handicap yourself by getting a puppy at too young an age, that's not been properly cared for, from someone who clearly has no clue what they are doing.

Don't support irresponsible and ignorant breeders.

Don't set youself up for ten years of behavior and health issues.

Walk away and get a puppy from a good breeder.

 

[Sunshine Adams]

The reason why I'm wanting one these puppies is because my male is the Dad. I was wanting a puppy off of him. I never imagined she would expect me to come and get them at this age.

 

[smitte21]

Ugh... I'd refer the owner of the female and puppies to the sites MikeyT has mentioned. 3 1/2 weeks is WAAAAY too early and reguardless of whether or not they are from your male they will not be healthy, strong enough and ready to go home at this age.

 

[Mikey T]

The 3-6 week period is critical for developing dog v dog skills as well removing from the litter this early create a dog lacking in dog comunication skill which inevitably leads to dog on dog aggression


given the relative lack of knowledge of the breeder I think it is imperative you read the following two articles, as perhaps the only way to end up with well adjusted adult dogs

Puppy Socialisation and Habituation (Part 1) Why is it Necessary?

In 1961 Freedman, King and Elliot identified the age of three weeks as the start of a puppy’s critical period, in terms of social/environmental interaction and the commencement of their capacity to develop social relationships. Significantly, this is the point in time when the puppy becomes truly mobile and can hear and coincides with increased electrical activity in the brain (Fox 1971a).
Michael Fox (1971a), a behavioural researcher, found that three week old Chihuahua puppies fostered individually in litters of four week old kittens would, at twelve weeks, prefer the company of cats over the company of their litter mates that had not been fostered. ...Michael Fox (1971a) carried out a subtler but even more revealing experiment. Litters of puppies were split into three groups: one group of puppies were hand-reared from birth and received no canine contact; the second group were given an equal amount of canine and human contact; and the third group only experienced the company of other puppies and their dam. When these three groups of puppies were reunited those that had only experienced human interaction preferred the company of those who had received the same rearing experience. Similarly, those puppies who had been exposed to both human and canine company preferred the company of puppies of the same upbringing, as did the puppies only used to canine company.

Puppy Socialisation and Habituation (Part 2) How to go about it

 

[Sunshine Adams]

I just called and talked to her and she is going to keep them till they are 6 weeks old. I really appreciate all the post and the advice. I am also supposed to go one day next week and interact with them. Thanks again for all the help.

 

[SophieB]

Hi. I am getting atleast one possibly 2 Bassets this weekend. They will only be 3 1/2 weeks old. I am worried that this is too soon to be away from the mom but the owner is ready for me to come and get them. I need all the help and advice I can get. I also plan to keep them in the house and this is also a first for me. Please Help!

I have only read the OP's post but the very thought of such young puppies leaving their mother just HORRIFIES me and pups of that age still need to stay with mum and their siblings for another 5 or 6 weeks. How can a decent breeder even contemplate parting with such young baby Bassets! If you have no previous experience, then please do not even contemplate taking on such young puppies... they are living creatures, not toys!!!

PS: What do you mean by keeping them in the house? Where else would you be keeping them, they need all the comfort and loving they can get as I don't like the sound of the breeder, who is a million miles away from mine, who likes to keep the pups for 9 or 10 weeks? Poor wee babies!

 

[peterluquer]

My heart bleeds for these little puppies. Maybe Sunshine you can tell the breeder what you have learned on this thread so the breeder can take appropriate action and allow these pups to wean and develop properly. Then, after 6 weeks at the earliest you can get your pups! You would be doing yourself, the breeder and most importantly the puppies a HUGE service!

 

[SophieB]

I just called and talked to her and she is going to keep them till they are 6 weeks old. I really appreciate all the post and the advice. I am also supposed to go one day next week and interact with them. Thanks again for all the help.

Six weeks is still too young and the owner should be letting puppy bond with its siblings for longer than that time. Since you have posted on here, you obviously want people to become involved in the situation, so please tell us exactly what preparation you have made for when puppy goes to live with you... where do you live? I hope it is somewhere with a fenced in garden where puppy can play happily and safely.

Seemingly your adult male is the father, but have you any knowledge at all about caring for a young Basset puppy? Do you know about feeding a puppy, what food, how much, how often etc, also are you, or someone else, at home a lot or would puppy be left for long periods of time? Puppies need a lot of love and attention and I hope this one will be no exception! Have you any photos of puppy or its daddy please?

 

[2hounds]

This is a perfect example of why people should spay/neuter their pets. =(

~Heather

 

[Soundtrack]

No, this is a perfect example of why people should not breed their pets.

 

[Mikey T]

Six weeks is still too young and the owner should be letting puppy bond with its siblings for longer than that time

That depends on the "purpose" or the job the puppy are to have latter. More time past 6 weeks with littermates translates into dogs that have better dogs skill but it does come at some expense to human bonding. The work of service dog trianers clearly demonstrate that six weeks is the optiomal time to seperate the dog from the litter for this type of work.


IMHO the reason many if not most reputable breeder tend to hold onto the dog longer is two fold. 1. is it gives them more time to evaluate conformation ie seperating show from pet quality. 2. is that history has shown the habituation and socialization that a puppy gets in a pet home is hit or miss. By holding onto the dog longer they become more incontrol of the habitualtuion solcialization process which means in the end if done right they will less likely have a dog returned for behavioral issues.

For an owner there are plus or minus to either For some not having to worry so much about the socialization aspect of a puppy can be a god send for other that have particular job/purpose for the puppy a delay in socializing the dog to the purpose and the environment of that purpose can be critical so a earlier date is benefitial.