"Your breeder is doing you a favor by allowing the momma dog to teach the pup important skills like "bite inhibition" and other important social skills. You should be pleased with your breeder on this point!"
1. the momma does little in teaching bite inhibition it is done to some extent by littermates
2. Human skin is much more fragile than dog hide cover in fur. What is successful bite inhibition with dogs is still to strong with humans so at best a longer stay with the breeder is a step along the way to training bite inhibition.
"When To Bring Her Home?
Contrary to what you may hear there is no diffinative answer just some consideration that need to be made. Again all points are generalization and yes individual dogs do vary.
1 puppy removed from the litter before 7 weeks is more likely to suffer from poor dog to dog social skills with other dogs than one remove later. Also the dog will tend to prefer the company of human to that of dogs.
2. a dog remove from the litter at 12 weeks and latter are more likely to suffer poor dog to human social skills and tend to prefer the company of dogs to humans.
Most breeder looking for a balance dog tend to release dogs in the 8-9 week range. That said there are more important issue at stake than just the age the pups go to their new home.
What are the conditions that the pups are rasied. Are the habituated to the noises of a normal house. If not the dog is more likely to be fearfull of load nosies like the vaccuum. Does the breeder have children?, if not has he/she made sure the dogs have adequit contact with children again to reduce the risk of fear of children later on. The same thing with "men" often the fear of "men" many dogs have has nothing to do with being abuse by a "man" but everything to do with never having any socialization with men durring the "critical period. For more info on critical periods of social development of dogs I reccommend the following;
Puppy Socialisation and Habituation (Part 1)
Why is it Necessary?
Keep in mind that the placement at six weeks semi advocated in the article is in this particular case to service dogs working with the bind. In such cases dog to dog skills are of little importance and human to dogs skills are highly important.
Critical Periods in Your Puppy's Life
The Critical Developmental Stages of a Puppy
While you have the extra time to prepare the follow articles on How to go about insuring proper socializion of the puppy during the critical period are a good place to start.
Puppy Socialisation and Habituation - How to go about it. "Instead of socialisation and habituation being a haphazard affair with experiences occurring at random, as is so often the case, the puppy's exposure to environmental stimuli should be as systematic as possible to ensure the best chance of it developing a sound temperament and capacity to cope in all circumstances."
Countdown to a Crackerjack Canine Companion"
Deadline #1 BEFORE You Get Your Puppy -- Puppy Education and Owner Education!
"By the time you bring your new puppy home, say by eight weeks of age, it should already be accustomed to the indoor domestic environment (especially noises) and well socialized with people. Similarly, housetraining, chew toy training and tutoring in basic manners should be well underway. If not, your prospective puppy's social and mental development will already be severely retarded and sadly, you will be playing catch-up for the rest of its life.
...The day you get your puppy, the clock is running. And time flies. Your puppy's critical period of socialization will begin to wane by three months and its most impressionable learning period starts to close by five months. Not surprisingly, most behavior and temperament problems are created during this time. There is so much to teach and nearly everything needs to be taught within just 12 weeks, when you puppy is between two and five months of age.
The optimal time to socialize your puppy is BEFORE it is three months old. Unfortunately, your pup needs to be confined indoors until then. This relatively short period of social isolation at such a crucial developmental time could all but ruin your puppy's temperament. Whereas dog-dog socialization may be put on temporary hold until your pup is old enough to go to puppy school and the dog park, we simply can not delay socialization with people. On the contrary, during the first month, while your pup is grounded at home, socializing with people becomes the Prime Puppy Directive. Without a doubt, raising and training a pup to be people-friendly is by far the single most important aspect of pet dog husbandry.
Capitalize on the time your pup is confined indoors by inviting people to your home. As a rule of thumb, your pup needs to socialize with at least 100 people before it is 3 months old. This is actually much easier than it sounds. Invite a different group of eight men each Sunday to watch sports on the television. (Generally, men are pretty easy to attract and train if you offer pizza and beer.) Each Monday invite a different group of eight women to watch Ally McBeal and Dateline. Catch up on all your outstanding social obligations by inviting family, friends and neighbors to weekly Puppy Parties. On another night of the week invite some neighborhood children. Above all, don't keep this puppy a secret. And of course, the great thing about socializing a young puppy is that it also does wonders for your own social life! "
Socializing Your Puppy
Dog socialization and habituation
[ January 30, 2006, 12:49 AM: Message edited by: Mikey T ]