What age should a puppy be taken from its mother?

Some Jack Russell Terrier breeders take their puppies away from their mothers at 6 weeks old. They feel this gives them the independent streak which is known to the breed.

I've always heard that a puppy should be left with its mother and litter mates until 8 or 9 weeks of age at least. They learn quite a few things in those early weeks from their mother and their siblings. If they are separated too soon, it might cause behavioral problems.

What do you think about this? Is 6 weeks too early to separate a puppy and it's mother?

 

I think that 6 weeks is too early although puppies can be separated already on such age and be able to grow without its mother.
For me two moths is ideal.

 

From what I heard from my MIL, they would normally take the puppies away from their mothers at about 8th week unless the mother is very sick after delivery and needs to be taken care of. It would be so sad for puppies to be taken away a lot sooner than 8 weeks.

 

Six weeks is a little too early. But some breeders do that in order for the puppies to have their vaccinations started, which in fact should be in the 8th week since the mother's milk still provides them the protection needed to tackle most of the initial environmental attacks to their immune system.

Six weeks or not, JRTs are independent. Peanuts was taken from her breeder a little later and she's definitely an independent one. Imagine seeing a dog doing her own exercise regimen without her owner's help just to tire herself out. I could sometimes catch her running from one end of the room to the other until she gets pooped eventually tiring herself to sleep.

 

While I would prefer they stay with the mother a bit longer, 6 weeks is still okay on the babies. You can actually separate them even earlier than that with smaller breeds, although I don't recommend it. I see no harm in allowing the babies to stay and wean themselves instead of being forced apart.

 

Six weeks is a little bit too early. I would say three months would be just nice. Once the puppies are separated from their mothers, chances are they will never meet again. So why not let them stay together for a little while longer together?

 

One word: Money.

The sooner breeders get rid of the puppies, the less money they have to spend on food once they start needing real puppy chow instead of their mother's milk....and the sooner the mother can recover, be bred, and have more puppies to sell.

 

I see. In that case, that's not a responsible breeder. I have bought puppies before and the people who bred them made very sure that the puppies can eat solid food properly before I take the puppies home. There was hardly any rush to get rid of the puppies.