Hello,
here in Gemany it is not allowed for FCI-Breeders to give their puppies away befor the age of 8 weeks.
I too don´t see any problems with this as long as the breeder cares for the socialisation. We get a lot of visitors in this time and start to take the puppies to crowded places like shopping centers and pubs at about 5-6 weeks. The go by car, see cats, horses and so on. We even went to a holliday with a litter of 9 puppies in the age of 4,5 weeks.
As long as socialisation is done properly I think it is better for the puppy to stay with his mother and the rest of it´s family for this two more weeks. Looking at our pack they get a lot of education and socialisation from the older dogs that they wouldn´t get if they would stay as a single dog with their new owner.
If the breeder isn´t willing to care for the socilisation or doesn´t have enough time 8 weeks ist quite late for that breed to start with it and you normally get several dogs out of those litters with shyness problems. In this case it sure is better to give them away with 5-6 weeks.
Ina
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