Taking into account the psychological and physical aspects of a puppy's development is essential to know at what age they should be separated from their mother. Doing it before time can be very harmful, causing lack of growth or emotional imbalances.
It is common to fall in love with a puppy as soon as you see it, they are really adorable, however, we must spend time preparing for the puppy's arrival, reflecting on the great responsibility we take on, gathering all the necessary information and accommodating the house for your arrival. Obviously, afterwards we feel a great impatience to have him with us.
But the first thing we must attend to is not our impatience, but the needs of the animal, this leads us to ask ourselves At what age can puppies be separated from their mother? ? In this AnimalWised article we show you all the information you need to know about it.
When should the cubs be separated from their mother?
When we talk about the separation of the puppies from their mother, we must initially clarify that there is an essential time and another that is ideal Having Taking into account two very important factors, socialization and lactation, we will explain when puppies should be separated from their mother:
Breastfeeding
One of the most important reasons why a puppy should stay as long as possible with its mother is feeding, since only its mother's milkcontains a nutritional composition that is exactly what the puppy needs for proper development and maturation.
A dog's milk contains colostrum, a substance that it offers to its little ones during the first days of life. The colostrum protects them preventing any infection Later on, the bitch's breast milk will offer the little ones all the essential nutrients for good growth, as well as defenses, enzymes and hormones. At this stage, the mother must be very well fed, resulting in better he alth for the little ones.
Puppy socialization
In addition to breastfeeding, another very important aspect for which a puppy should spend a minimum amount of time with its mother is that its education is not initiated by the human family.
During the lactation period, the mother begins with the socialization of the puppy, and teaches him how to communicate with his congeners, this in turn strengthens the security of the dog, since he himself, being an animal Very sociable, its basic need is the feeling of belonging to a herd. If a dog is not properly socialized, it is susceptible to future behavior problems such as insecurity, fear and reactivity with others of the same species. Apart from teaching him the basic rules of communication between dogs, his mother will also teach him how to act in the environment in which they live and how to coexist with other living beings (humans, cats, birds…)
So when should we separate a puppy from its mother?
The minimum time a puppy should spend with its mother is 6 weeks, period in which the puppy begins his weaning. However, the most common is that weaning lasts until approximately 8 weeks of life. So it is the optimal time to separate the pup from its mother
We should point out that the longer a puppy spends with its mother, the better it is for it, therefore it is advisable to leave a puppy together with its mother up to 3 months of age approximately.
Problems caused by premature weaning
Puppies should only be weaned prematurely in those cases in which the mother could not take care of them for he alth reasons or behavioral disorders, in other cases respect a minimum contact of 2 months with the mother is essential.
You should bear in mind that premature weaning of a puppy can cause various problems:
- Decreased immune system response
- Behavior disorders in adulthood
- Hyperactivity, aggressiveness and anxiety
- Bad behavior with other dogs
If you want the best for your puppy you must wait
As you have seen prematurely separating a puppy from its mother can lead to numerous problems and contrary to what many people mistakenly believe, it does not facilitate adaptation to the human home.
When a puppy arrives at your home it will continue to need various important care, and it will be your responsibility to provide it, however, this care does not, under any circumstances, replace the important role of the mother during the first months of the puppy's life. dog.
In this sense, you should know that if you really want the best for your puppy, it is not advisable to welcome him before he is 2 months old.
Tips for separating a puppy from its mother
From 8 weeks of age and progressively, we will encourage the puppy to start weaning. You should offer him wet food or soaking feed, thus facilitating the adaptation to his new diet.
It is important to point out that we must not remove all the puppies from their mother at the same time, especially before 8 weeks of age. life, since it can cause depression in the bitch as well as problems related to milk production, such as mastitis. On the contrary, if we have waited properly, the bitch will instinctively know that her puppies are independent and the separation will not be negative
