4 week old puppy...is it to early???

my sister is getting a bitch staff puppy and was expecting to collect her in 4 weeks time...however she had a phone call yesterday to say she could collect her this week...the puppy only turned 4 weeks yesterday....the lady said that the mum is refusing to feed them anymore and just runs off when they come near her...also now the pups are nipping at her shes starting to get really aggressive with them and shes having to seperate them a lot as shes now trying to hurt them. my sister has agreed to go and pick her pup up on friday but shes a bit unsure as to what to feed her....the lady who owns them says they have a small feed from mum once a day lasting around a couple of minutes before mum turns nasty on them but thats it and now their eating weetabix.....she wasnt expecting to have her this young and as she is having the runt of the litter wants any advice on what to feed her as shes tiny...any advice would be appreciated.

Hello, well i got my wee lad at 5 week's due to the same sort of problem his mum was not snapping at them she was just not letting them get a right good feed, so the family that where looking after them started giving them puppy milk mixed in with some dry puppy food there were 10 pup's in total 3 died 3 day's after been born . Teeva my wee lad started eating scrambled egg made with his puppy milk soon as i get the eggs out the fridge he start's yelping lol, Teeva is my 1st staffy pup and he has settled in real well i was worried he would be crying all night when we got him home he only cryd for a wee while. Good luck, i'm sure the lovely people on here will give you better advice than me.

Hiya,

4 weeks is VERY young to be leaving the litter, I would advise your sister to speak with a vet about caring for the pup as it is not only feeding that will be an issue. Pups learn so many important things from their mum and siblings, she's going to be missing out on alot.

A vet will be able to give her advice on the best diet for the pup and also give her ways to help the pup learn everything that it should be learning in the litter. Good luck to your sister, she'll need it.

To be honest, I'd run a mile! No good breeder (no matter what problems a bitch is having) will send pups out to new homes at 4 weeks old!

It's cruel!

If your sister hasn't yet paid for the pup, I'd advise her to start looking elsewhere. If she has paid, she should ask if there's any way the pup can stay with its siblings for at least another 2 weeks.

i with caryll on this one the pups shouild not be taken from the mother when they are still feeding from her.
and even when weeened they still need to be with the litter mates for a week or so to get socialised when feeding

I had the same problem with Summer and she was 6 weeks. 4 weeks is way too early, if the mother is snapping at them, them the woman should really separate and leave the pup with its siblings for at least another 2 weeks. I had Summer on puppy milk from the pet shop and then got her gradually onto puppy food, lessening the puppy milk over the next few weeks, until she was around 8-9 weeks. Hope it goes well for her, but I am with other people on here, wait at least another 2 weeks if she can.

The mother isnt supposed to still be feeding the puppies, they are meant to begin being weaned now but defo not solely on weetabix. Im sure the dam is getting nippy with the pups, they all do at this stage but thats not to say they should be taken away from her. What we did was put a little barrier to keep puppies in the kitchen but low enough so the mother could jump over and have some her-time. I think your sister should ring the breeder and suggest this too her. Its not good for the pups to go yet they should ideally be with their littermates and mum for another 4 weeks!!!

ph0n1c5 wrote:Hello, well i got my wee lad at 5 week's due to the same sort of problem his mum was not snapping at them she was just not letting them get a right good feed, so the family that where looking after them started giving them puppy milk mixed in with some dry puppy food there were 10 pup's in total 3 died 3 day's after been born . Teeva my wee lad started eating scrambled egg made with his puppy milk soon as i get the eggs out the fridge he start's yelping lol, Teeva is my 1st staffy pup and he has settled in real well i was worried he would be crying all night when we got him home he only cryd for a wee while. Good luck, i'm sure the lovely people on here will give you better advice than me.

God these people should not be allowed to breed dogs! puppies begin to be weaned at 4 weeks and are usually managing well on solids by 5 weeks. Its the emotional and social development that is so important after this stage! I like your suggestion about scrambled eggs as they are a very easily digestible source of protein. Also raw chicken wings (though at this age they take forever to eat them!) and rice pudding is another good weaning food

WAY TOO EARLY!!! A pup should not leave its mother until it is 8 weeks of age ideally and NEVER before 6 weeks of age! If a breeder is pushing for the puppies to go home so early that is NOT a good breeder!!

hi all...yes she has told the breede that its 2 early and can she stay for another couple of weeks...but she says the mum is really nasty, she has seperated them but she wont settle and is constantly trying to get to them but not in a nice way...anyway my sister went to pick her up today eben though she was unsure...she has made an appointment to see the vet to get advice on everythin and to get her checked over. she has given her puppy milk and she has surprisingly eaten some dry food...ive told her about the problems it can cause later on so she is aware...i know its not the same but i have a 11 week old pup and my friend has another and we are hoping to get them together with the tiny pup as much as we can so hoping she will learn a few things off them...it may or may not work...thankyou for everyones advice...i agree with you all it is way to early and my sis knows the same....think she was mainly worried that she was goin to get hurt and not been fed properly thats why she agreed to get her x

fingers crossed all goes well for her and the pup and I'm sure the vet will give her great advice.

It's unlikely that the bitch is being nasty towards her pups. I know it sometimes happens, but it's usually straight away, not after a few weeks! It's more likely that the breeder either can't be bothered any more or it's proving too expensive to keep them.

I still say it's cruel.

I'd advise against getting a pup so young. The socialization they get at this time is very imporartant.

yeah it is cruel...but the mum is really starting to hurt them, and yes it has happened after a few weeks.....my sister feels the same and was against getting her so young, but she has, and has took her to the vet already and been given advice...the pup is fine, a lil underweight but has been advised the best thing to give her...she has settled really well considering her age. hopefully been with my pup and my friends pups will help her socialize a lil bit...they are 7 weeks older but may help...i guess she can do her best with her and see how things go

good luck with the wee pup. your sister has done the right thing taking it to the vet and like you say the family have pups too so socialising will be ok. would love to see pics some time

at least the pup has gone to live with your sister and she is being responsible and is going to take it to the vets so it will have the best start to life it can get.. who knows who has taken the other pups and where they might end up...

these people breeding these dogs should be banned for life !!!

While I am glad the pup is with a responsible owner, I do not think your sister should have taken the pup. By paying for the puppy she is supporting this breeder's unethical practices.

i agree if im honest...and my sis even felt guilty takin her but she has and she is been well looked after shes even cancelled her hols for next week to be at home to take care of her

CatStina wrote:While I am glad the pup is with a responsible owner, I do not think your sister should have taken the pup. By paying for the puppy she is supporting this breeder's unethical practices.

Yes, you see this is the problem. The breeder's done it once & so will do it again.

Every so often a bitch will turn against her pups, but an ethical, responsible breeder will seperate them from the mother, but not from the sibling pups. A good breeder will hand rear them together before letting them go to new homes at 8 weeks old.

Please don't get me wrong, I applaud your sister's responsible attitude in taking the pup to the vet, but still feel that she should have put her foot down & left the pup with its siblings for another couple of weeks at least. At four weeks old it's possible that the shock of removal from mum & siblings could be too much for it. Also, although older pups around it will help to an extent, it still won't give the pup the right social balance that staying with its own siblings would have.

OMG I have to agree with the others and that breeder wants naming and shaming she is one incompasionate sod its all about the money unfortunatly she will probably breed the dog again because how easy was it the dog did all the work and when it was her turn to do a bit the easy option was to invent a story like this and send the pups on there way and a nice little wad in her hand simple as that she has done nothing for them pups and people like this make me sick.
Sorry for the rant hope this little puppy settles well for your sis .
My first dog my holly I had chosen and I rang every few days to see how she was visited every week and she was just 5 weeks. I did my weekly phone call and the breeder said that she had moved the pups to the shed and some had gone to there new homes already this was 3rd november (bonfire night) and freezing cold OMG as I put the fone down went to pick her up could not leave her in a freezing shed and bonfire night.
The breeder never foned me to ask about holly again but about 4 years later rang me out of the blue still never asked about holly and asked could she use my boy for stud on one of her bitches she got told to do one politely and never heard from her since.

tishasweet wrote:yeah it is cruel...but the mum is really starting to hurt them, and yes it has happened after a few weeks.....my sister feels the same and was against getting her so young, but she has, and has took her to the vet already and been given advice...the pup is fine, a lil underweight but has been advised the best thing to give her...she has settled really well considering her age. hopefully been with my pup and my friends pups will help her socialize a lil bit...they are 7 weeks older but may help...i guess she can do her best with her and see how things go

Hope the pup gets on well , what's done is done and fair enough report the breeder if needs must but thats not going to help the little mite now is it > For everyone that says don't take the pups fair enough its a stand but what happens to the pups, sorry but if it was me it would be a hard decision to make . I don't condone it but how should people be, if I had took a pup there's absolutely no********g way I'm going to change my mind because I don't like how the breeder has dealt with it . Would you refuse to adopt a child because you didn't agree with how the child was brought into the world , whatever happens its not the pups fault and for people to say , go look somewhere else instead then sorry but I don't know where its coming from . If you want a champion Staffy show winner then be hard about it . If you just want a family pet then how do you pick a kid from an orphanage then tell them you've chabged you r mind.

Its always the same bull* and it is not just the breeder that needs to a good talking too, if anyone feels anything for these pups the answer should of been NO your sister should of said no i will not take your pup because you are full of * maybe that would of made the breeder realise its hard getting rid of the pups this young and either stop breeder full stop or learn from their mistakes, the excuses the breeder gave are pathetic and if she knows anything at all about dogs and how to control them she could of easily (easily) kept the mother away and just kept the pups together atleast.

BUYERS needs to be taught this disgusting lesson as well (if not more so) the more buyers that say NO to breeders like this scum, the less breeders would do this because it would be to difficult to make money off the pups and obviousely all this person gives a crap about is the money,
sure enough it is hard you look at the pup your were supposed to buy, you don't like the look of it surroundings/breeder so you feel sorry for it, but in the long run, breeders like them will do it roughly the same time next year because getting rid of the pups last time was easy, so by buying pups off people like them, their just setting up for more pups to brought up this way and probabilly abused/killed/neglected for behaviour issues because they are NOT ready.

davemck3834
This has nothing to do with how they were brought into the world and all about what happened afterwards and it is disgusting, the way you are saying it is if you buy a child off a child trafficer??? putting money in their pockets so they can go and get more children to abuse and throw away.
being abroad and paying to have your photograph taking with a chimp/monkey on a leash in the middle of the street, so your putting money in their pockets to go out and buy and abuse more chimps.

I have to agree with Claire. I know it isn't the pup's fault, but has anyone realised the health/mental problems that could result from this?

The breeder has probably done this before & will do it again. I don't think it's any coincidence that this has come at the time the pups are starting to wean themselves off milk & onto food. Too much effort/expense for the breeder to bother with.

MissRogue wrote:Its always the same bull* and it is not just the breeder that needs to a good talking too, if anyone feels anything for these pups the answer should of been NO your sister should of said no i will not take your pup because you are full of * maybe that would of made the breeder realise its hard getting rid of the pups this young and either stop breeder full stop or learn from their mistakes, the excuses the breeder gave are pathetic and if she knows anything at all about dogs and how to control them she could of easily (easily) kept the mother away and just kept the pups together atleast.

BUYERS needs to be taught this disgusting lesson as well (if not more so) the more buyers that say NO to breeders like this scum, the less breeders would do this because it would be to difficult to make money off the pups and obviousely all this person gives a crap about is the money,
sure enough it is hard you look at the pup your were supposed to buy, you don't like the look of it surroundings/breeder so you feel sorry for it, but in the long run, breeders like them will do it roughly the same time next year because getting rid of the pups last time was easy, so by buying pups off people like them, their just setting up for more pups to brought up this way and probabilly abused/killed/neglected for behaviour issues because they are NOT ready.

davemck3834
This has nothing to do with how they were brought into the world and all about what happened afterwards and it is disgusting, the way you are saying it is if you buy a child off a child trafficer??? putting money in their pockets so they can go and get more children to abuse and throw away.
being abroad and paying to have your photograph taking with a chimp/monkey on a leash in the middle of the street, so your putting money in their pockets to go out and buy and abuse more chimps.

Miss Rogue

I see where your comments are coming from but please don't make this personal , and I'm sorry but I love my animals and would find it difficult to walk away without the pup. I may well go straight to the RSPCA after just to rattle their cage a little bit. HOWEVER, this does not compare in the slightest to Child Trafficking and to be perfectly honest yes a lot of us do consider our dogs as children , but your comparisons are a little over disturbing . React how you want , just being Honest

davemck3834 wrote: HOWEVER, this does not compare in the slightest to Child Trafficking and to be perfectly honest yes a lot of us do consider our dogs as children , but your comparisons are a little over disturbing . React how you want , just being Honest

It was just a comparison to show that just because you feel sorry for the pup, it doesn't make what happened right! ie you can & will feel terribly sorry for a child who is being bought & sold on the 'market' but you wouldn't buy that child. You may well report to the authorities, but you wouldn't buy him or her. So you will feel terribly sorry for the pup in question, but that doesn't mean you must buy it.

Oh the poor puppies (and any dog in the care of that sort of person). Are there no rules they are breaking doing this? This sort of behavior should be reported so it can be prevented in the future..

Here in Norway pups can leave their breeder no earlier than at 7 weeks, in Sweeden at 8 weeks. 4 weeks just makes me feel sick.

I'm very happy this puppy will have a good home, and hopefully won't have too bad issues as a result of this far from ideal puppyhood.

I agree with Claire and Caryll that we have to take responsibility for all the effects of our actions. Buying a puppy off this sort of person means you're also paying them to do this again in the future. I'm not saying doing one or the other is right- I don't envy anyone who find themselves with the dilemma - but if you pretend taking a puppy out of the situation in any way fixes the main problem you're choosing to ignore reality. I eat meat and so does my pets - so I'm responsible for the death of the animals we eat. Thinking otherwise would be stupid. I can, however, choose to pay people to give our food a good life first (free range, slaughtered locally) rather than to give them a bare minimum or less (living in a crowded barn, fed antibiotics to keep them from getting sick from all the bacteria and stress, transported far for cheaper slaughter rates). If i buy eggs from battery hens I accept that this practice is OK. If I buy a puppy from a horrible breeder I make it worthwhile for the moron to continue the business.

omg just said this, 4 weeks old left his mum your sister will have job on her hands. i will put money on the dog being very DA.

Aniemother wrote:Oh the poor puppies (and any dog in the care of that sort of person). Are there no rules they are breaking doing this? This sort of behavior should be reported so it can be prevented in the future..

Here in Norway pups can leave their breeder no earlier than at 7 weeks, in Sweeden at 8 weeks. 4 weeks just makes me feel sick.

I'm very happy this puppy will have a good home, and hopefully won't have too bad issues as a result of this far from ideal puppyhood.

I agree with Claire and Caryll that we have to take responsibility for all the effects of our actions. Buying a puppy off this sort of person means you're also paying them to do this again in the future. I'm not saying doing one or the other is right- I don't envy anyone who find themselves with the dilemma - but if you pretend taking a puppy out of the situation in any way fixes the main problem you're choosing to ignore reality. I eat meat and so does my pets - so I'm responsible for the death of the animals we eat. Thinking otherwise would be stupid. I can, however, choose to pay people to give our food a good life first (free range, slaughtered locally) rather than to give them a bare minimum or less (living in a crowded barn, fed antibiotics to keep them from getting sick from all the bacteria and stress, transported far for cheaper slaughter rates). If i buy eggs from battery hens I accept that this practice is OK. If I buy a puppy from a horrible breeder I make it worthwhile for the moron to continue the business.

I agree with everything but what happens to the puppy . You choose not to buy meat beacuse of it origins the meat goes to waste, you choose not to buy the eggs they got to the bin. Is this where the puppy should go ?? If the original buyer doesn't want it then they surely just wait until they get someone comes in with another offer though it be a little lower> These actions won't make them think because these people aren't capable of thinking

i'm not sure what would happen to the pup but people shouldn't take over other people mistakes becasue they willn't learn.

i just can't believe what happen in this country at times it's about time we got out of human right act & get the kids back in national service!

Steve wrote:i'm not sure what would happen to the pup but people shouldn't take over other people mistakes becasue they willn't learn.

Its so difficult Steve , that puppy that gets rejected may end up getting a good home but so may also get a cheap home and end up in rescue. I hope people don't think wrong of me on here . If I won the lottery tomorrow I would be setting up a staffy rescue with a difference cos I wouldn't want to give any away. My little girl gives me everything and I really can't understand how these people just turn them over as a business but we have to face facts , cruel to be kind ??? not me !!

the problem lays with our society would this happen 20 odd years ago, when i was a kid only people who had dogs was the one who could afford them. we got kids 18/25 breeding them like machines thinking they going make money.

Please everyone dont support breeders like this by feeling sorry for the poor poor pups and taking them off her hands then that will probably contribute to the suffering of more puppies and a poor mother who is beside herself and doesnt know how to bring up a litter.
Your sister has to do what she feels is right for her if she takes the pup then good luck she is a
I wouldnt want to be in her situation myself

davemck3834 wrote:

Steve wrote:i'm not sure what would happen to the pup but people shouldn't take over other people mistakes becasue they willn't learn.

Its so difficult Steve , that puppy that gets rejected may end up getting a good home but so may also get a cheap home and end up in rescue. I hope people don't think wrong of me on here . If I won the lottery tomorrow I would be setting up a staffy rescue with a difference cos I wouldn't want to give any away. My little girl gives me everything and I really can't understand how these people just turn them over as a business but we have to face facts , cruel to be kind ??? not me !!

I'm givin up the argument on this one as i let my emotions cloud my judgement

At 4 weeks old it is too young to be leaving its mum,We got milly at 6 weeks old and we felt that was still a little young to be leaving her mum.The pup at the moment should now be eating small amounts of solids.When we got milly we gave her lactol for a few weeks.Its simlar to babies formula milk.I would ask the breeder to keep the pup at least another few weeks if possible.she shouldnt realy leave her mum and siblings yet.I honestley dont think they should leave there mum until they are at least 8 weeks old.

our last dog was a GS and he was 5 weeks when we got hiim because his mum was taken into the hospital after one of the 11 pups bit off one of her teets and she had a womb infection. i bottle fed that dog a couple of times a day because he wasnt really used to food becasue he was weened so quickly. the mother in question here has rejected her pups so what are the people to do they have to think whats best for the pups at the moment and they pobviously think it is best to rehome them now. surely it would be best for the pups to go to a good home rather thn the owner just wanting rid to the nearest ob that walks in the door with the ready cash and the poor pup endin gup in a rescue centre or worse.

The breeder is supposed to be prepared for such situations and care for the puppies until they are old enough to leave their litter. It is not the buyers responsibility to care for such a young pup, it is the breeder's. If the breeder is not prepared for that, they should not be breeding. The buyers should have said, "We don't want to take a pup that young from its litter. Please keep the puppies together for an other four weeks or I will find a puppy from a more ethical breeder." Now this breeder sees that there is a market for 4 week old puppies and will continue with his/her unethical practices.