Ali’s Quick Answer
Around 4–6 weeks, puppies get needle‑sharp baby teeth and theit mother naturally limits nursing – because it hurts! That’s normal weaning behavior—not a valid excuse for a “breeder” to send puppies home early. Most pups should stay with their litter and dam until at least 8 weeks (ideally longer).
Your breeder contacts you and says the mother dog is “rejecting” her 4–6 week puppies, it sounds scary, right?
You picture a mom who’s done with her babies and think “Oh no! My poor puppy, I’ll just take my puppy home now to help and make sure the pup gets the care they need”. It’s only naturally to feel that way.
But here’s what’s actually going on: your puppies’ teeth are coming in, nursing hurts their mother, and momma dog goes “ouch, I don’t want to do this any more”. This is normal. This is healthy. And, most importantly, it is definitely not a green light to send puppy to their new home earlier than 8 weeks.
In this stage, mother dogs often shorten nursing sessions. They will stand up instead of lying down, and walk away when pups get grabby. They might growl a little (remember: this is polite dog language) or body‑block a rude puppy.
Now this is the important part — this is not rejection; it’s just parenting.
Which is to say that you, as a patron of this breeder, if you are being told that puppy needs to go to you at this stage? You are being fed information that is correct, but this is a normal part of development and not a reason for puppy to go to their forever home.
Normally, a responsible breeder will begin the transition of a puppy’s nutrition from milk to solid food. The weeks between four and eight are pure gold for your puppy’s brain—pulling a pup out early can mess with bite inhibition, dog‑dog communication, and confidence later on.
Being a mother is not easy, any human mother will tell you that! But is your puppy’s mother really rejecting them?
Confusing, right? As always, I’m here to help as a professional dog trainer and as someone who has extensively studied early puppy development. So, let’s unpack what “normal weaning” looks like (so you can discuss it with your breeder), what’s actually a red flag with a breeder, and how to handle it if someone pressures you to pick up early.
What’s really happening at 4–6 weeks: teething and weaning
Puppy teeth start erupting around 3–6 weeks. At this age, your cute little dumplings sprout tiny shark teeth, and those sharky teeth (that we hate too!) go onto their mothers sensitive teets – and she begins to pull away. Nature’s answer is gradual weaning. The dam reduces how often and how long she nurses, and the breeder then supports the pups’ transition to solid food to ensure nutrition needs are met and they’re successfully weaned.
What normal looks like (for the dam)
eIt can help to understand what appropriate looks like, because you’re not a dog breeder! Well, you’re most likely not a dog breeder, so, what we will ideally want to see is as follows;
- Nursing less frequently and for shorter bursts; sometimes standing so she can step away
- Calm communications: a low growl, a lip lift, or just walking off when pups get too bitey (ladder of aggression), and you may see more stress signs at this stage
- Still mothering: grooming, supervising, playing, and checking in often
- Encouraging independence and perhaps nudging pups toward the food bowl
Obviously, the natural propensity to motherhood by any dam is variable from dog to dog, and some dogs don’t make good mothers (and note, a good breeder won’t breed those females again). So you may see some of these, or all of these. But the important part is that puppy is still being fed and is hanging out with their siblings.
Golden Retriever puppies from Meirzah Golden Retrievers learning individual feeding time away from mum.
What responsible breeders do
Understanding what your breeder is meant to be doing can also help you to see and understand whether your breeder is doing everything they should be doing from the 4 week mark.
- Start puppy mush/softened kibble around 4 weeks and build to 3–4+ meals/day (these should be in seperate bowls and seperate crates like the puppies above!)
- Keep clean water available once solids begin
- Give the dam comfy rest breaks away from the litter
- Track puppy weights to be sure everyone’s gaining even as milk intake drops
If these appear to be occuring, it’s definitely worth further inspection as to whether your breeder is new to this and perhaps lacking information, or if they are trying to persue a higher grossing puppy as a “product” — the latter (obviously) should be avoided.
Normal weaning vs. true rejection: knowing the difference
“Mom is rejecting them” gets thrown around a lot, sometimes to gloss over poor management (or to save the breeder a few bucks when it comes to feeding a litter of puppies…). Here’s how to tell the difference between healthy boundaries and an actual problem.
Do mother dogs reject their puppies? Yes, sometimes! But it’s a lot less common than we hear about.
Why sending a puppy home before 8 weeks is a bad idea
As a professional dog trainer, I often get questions from people who are struggling after bringing their puppy home — and this is always a question I target “What age did you bring them home?” as I know it can have an impact.
So, this is the crux of it for me… why is it a bad idea to send them home early? Why is this such a problem? Well, because from about 3 to 12 (sometimes up to 16) weeks, puppies are in a critical socialization window. The 4–8 week slice is where mom and littermates teach core life skills. Removing a puppy because “mom is rejecting them” at five or six weeks cuts them off from those lessons right when they need them most.
And yes! It’s something we can overcome (particularly when guided by a trainer) but it will make the first … year? Maybe two extra difficult for you and pup.
What do puppies learn from their litter?
Your puppy is always learning (and will for their entire life, to be honest), but like most mammals, their early learning definitely sets a precedent for everything that goes after, so let’s look at what puppies learn from their littermates.
- Bite inhibition: rough bites end play; puppies learn to soften their mouths as their siblings will bite back harder, yelp, or cease playing. This teaches them how to bite in terms of continuing play (and actually this is something we build upon when teaching our puppy how to play with humans).
- Dog language: This is how we create polite puppies! Play bows, pauses, growls, lip licks, body blocks—what they mean and when to use them. This is something that we humans will never truly be able to teach, and having a good mother who regulates her puppies, a good breeder who will do similar, and littermates who are normal “practice buddies” really helps.
- Frustration tolerance: waiting turns for nursing, toys, and attention is all part of it too. A Puppy who gets no frustration tolerance is a real handful when in a home setting.
- Confidence and recovery: teeny “startle and bounce back” moments with a safe base nearby — i.e. before we take them into a new environment where things are scary-er (excuse the poor English, just making a point!).
- Self‑regulation: play, eat, sleep cycles inside a predictable routine started by mum and breeder in a safe, structured environment sets the building block for you to mess around with it and build your new routine with puppy.
Now, I know I’m the very one that will tell you that your dog doesn’t need other dogs to be happy in their live (and I will stand by that forever!) but this doesn’t just affect their doggy relationships, it affects you. How? I’m so glad you asked!
Risks of early rehoming:
- Poor bite inhibition and painful mouthing that’s harder to fix later
- Rough play, difficulty reading or respecting other dogs’ signals
- More fearfulness or anxiety, especially around that first “fear period”
- Separation distress after sudden isolation from littermates
- Lower resilience to new sounds, surfaces, and environments
Then, there’s also the legal problem.
Many places prohibit selling or transferring puppies under 8 weeks, full stop.
Veterinary bodies and kennel clubs consistently recommend 8+ weeks with the breeder, and toy/slow‑maturing breeds often do best going home at 10–12 weeks. If someone tells you “the mom is rejecting them, so come get your puppy now,” that’s not aligned with best practices—or in many cases, with the law.
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