[FlDebra]

I am blown away too -- bringing home a 5 week old baby is such an injustice for that little one! So much bonding, learning, loving time taken away -- why???? I hold my tongue on the 10 weeks, calmly suggest it is too early at 8 weeks but 5 weeks -- that is just NOT RIGHT! Puppies, especially toy breeds like the Yorkie, should be given at least 12 weeks with their mother and siblings. Anything less is not doing right by those pups.

These are the pups that wind up in shelters because they never quite bond with the owner, continue to have behavior problems, are not easily trained and worst of all have a lot more health problems than the average pup.

I lost a mother dog a couple of days after birth of a litter. I still did not let those pups go before 12 weeks. I felt like it was even more important that they had that bonding time with each other and learned from the group dynamic before going off on their own.

Please reconsider! There has been a rash of breeders making an excuse they have a family emergency to tend to and cannot keep puppies for the full 12 weeks. If that is the case, shame on the breeder. But please don't take possession this early. Make the breeder do it right.