[concretegurl]

Originally Posted by FlDebra

You can always find breeders who take puppies away from their mothers at 8 weeks of age. Usually these are the same breeders who think pre-mating testing is not necessary, don't ever have their dogs certified for problems of joints, eyes,heart, and liver, never bile acid test, who don't get their dam pre-natal check up with the vet, don't get xrays of the pups, who leave the pups to whelp on their own, who have NO CLUE about genetically matching a dam and sire, who don't care if they are breeding dogs with deviations from standards (things like poor toplines, poor bites, rounded ears, curly hair, etc) who will basically breed any two dogs that can make them some money.

For the breeders who put money first, it is important to get those puppies out of the house and money in the hand as quickly as they can. That way if anything goes wrong, it is on the new owners time.

I think we as a society have evolved a great deal in how we treat animals over the last century. Some throwbacks are still being practiced though. Modern EXPERT advice is to wait until a Yorkie pup is 12 weeks before taking it from the mother. Sure it was done earlier than that in the past and many survived and some even well-adjusted. But the majority of new puppy problems also come from those early placements. I wish all breeders would come into the 21st century and understand we now do what is best for the pup not what is easiest on the wallet! Keep them until at least 12 weeks and 16 weeks so you can BAT test would be even better!

So well said. I wanted to add...despite what some people say in defense of "being a good breeder" and not doing in the least the things listed in the first paragraph here...
Actions speak louder than words...and proof on paper of those actions.