[MyFairLacy]

Originally Posted by Teresa Ford

There are many reasons to sell a puppy before they are 12 weeks old. Here are a few
1. Costs less. The longer a breeder has puppies the more shots, vet visits, worm checks, food, pee pads and so on are required. Even if you do the bare minimum. Longer = more.
2. When puppies are weaned, they have to be fed by a person. The mother stops cleaning up after them and a person has to do it. They poop and pee a lot.
3. The puppies want to run around, they won't stay in a box or cage without crying, and if they are out they get into things, someone has to watch them. And they poop and pee a lot.
4. The older the puppies get, the more the buyer can tell what they will look like as an adult ! The older they get the more a buyer can tell about behavior traits. The older the puppy gets, the bigger they get. And that supposedly tiny tea cup is already charting 11 pounds at 12 weeks ! And again they poop and pee a lot.

This is exactly what happens between 7 and 12 weeks of age. I have 2 girls that will be 12 weeks tomorrow. I can not even fathom a breeder letting a 6-week old puppy go. My girls were still nursing almost exclusively at 6 weeks old (they ate a little food but not much), and they were still getting around very slowly. They are still so helpless at 6 weeks. By 8 weeks, there was a huge difference. They were still nursing, but they were eating food regularly and now running around. At 8 weeks they were definitely starting to pee and poop a lot, crying to get out to play, and of course were ready for their first vaccination. I still couldn't imagine them leaving at 8 weeks. They have changed and learned so much in the past 4 weeks. When running the house, they sometimes do run to the pad to pee and poop so they are starting to potty train. They have stopped biting me hard when playing (learning bite inhibition), they have learned to stay out from under my feet and get out of the way, and they are now eating food exclusively and eating really well. Definitely has meant MUCH MORE work on my part, but oh so worth it. Of course, I'm still watching them for show anyway so they aren't going anywhere even at 12 weeks, but I would never let one go before 12 weeks. They just develop so much between 6 and 12 weeks.