Hi there and welcome to YT. The reason why it is reccomended to wait and get a puppy no sooner then 12 weeks is because of blood sugar problems. when a puppy is separated from its litter mates, and mother then placed in a new home it is stressed out. Even the car ride is a lot of pressure. When a tiny puppy is stressed it will not eat. Not eating causes Hypoglcemia . This can be fatal if not treated. Serval YT'ers have been through it, and it is scary.
Nutra -cal , or Karyo Syurp will bring back up the sugar levels. However, it is not a perm. fix.
Anther problem is when a puppy is too young to leave , he/she will have social problems. Puppies learn from their litter mates how to play, and yelp if they are bit to hard. A puppy that is taken away before 12 weeks has not learned how to play nice. They can be more agressive and bite .
If the breeder agrees to wait, then it is best to do so. :aimeeyork

As many others have mentioned, 8 weeks is far too young to try to bring one of these little furballs home. I would definately check with the breeder to see if she will hold the pup a little longer--a good breeder will have no problem respecting your wishes and doing what you both feel is in the best interest of the pup.

I would definately recommend keeping the dog on the food it is accustomed to or the first few weeks until he has had time to adjust to his new home. And yes, definately keep the Nutrical on hand.

In the meantime, there is a sticky at the top of this section that gives contact info for some of the manufacturers most commonly recommended (at least on YT). Some of them will send you samples to try or coupons. You will have to do trial and error runs to see what is best for YOUR little one--remember, the best food match for one dog isn't neccessarily the best for the next.

Congrats on the soon-to-be new addition and welcome to YT!

We like Solid Gold. They have a dry puppy food. Sophie eats the Wee Bits now.

i agree with the other ladies here, 8 weeks is a little early to separate the puppies-ANY puppy litters ! lol..

i heard on animal planet (go ahead and laugh) that week 8-9 is when the puppies are learning the most in how to act as a pack-and to be appropriate with eachother and learn how to treat and react with other dogs.. .its a huge learning curve for them! They are learning behaviors from eachother..

Alot of dogs who are separated early end up having behavior issues and cannot socialize with other dogs well during their lives.. i truly believe this! my mom and dad bought a chihuahua from petsmart (i know.. .bad bad bad) and it was the meanest, most insecure and aggressive dog-it was way too young when they got it.. and has problems to this day. If my mom is holding that dog, it will bite anyone who comes near my mom..

it doesnt help that my parents dont know how to disipline and NOT encourage that bad behaviours lol.. they know nothing about dog psychology.

See if the breeder will keep it for at least 2 more weeks-it really needs to be with the other puppies--i know she is ready to get rid of them, but for all of them it will be better in the long run if they are socialized as dogs first.

thx for all the advice everyone. i will post pics once i get him :)