How could someone let someone take a 3 week old puppy home? The mother of the puppy is alive. Wish we were there to see it and could have turn them in. Someone had told us about it, but the person didn't ask where they got the pup from. We know the law is 8 weeks old. Poor puppy

No reputable breeder would give away a three week old puppy. Where did this someone get the puppy from?

Your Pet deserves the best care available. If your pet is sick, take it to the vet! Be responsible, get your pets spayed or neutered!

Well, I am pretty much a puppy expert, considering that I get lots of them every week doing animal rescue and sometimes they are only a day old and they have survived. There are no laws that state old how a puppy has to be to be given away or sold for that matter. A puppy can learn to eat solid food at 2 weeks, as long as its ground, like canned or else use baby cereal and puppy formula. A puppy can be taught to eat on it's own as soon as it's eyes are open if you are taking good care of it and paying a lot of attention to the little guys. Why are you assuming that just because someone got a puppy at three weeks old, that it's a bad thing. A person who loves animals will take excellent care of a precious tiny pup. What do you think happens when the mama dies? Someone has to care for the puppies and it sure ain't gonna be the doggie daddy!! Maybe you should try rescuing a few of these little puppies yourself and then you might not be so critical of others. Sometimes if a puppy doesn't get adopted early, like at 3 weeks (regardless if it's from a breeder or other) it might not live. I have seen reputable breeders lose their entire litters save the one they took away from the mama at 3 weeks. You really should know more about a situation before passing such harsh judgement.

Actually some places DO dictate that a puppy cannot leave it's mother until a certain age... mostly aroune 8-10 weeks.

But in America, we get away with all sorts of unspeakable things.

I think that you are correct, DogBabi, that puppies CAN and DO survive at very young ages away from "mom", but the idea I think they were trying to put across is that it is BETTER to only let pups go at 8 weeks or OLDER (I prefer older), and anyone letting a pup go any sooner for any reason is *not responsible*. Even if the dam died, I'd want to hold on to the pups and get their first shots in them BEFORE they left the home. They can learn a lot of social skills from being left with mom and the rest of the litter that we as humans can't always provide.

Another reason that I think people try to give away puppies when they are too young, say 3 weeks, is because they are smaller and cuter. I bought a doggie once from a lady who said she was 8 weeks old. My little doggie was supposed to be very tiny when grown. She grew to be about 22-25 lbs and I loved her just the same, but the lady who sold her to me flat out lied about her age and size. I figured her to be maybe 4 weeks old after I got her home and took her to the vet. You can usually tell by the size of their teeth when they are that young also. So many people live in apartments and want/need smaller doggies, so people will tell them anything just to get rid of the puppy.I do agree that it is definitely better to keep the puppy 8 weeks and in a perfect world, the mama doggies would wean them between 6 and 8 weeks, but doing animal rescue as I do, we have seen so many mama dogs take sick and die or even some that kill/eat their own puppies. That behavior is not explainable and I don't know why they will do such a thing, but it does happen, horrible as it sounds. A lot of times the mother dog will die of parvo or distemper and pass it onto the pups. I think giving birth makes them so weak and from having the disease they just give up. Lots of times the pound guys find whole litters of puppies and we take them in and bottle feed them until they can learn to eat. It does take a lot of time and patience and the saddest thing is that some of them only live to be 6 or 8 weeks old because the disease has been passed onto them by the mother and it isn't always detectable thru testing. One day they can be healthy and the next day, just gone. It is heartbreaking and the hardest part of what I do, but I thank God that at least I gave them a good life if only for the 6 or 8 weeks they got to be with us. Now onto a better thought, The most rewarding part of what I do is finding that special person that adopts a doggie and falls head over heels in love with it. That is the best feeling in the world--to see the person who loves the doggie that's getting a new forever home. That is truly a blessing!!

I wasn't passing judgement. I meant that no one who is RESPONSIBLE would give away a three week old puppy. If the mother died I would still hold onto the whole litter so that they could learn their social skills and whatnot, and to be sure that they were going to live a happy life. Maybe YOU shouldn't pass judgement so early. When I said "No reputable breeder would give a three week old puppy away." It was meant to mean that no responsible breeder would do that. If I were in the breeders place (even if it was an "accidental" breeding), I would still hold on to the pup until 8-10 weeks of age. And M2K was right, In some states (like CA and NC, to name a couple) do require that the pup be of 8-10 weeks.

Your Pet deserves the best care available. If your pet is sick, take it to the vet! Be responsible, get your pets spayed or neutered!

I didnt read the origional post, but I must mention also many times IF it was a breeder & one of those kennel ones #1 the pup wouldnt have lived,,,gotten the xtra care food ,& best start. #2 If someone sold it & Didnt GIVE it away YES ,they need to get punishment(if it was for the money Not the physcial health!)#3 if it was a one time, or Not Knowleged breeder Maybe THEY didnt know how to raise it? #4 maybe it was a health reason they may not be able, or pay the vet treatment WOULD it not be better to give the pup to someone whom would take proper care? ,,, ,This is one of those things that without good thought & Full details.... persons may jump to conclusion.

That's exactly right Thugsowner. Too many topics don't give enough details...they just end up manipulating people's reactions....maybe that's the point or maybe the beginning of this conversation was deleted. Who Knows? The original thread should be left in so newcomers like me know what the heck is going on. I do agree with DogBabi that a 3 week old when cared for properly and dutifully will do quite well as I've had the privilege of saving a few pups myself from time to time.