Dog breeding is increasingly becoming more complex as people’s overall perception on it changes, but for the dog breeders and potential owners who would like to purchase a newly bred pup and still ensure all the dogs are as safe and healthy as they can be during the process, finding the right answers on many topics can be a lot more difficult than it should.
With uninformed and careless people on the internet spreading misinformation, and sleazy breeders and puppy mills happy to take advantage of it, many dog breeding taboos become disregarded, and the ones who get hurt by it the most are the dogs.
This article is made for the purpose of answering one of the said questions that often gets twisted by the aforementioned breeders and owners, along with explaining why it is the case and offering additional advise on the aiding of the breeding and separation process.
Table of Contents
Breeding Siberian Huskies
As most of the following will be applicable to all dog, this section will briefly go into a few details about breeding Siberian Huskies in particular.
They are an active breed, being a working dog; they are also easier to breed than many other dogs, as they are generally more healthy and their anatomy makes whelping easy. The average litter size is 4 to 8, and hip dysplasia is rather uncommon for the breed.
There are a few medical problems that should be watched for, with some notable ones being: idiopathic epilepsy, various eye problems such as juvenile cataracts and uveodermatologic syndrome which can technically effect other areas of the body in extremely rare cases, and gangliosidosis which is a recessive gene for Siberian Huskies that is both fatal and incurable. Most of these can be tested for at a vet.
The Earliest a Puppy Should Leave their Parent
Obviously all dogs are unique, and therefor some puppies might be ready to part with their mother sooner than others. That being said the absolute earliest that a puppy should be separated from their mother is 8 weeks.
While dogs start learning social skills in as quick as three weeks, it isn’t until six weeks that they truly start developing into the dog they will grow up to be. During this time, being around their family is imperative for the young dogs, as being taken from this environment before they can fully learn from it can lead to behavioral issues.
Many different animals depend on their family to teach them the established social order of their world, and this includes humans.
Around this time in a dog’s life, they no longer need to rely on their mother for food, although seeing as that’s all they’ve know for their entire life, the habit is one that could be hard to kick especially when there is seemingly no reason to.
This is when the mother will show some tough love, both to the benefit of herself and her litter, teaching them not only the concept of right in wrong, but also that there are situations where you have to listen to someone who is above you.
The puppies also start to learn who they are and how they should interact around others.
The Consequences
Bereft of a comfortable simulation of the real world, the fully grown dog is supposed to act like one, despite never truly learning what that entails.
Without proper knowledge to solve the many challenges the dog shall face in their new life, they default to the childish strategies they are familiar with.
They are unable to truly understand the body language of other dogs, thus making themselves and those around them more uncomfortable. They are more prone to separation anxiety, and often break things to release pent up frustration.
This stunted growth sets the dog way behind their peers in terms of mental maturity, and they will struggle with these challenges for life.
The Latest a Puppy should Leave their Parent
This is a slightly trickier question, as it does depend on a couple of factors.
Ideally it’d actually be better to get a puppy later, closer to 12 weeks, for additional bonding and socialization time with their family, but around the 12-14 week range is when a puppy should start going through the transition phase and get outdoor socializing with the world around them.
This is also the time that you should begin basic obedience training, such as housebreaking. By waiting until the later end of this range, a lot of the early transition work falls to the breeder.
Interestingly enough, waiting this long doesn’t appear to have many other downsides, as it appears that a later separation between a pup and their mother doesn’t have any additional problems with bonding for the new owner, save for lost time.
What to do now
With the proper age range now identified, finding the time to adopt a dog hopefully became quite a bit easier. The things to look out for now are what places and breeders are truly caring for the animals they breed.
Obviously if they are willing to sell puppies before 8 weeks it’s a clear sign that they probably don’t care, or are at least uneducated and sadly harming the animals they care for as a result. It is also important to ensure that a visit can be setup to see how the animals live before any agreements are made. Dogs are extremely overpopulated, and a lot of this is due to malpractice of breeders and owners who either don’t know, or don’t care that they are harming living creatures.
Of course, if breeding isn’t a necessity, adoption through a rescue center is a completely acceptable method of getting a pet, but seeing as Siberian Huskies are a working dog, it’d be understandable that breeding would be the preferred method.
This makes it all the more important to have safe and smart decision making when searching for the right dog.
These animals deserve the best, and allowing them to be misused for the profit of self-interested breeders and puppy mills is a disservice to the honest breeders and dog lovers, along with every single canine that suffers as a result.
