8 weeks was for us the ideal... but we have large breeds, and we brought two littermates into our family, so they weren't ripped away from all their littermates at that age. Their bite inhibition is outstanding, and because we began socializing almost from day 1, they are amazingly well socialized and have been so easy to train it feels like cheating.
But, we were careful to evaluate (together with our breeder) which pups were the most mature and independent... there was a sweet little boy that I had initially liked but he was the runt of the litter and not nearly as developed and independent as our two boys, so taking him at 8 weeks would have been too early.
For average dogs, it's probably better to wait a bit longer as long as the breeder does an outstanding job of working with them on housetraining and socialization. I'd rather have an 8-week-old puppy than a 12-week-old who's used to peeing and pooping wherever he feels like it and who is traumatized when meeting strangers.
But, we were careful to evaluate (together with our breeder) which pups were the most mature and independent... there was a sweet little boy that I had initially liked but he was the runt of the litter and not nearly as developed and independent as our two boys, so taking him at 8 weeks would have been too early.
For average dogs, it's probably better to wait a bit longer as long as the breeder does an outstanding job of working with them on housetraining and socialization. I'd rather have an 8-week-old puppy than a 12-week-old who's used to peeing and pooping wherever he feels like it and who is traumatized when meeting strangers.
