No puppy should ever leave the breeder until it is crate trained and
accustomed to being in a crate by itself and without the co-dependence of it's
littermates. As soon as my puppys' ears are cropped at 7 weeks of age they
are put two to a crate.
At 8 weeks the puppies are separated into
individual crates with the crates lined up next to each other so that they can
touch noses through the crates.
At 9 weeks the crates are separated around
the dog room whereby they can no longer make contact with their littermates
but can see and hear them.
At 10 weeks I block the puppies' view of
each other.
At 11 week some of the puppies will begin
to go to their new homes. Two to three days before each puppy leaves the nest
I move that particular puppy's crate into a different room in the house where
there is no other dog.
My puppy buyers always call me the day
after they get their puppy home just
amazed that their puppy only cried for 5-10 minutes IF AT ALL and then
slept through the night without making another peep.
I encourage my puppy buyers to continue to
crate their puppy in a room by itself for the first few months so it learns
that it is okay to be by itself and therefore does not develop separation
anxiety by becoming co-dependent on the presence of a human or another
household dog.
This method really pays off later, not only
when the owner is leaving their dog in the house, but when anyone leaves their
dog in a hotel room, crated at ringside, or at the vet's office.
This results in a dog that is comfortable
anywhere and not stressed in any way.