As Breeders of Chocolate and Black Labrador Retrievers people ask us why a puppy cannot be released before 8 weeks of age. The answer is simple. A very young pup needs to learn ‘pack order’ and be socialised among its litter mates from week 5 to week 8.

We begin feeding solid food to a litter from week 3. And from week 5, a bitch will begin to remove herself from her litter so that the pups will wean. The pups are living with litter mate and they are learning ‘pack dynamics’. As part of pack order, a pup learns to ‘play fight’. Bite play is a legitimate behaviour. A puppy learns how to adjust its bite by playing with the other puppies in the litter. This is a critically important period in the puppy’s development. If a puppy does not learn to ‘play fight’ it will not learn how to be a dog. The pup will not learn how to read the body language of other dogs, nor will it be able to demonstrate appropriate body language in return. If a dog doesn’t know how to socialise with other pups it will have conflict (dog to dog aggression), anxiety or timidity depending upon its personality and temperament.

Obviously, this will be a problem which will need care and understanding later.