When Can Puppies Sleep Away from Mom?

Almost all animal experts and dog breeders agree that a puppy shouldn’t be separated from his mother until he’s no younger than eight or nine weeks old.

Removing him from his mother, and the pack, any earlier can do long-lasting psychological and physical damage.

The reason is that dogs pick up most of their survival skills, from learning how to fit into exploring the world around them. The best time for mothers to teach their pups all that is during those first few weeks of their life.

In this article, we’ll talk about when puppies can sleep away from their mothers. We’ll also discuss the repercussions of separating them too early.

At What Age Can You Separate Puppies from Mom?

As we mentioned above, the best time to separate puppies from their mothers is when they’re between 8–12 weeks old.

By this time, they’ll have taken the nourishment, care, and support they need from their mother to develop into strong and healthy adults.

Though, there are extenuating circumstances that may cause the pup to become separated from his mother much earlier than that.

In general, it’s believed that the bare minimum age that a puppy can sleep away from Mom is six weeks old.

Yet, it’s important to keep in mind that puppies being without their moms at this young age can have serious detrimental effects on the puppy’s health and overall wellbeing.

It can also result in the puppy growing up insecure and cause them to struggle with behavioral issues later in life.

The reason for this wait is to make sure the mother has sufficiently nourished and cared for her pups.

Those first weeks also give the puppies the chance to understand the world around them and gain various skills to help them survive on their own.

So, it’s safe to say that the longer a puppy stays with his mother, sleeping, and feeding in peace, the better for his development and growth.

The Benefits of Waiting Before Separating Puppy from Mom

Feeding

Before separating a puppy from his mother, you first have to understand why waiting is so vital.

The first reason for keeping pups with their mothers is to provide them with the proper nutrition.

Studies show that a mother’s milk contains the perfect nutritional composition to ensure the proper growth and development of her puppies from their early days onward.

It’s true that technology has helped us artificially reproduce mother’s milk to feed almost all baby mammals. Still, it can never have exactly the same quality and offer the same benefits as the natural source.

Another factor to consider is that newborn puppies nurse once every two hours, even at night.

So, they need to be with their moms to receive the necessary antibodies, enzymes, and hormones from their mother’s milk during those first crucial days and weeks of their lives.

After that, the time between feedings gradually becomes longer.

For example, the weaning process begins by week 4 or 5, and they can go up to five hours without feeding. By week 6, they should be fully weaned.

Finally, when they’re about 8–12 weeks, they eat more during the day. This allows them to sleep through the night without eating or drinking.

Only then can they start sleeping away from Mom, but never before that.

Cleaning

You’ve seen how helpless newborn puppies can be. Even though they spend most of their days sleeping and eating, they can’t do anything without their mother’s help.

This includes bathing.

During the first few weeks of her puppies’ lives, Mom is responsible for cleaning them and maintaining their hygiene. She does this by licking their entire bodies, genitals, anus, and all.

Yet, in addition to maintaining a clean litter, she does this to help stimulate the process of urination, as well as defecation.

Bear in mind that giving birth to only one puppy is quite rare. On average, a litter usually contains 5–8 puppies, depending on the breed.

Socializing

Those initial weeks are Mom’s only chance to teach her puppy everything he needs to make it in the world. This isn’t just restricted to his physical needs but also his emotional and psychological needs as well.

A large part of what goes on between the mother and the puppy is teaching him how to socialize with his littermates. It helps him mature into a mentally and emotionally balanced dog.

Thus, what may look like small, adorable puppies crawling on each other, nipping each other at the neck, is anything but. It’s actually their way of learning how to get along and co-habitat.

Through their interactions, they learn basic communication skills, behavioral limits, and many other vital life lessons.

How to Deal with Separation Anxiety

Just because you’ve waited for 12 weeks to separate Mom from puppy doesn’t mean he’ll be able to adjust without a hitch.

Imagine being surrounded by your family in a safe and secure setting. Then, all at once, you’re taken away from everything you’ve ever known and plopped down somewhere new and unfamiliar.

That’s enough to scare off anyone at any age, let alone a frightened young puppy. So, while painful to watch, it’s normal for your new puppy to cry or moan in distress.

To reduce his discomfort, make sure you give him lots of love and attention in those first few days. Yet, you should expect some howling, whining, and barking until he settles down and starts to feel at home.

Use these tips to make the transition easier and ease your puppy’s separation anxiety:

• Make sure your new pup gets lots of attention, but keep everything calm and mellow.
• Create a daily schedule for feeding, exercise, and potty breaks, and stick with it.
• Put the puppy’s crate somewhere he can feel close to his new family, like your bedroom.
• Try placing a ticking clock near the crate to simulate his mom’s heartbeat.
• Wrap a hot water bottle in a soft towel and put it in the crate to remind him of the warmth of his litterbox.

Paul S.

Paul has been creating content for the dog niche for many years. The information he shares comes his first hand experience growing up in dog lovers household and then owning multiple dog breeds of his own as an adult. Paul enjoys doing the hard research to collect, analyze and present our dogtemperament.com readers with the best answers to their questions.