Episode 43 - Puppy Camp for Litters

3/17/2026

We got this question about breeders sending their puppies to “camp” before going to their new homes:

"[a friend] has a litter of puppies 8 weeks old and she is placing them out to her friends until they are 10 weeks old. They decided it would be good for socialization and to prevent separation anxiety for the puppies until they go to their permanent homes at 10 weeks. That doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. Anyone have experience with this?"

This episode discusses:

When and how sending litters to “transitional” homes is beneficial
“Bite inhibition” and exposure with littermates vs adult dogs
Breeder experiences and practices

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To read the transcript for this episode, click the link below.

Transcript - Episode 43

I'm Jane Messineo Lindquist., and this is a Puppy Culture Potluck podcast. You bring the topics, we bring the conversation.

This episode is about splitting up litters before they go to their puppy homes. And here's the question: I had an interesting convo with a friend. Her friend has a litter of eight week old puppies, and she's placing them out to her friends until they're ten weeks old. They decided it would be good for socialization and to prevent separation anxiety for the puppies until they go to their permanent homes at ten weeks.

That doesn't sound like a good idea to me. Anyone have experience with this?

And then we had a follow up question - Why didn't she think it was a good idea? And she said: the breeder wants to pick her puppy at ten weeks, but doesn't want the puppies together that long because her breed is too, quote unquote sharp. My thinking is that it's better to send them to their new homes, in that case. The breed is Finnish Lapphunds.

I want to say, before I jump in, that this practice is a lot more prevalent than I knew. I have done it on occasions with my own litters, but it's really a thing, and I just didn't realize how many breeders do this routinely. So my answer specifically to her is that yes, I have farmed out some puppies, especially when I've had a big litter and it has worked out great for me.

The first time I did this was a litter of nine, and there was one puppy in that litter that just was developmentally way ahead of the other puppies. She had her legs under her faster and she was running roughshod over the less facile puppies. They were like bobble heads, and she was like a fleet footed pony. When my mentor evaluated the puppies, she said, you have to get this puppy out of your house as quickly as possible.

So I sent her to live with, now, that was when she was seven weeks old, I sent her to live with friends who had Newfoundland's and German Shepherds, which gave this young lady a very different perspective on life. And I'm happy to report that she grew up to be a lovely dog and was just a gentle and kind big sister to the miniature Dachshund that she lived with. So we took a puppy that was on the road to being maybe a little bit of a bully, and turned her into just a lamb chop that lived a long and happy life with a tiny breed. So I'm going to say for sure, strategically, sometimes it's better to get puppies out of your house in that 7 to 10 week old range before they go to their ultimate homes. And we'll talk more about why having this intermediary home is sometimes better than going to their ultimate pet home. A little bit later in the episode.

I have also done camps for my puppies, like when I go to my national specialty and I have a litter. I will break up the puppies and send them to people for camp while I'm away. Always has worked out great for me.

In direct answer to her question about whether it's a good idea or not. I don't think you can answer this in a vacuum. Who are the friends that are going to be raising these puppies? And what dogs do they have? If they're experienced and competent dog people with fabulous adults that are going to help raise these puppies, that's one thing.

If they're novice dog owners with reactive dog, that's another. Are they going to do the Puppy Culture protocols, active enrichment, training, socialization, or are they just going to warehouse the puppies? Are the breeders themselves elderly and not very mobile? And are those breeders placing the puppies in active family households with young children who might do more than the breeder would?

Or are the young and active breeders who are putting the puppies with a shut-in elderly couple? So again, I don't think you can say whether this is a good or a bad idea without more specific context. So the querent also had a question about the puppies learning bite inhibition from each other because apparently in this situation, the puppies are going to be sent out in singles.

They're not going out in groups. They're going to be going in singles. And she wants to know how is it possible that they're going to learn adequate bite inhibition if there are no other puppies around? This could be its own podcast, but let's just say that bite inhibition is one of those words that just kind of gets bandied around and I think is an umbrella term that covers a lot of different things.

So let's just break this down a little bit. My answer is yes. The puppies have to go through this sort of theory of mind process, where they realize that the other puppies are living things with feelings, and they normally do learn that from play with littermates. But that's normally happened by the time they're eight weeks old. So bite inhibition in the sense of just not grabbing a puppy and dragging it around, or biting so hard that the other puppy cries.

I mean, if they haven't learned that by eight weeks old, you know you're on a different level with that puppy. Okay? It's going to require a little more intervention by eight weeks old, they should really have a theory of mind not to be railing on the other puppies, but there's a whole sort of social negotiation thing that also falls under this umbrella of bite inhibition.

And that is not something that is necessarily taught by play with other litter mates, and often is best taught by adults and not other puppies. So in this case, at eight weeks old, which is the age that a lot of people still do place their puppies, I would not say that littermates are necessarily at all going to be the best way to learn that aspect of what we call bite inhibition.

This is a rabbit hole that I could go way down, but I'm going to stop here and say, if you have not read the Weaning Pen Riot's article that is in Madcap University, go to Madcap University/ Free resources/articles/Weaning pen riots, written by Suzanne Shelton. She just did an outstanding job of explaining why some puppies just need to sit at the grown up table for a while.

So, circling back to the original question. I think we just have to take a couple things at face value here. First of all, that the breeder is at least historically right about this breed of puppy, that they're going to become combative between 8 and 9 weeks old, because that's not unusual. There are breeds that are like that. And the breeders are not going to make her pick until ten weeks old, which is not out of the ordinary.

For sure, under those circumstances, it is better to place those puppies temporarily with pro-level homes that have good adult dogs that are puppy friendly and ready to help raise those puppies and be good nannies and nanos, than it would be to place those puppies with novice puppy owners who either don't have a dog or have a reactive dog, or have a dog that just isn't puppy savvy and maybe not thrilled, at least at first, about a new puppy in the house.

Okay, so let's say you're in this situation and you're listening to me and you're saying, Jane, I'm sorry. I'm just not convinced. I'm not comfortable with this. I don't want to put my puppies out into transitional homes. I want to keep them for the full ten weeks. In the words of the original poster, she wants to establish a chain of custody with these puppies.

Win, lose or draw. She wants to be fully responsible for them. Since we're taking it at face value that the breeder is right, that these puppies could potentially become combative 8 to 9 weeks old. They're going to be too sharp with each other. What is a breeder to do? Well, here's a few thoughts.

Number one, one would hope by eight weeks old that the breeder would have at least made a cut. That there's a short list that you're not going to have more than, let's say, five puppies out of the eight puppies that at least three of them, if eight weeks is the time that you're placing these puppies, that they can be on their merry way to their pet homes.

Also, although we're going to take it as truth that historically the breeders right about these puppies becoming combative if the breeder is not one to do Puppy Culture or Puppy Culture type protocols, enrichment and socializing, chances are that you're going to be able to squeeze out a little more good behavior time from these puppies because they're going to be enriched, they're going to be busy. You're going to be doing better management of the weaning pen with our protocols. So ultimately, maybe they're going to have to be separated, but you're maybe going to be able to shorten the amount of time.

So you might let's say instead of needing absolutely to separate them at nine weeks, hey, maybe nine and a half. So you're going to have a smaller number of puppies for a shorter amount of time that you have to run individually. But hey, you know, that's part of the breeding game, especially when we're in these cooperative sort of arrangements.

So let me read you some of these responses because I was surprised at the amount of conversation it generated and how many people testified that, yeah, we do this and it works great. So here's a comment.

I do agree that sending puppies home before they get pugnacious with the litter mates is a very normal reason people place puppies at eight weeks. That's a perfectly reasonable strategy, but I think fostering the puppies out is also very reasonable. I've done this with older puppies even as short as one sleepover, and it's super helpful socialization.

And here's one that says, nice memories. Thank you. Many years ago, I bought that puppy. I met them at five weeks, and he was totally walking all over his siblings. Talked to a couple of knowledgeable friends, one a breeder of a similar breed, and they agreed it would be better to get him early. But I was behaviorally knowledgeable and had excellent adult dogs to help. Got him at seven weeks. Had him until cancer took him at 11. He's been gone a while now, but I still miss him every day. So after my little tangent, I agree that we don't have enough information to judge. She's referring specifically to this case that, you know, we need to know who these homes are that the puppies are going to before we decide if it's ultimately a good idea.

Here's another one. I've done it, and it's a great way to generalize adaptability and maximize different experiences, especially if you're using people who know how to build puppy foundations. I keep my puppies to 15 weeks and do this every single one of my puppies road to their new homes, quiet in the crate. No potty accidents, no crying overnight. All the families were very impressed with how great they were.

Here's another one. This is something I recommend to my puppy owners as well. Have a trusted someone, family, friend or trainer. Watch their dog for a week or two during adolescence. In my experience, a change of pace as long as it's a well structured change, does them a world of good. My breed is German Shorthaired Pointers. They can be overly attached and have a knack for convincing their owners to be overly attached to.

Another one. I do that. I plan staycations for the puppies and rotate them. By the time they really are going home. It's a breeze for them to adapt.

Another comment, it's called going to camp in my breed.

Here's another one. We have found great success with farming out pups, young dogs. It's not a regular practice we do, but we've done it and find it builds confidence.

Another one, my mentor and Malinois always did this quote going to sleepaway camp, unquote. The puppies go for a few nights with trusted friends and trainers to live life with them and interact with their stable adult dogs. They rotate it around between trainers homes and ended up incredibly bold, adaptable and resilient.

Another, one local service dog program I volunteer with places Puppies in pairs from 8 to 12 weeks and then as singles from 12 weeks on. This seems to work well. The pups stress on getting to their final foster at 12 weeks is low. Their success of becoming service dogs is above 60%. Just using Puppy Culture helped this too volunteer breeding homes do not have the capacity to manage the needs of 6 to 12, eight week old puppies. That last week can be quite a challenge. Pups are sent to experienced fosters for those four weeks who reinforce the crate training. Puppies are all raised with Puppy Culture, and they get two enrichment visits per week.

Another one. I sort of do this. I take the puppies at eight weeks and do the first two weeks before they go to their family. The transition from the litter to a single dog sleeping in a crate is a lot for a puppy, and owners will often infantilized their puppy and start sleeping by the crate or not using it at all. And don't give the puppy any time apart from them. If it fusses. I say quote, we don't let the cuteness affect us, unquote. And we raise the puppy as we would if it was our own pet dog.

Here's another one. This is something I do for a breeder friend of mine. This is something we offer for new families who want. It works especially well for a puppy that's going to a first time dog owner benefits them that the puppy is more squared away before they get it, which of course benefits the puppy too.

There was a lot more people mention in favor, so let's talk to some of the detractors now. Here's one.

I understand the extra two weeks is an important learning time. The puppies learn so much from mom. On the flip side, hopefully mom is a good mom.

So I think what she's saying is that the 8 to 10 weeks is, in her estimation, important for the mother to be with the puppies so that they can learn from the mother. And my response was that there are always exceptions to the rule, but the majority of medium to large breed dams are done with puppies by 5 to 6 weeks old, and the other dogs in the household are raising the puppies at that point anyway.

Another naysayer. It's the hardest part of having puppies is the taking care of them, like cleaning up after them and listening to the crying barking for the last 7 to 10 weeks. Of course you would want to do this. What happens if they get parvo or coccidia from a neighbor's dog or an accident happens? I don't know. I see how it sounds good, easy for the breeder, but it could be a total disaster too.

Well, I mean, you know, point taken. Like the original poster was saying, you're breaking the chain of custody. So, you know, you are losing some control over what happens with your puppy. But that again, just goes more to selecting the right homes, picking good people.

There's no reason to think that any of my breeder or trainer friends who would be suitable to do this would be any more likely to expose the puppies to parvo or disease, than at my house, I also just want to say listening to the barking, crying for the 7 to 10 weeks. I mean, you know, if you're doing Puppy Culture, that's not what you're listening to.

It's not really a consideration. It's more a question of getting everything done in the 7 to 10 weeks. The puppies themselves are a breeze. And if you're doing litter training, the cleanup should be nothing by the time they're ten weeks old. So, thanks to the original poster for writing in, I really enjoyed the conversation that her question generated.

By the way, if you are not part of our discussion group already, please do join us at the Puppy Culture Discussion Group on Facebook.

If you like this podcast, you'll love the Puppy Culture film available at puppyculture.com. Breeders. Have you stocked up on your Puppy Culture exercise booklets? Nice bulk discounts for orders of four or more copies available at puppyculture.com.

Well, that's it for this time. Thanks for listening. Bye bye.