Newborn puppy been sold to friend

[Foxgloves123]

Aibu to ask her why she has just bought a puppy this young?! This is a friend on Facebook (a person I used to know well but now we just keep in touch occasionally). The puppy looks like it’s still blind and it’s absolutely tiny. Being held in pics by her toddler.

I believe it’s the law to not allow a puppy home until 8 weeks? Or at the very least 6 weeks if weaned from the mum. I don’t know the circumstances of why they have this puppy so young (I.e it is possible the mother dog may have died for all I know) but it seems they have obtained this puppy by a very irresponsible breeder?

I don’t want to be nosey but as a dog owner I did my research and would never have bought a puppy from a breeder who let it go so small

You say bought. Are you sure she hasn't been to see, and paid for, the puppy, but hasn't yet taken it home?

No the photos are in her house

Keep out of it. The mother could have rejected the pup. The mother could be ill or dead. It is nothing to do with you.

She’s your friend so surely you can ask her how old her new puppy is and what the circumstances were?

But do it without judgement or anger until you know the full story or you could end up both looking foolish and hurting your friendship.

You could ask out of interest
but not because you are demanding to know her decision making process whilst you judge her. - it does sound like you lean towards the latter though so be careful, she won’t appreciate it

I obviously agree she shouldn’t have this puppy, but she does, so other than reporting - which is ridiculous when you say yourself you have no idea about the full story - you can’t do anything

Animal welfare is all our business !!
of course you are right to think somethings not right here !!

ring RSPCA let them check out what’s happened here

if it’s all legit - no problem
if somethings fishy - well done for doing the right thing and not thinking ‘none of my business !’

Yes these are all possibilities. I guess my question might be taken badly. If however my friend doesn’t realise the law on it and has made a big mistake buying a pup from a potential puppy farm or something, then she may end up with more than she bargained for… I.e a poorly dog who costs thousands in vet fees etc

Yes, if my friends reported me to rspca, without even speaking to me first, and then rspca found I’d done nothing wrong
I would definitely think well no problem! That wasn’t stressful and it was a totally legitimate response from my friend! I’m glad they got involved. 😂😂😂

I would say something like "gosh, he's tiny" and go from there depending on the reply.

Just to add I wouldn’t dream of being judgemental I’m just concerned about irresponsible breeding. Genuinely. It saddens me. But like many of you say I don’t know the ins and outs. I’d never approach the conversation rudely and I’m not judging her. She’s never had a dog before so it’s likely she doesn’t realise the law on it.

It seems OP is hesitating to check this out due to fears of upsetting the friend …

as animal welfare should be more important than saving a friendship if OP can’t woman up and ask the questions then RSPCA should do it for her !

See if you can find out the full facts first and if you are still concerned call the RSPCA.

Absolutely this!!!

You need to ask how she has obtained the puppy. I would absolutely report the breeder if necessary. If your friend is so clueless, does she know how to look after such a young puppy?

If she hasn't even had a dog before she's not the right person to hand rear a puppy, you need to ask or report her to the RSPCA, as a previous poster has said, if she has it for a legitimate reason she can just explain herself

That poor poor puppy and poor mummy dog out there missing him. It's not only the milk that puppies need from their mums - they learn all sorts of skills from being in the litter at least 6 weeks. You need really acute experience to hand rear a puppy (in the event that the mother has died for example or cannot be located, like when pups are found abandoned).

Bit harsh. Woman up?! Animal welfare is very important but I don’t want to piss someone I know off for no reason. So I have exercised some restraint over my concerns and messaged her diplomatically asking a few questions first before I left inform her of the law on the matter (if necessary). I safeguarding kids for a living so realise the importance of responsibility but even there we exercise diplomacy to get better results. We work WITH people not against them to resolve the matter.

She will need special pup formula for the pup. Pups van do well hand reared if the dam rejected it or died but it will need feeding every 3-4 hours like a small baby, all through the night. I hope she knows this.

It is illegal to sell a puppy under the age of 8 weeks, except in a very few cases (force majeure, usually relating to maternal illness/death)

Even when a tragedy such as that has happened, newborn pups are best kept together, with littermates. It is much harder to socialise a pup who has no early experience as part of a litter - it really does have a lasting effect. Also, specialist milk round the clock. So if you're going to be up feeding one pup, you may as well be feeding many.

I'd report this tbh. If she's letting her toddler handle a fragile newborn, goodness only knows what else she doesn't understand about needs of puppies, let alone those which are hugely vulnerable because of no maternal input.

Sadly puppies in these circs usually die, so even intervention might not save this one. But there's always a chance

No one on mumsnet could possibly know why this 'friend' on Facebook has a young puppy. Just ask her? Why on earth would she be angry or offended? Just say something like wow that puppy looks tiny, how old is it, and go from there surely? Then you can come back after with facts for advice....

This. Dependant on age might need tube feeding. Regardless of what happened the dam, a good breeder would still keep the puppies and hand rear themselves until at least 8 weeks.

And by the way, a good breeder might prefer to wait until 12 weeks.

Ok - but it sounds like you are dithering !!!

if the pup HAS been removed from the mum and is in the care of someone clueless just get on with it ! The pup will be dead by the end of the week
if it has bees removed from the mum
And not cared for expertly

if you are familiar with safeguarding you would not dither in a case of immediate risk of harm -
same applies to animal welfare

You seem to know exactly what you are doing OP and don't need any advice. Why start a thread, then?

Personally I’d drop her a message. Now I don’t know you’re friend and I has autism so I’m not always very eloquent but I’d say something like “what a beautiful puppy but it’s so young, is the mother ok?” I don’t how your friend would react to that but I’d want to know that everything was ok and above board

If this puppy even survives, it may end up with all sorts of problems from being separated from its mother so early. I personally find it horrible to think this puppy is being handled by a toddler who will not know how to treat it properly. I hope your friend has obtained this pup by legitimate reasons and has the equipment and advice to help her raise it properly.