At what age can a puppy leave it's mother?

Your neighbor is an idiot. Yes, it's normal for the mother to start weaning the puppies around 5/6 weeks, BUT that doesn't mean they're ready to leave her. Puppies learn extremely important things from their mothers at this age, and often puppies who are taken away from their mothers too early have behavior problems as they grow up (such as aggression, poor social skills, very timid, etc.)

Legally the earliest a puppy should be removed from their mother is 8 weeks. That's right, it's actually illegal in many places to remove puppies too soon without proper cause.

This is the age that the puppies should b weaned, so the momma dog did a good job of that. Puppies do more than just drink milk from mom when they are with her though. They need to be with mom for at least another 3 weeks until they are 8 weeks old. This is so they can learn how to be a dog. They learn things from mom and their siblings. They learn how other dogs act and react and what is acceptable with an alpha dog. This puppy should be returned.

Physically weaned does not mean developmentally ready to go home - just like a child is weaned years before it is ready to go to kindergarten or even preschool. The 6-8 week phase is crucial socialization and the pup needs to be around other puppies and it's dam during that phase to learn canine social cues and behavior. Pups removed before then often turn out fearful or dog-aggressive and are NOT ready to bond with humans or be out on their own.

Your neighbors are lazy BYBs. Puppies need to be with their mothers for 8 weeks, weaned or not like Holly and Chelsea said. They just didn't want to deal with them.

8 weeks minimum. Any earlier and the puppy is missing on out social and behavioral learning from mom. Your neighbor is a BYB and that puppy was WAY too young to have left mom and siblings.

A puppy should be eating on it's own before taking it from mom.The owner should have started feeding this puppy at 3 &1/2 Wks. old.They usually are eating well on it's own by 8 wks. old.

Whether puppies are orphaned or with their mothers, weaning can generally begin between three and four weeks of age, and is ideally completed by about seven to eight weeks of age.

Should be 8 weeks. I think your pup will be ok

1 second old