The First Eight Weeks

What it teaches

Children are often the reason a family gets a puppy, and they are rarely shown what a good start in life looks like before anyone pays for one. This shows them the four weeks before a puppy leaves home: milk, then food from a bowl; wees on the paper; a lot of sleep; noises, visitors and a health check. Each of those is something a family can ask a breeder about.

Eight weeks, and not a day before

In England a licensed breeder cannot sell a puppy, or permanently separate it from its mother, before it is eight weeks old, and may only show a puppy to a buyer together with its biological mother (the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, Schedule 6). Scotland's 2021 regulations say the same. In Wales a licensed breeder must keep a puppy until it is at least 56 days old. The Royal Kennel Club says week eight is when most breeders send puppies to their new homes, and PDSA says a puppy will often come home at around eight weeks.

So a puppy offered younger than that, or shown without its mother, or handed over in a car park, is a reason to walk away however much the family has fallen for it. The Royal Kennel Club's advice to breeders is to have buyers collect from the breeder's home, because a handover at a halfway meeting point is "commonly associated with puppy farmers".

Why the game does not wait until ten weeks

We looked, because it is often said that later is better. No Kennel Club, PDSA, Dogs Trust or RSPCA page we read recommends nine or ten weeks, and none gives a later age for small or flat-faced breeds. The evidence is mixed. A 2017 questionnaire study of 3,689 adult dogs raised in Finnish breeders' homes (Jokinen and colleagues) found more avoidance and aggression in dogs homed at nine to twelve weeks than in those homed at eight. A 2025 study of 107 dogs from shelters, breeders and private homes (Cocco and colleagues) found more fear and anxiety in dogs adopted at two months or younger than in those adopted later. Both are associations, in different populations. The game follows the law and the UK guidance.

What happens in the litter, and who says so

• Milk, then porridge. Weaning starts at about three weeks and lasts until about seven or eight, with puppy food soaked to "a porridge like texture". Puppies copy their mother. Royal Kennel Club. Puppies not yet fully weaned, at around seven weeks, should still be suckling. PDSA.
• Keeping warm. When the mother moves away, puppies "group together to make up for the loss of heat that her fur provides". Royal Kennel Club.
• Wees. Puppies cannot go to the toilet by themselves until about three to four weeks; before that their mother helps. Royal Kennel Club. They start to prefer the surface they toilet on, and the more they use it, the stronger the preference. The Puppy Contract. Puppies normally wee within fifteen minutes of eating, Royal Kennel Club, and the signs include sniffing the ground and turning in a circle. Dogs Trust.
• Sleep. Puppies aged four to twelve weeks need fifteen to twenty hours a day. Royal Kennel Club.
• Mouthing. Mouthing and biting are normal and most puppies grow out of them; redirect the mouth onto a toy. Dogs Trust.
• Noises. Buyers can ask to see how a puppy reacts to household noises such as the washing machine or vacuum cleaner; it should stay calm. The Puppy Contract.
• Visitors. They should take their shoes off and wash their hands before touching puppies, because they can carry germs in. Royal Kennel Club. Visit at least twice, PDSA; never buy on the first visit, and bring the children on the second. The Puppy Contract.
• The health check. Many puppies see a vet while still with the breeder, for a health check, a first vaccination and a microchip. PDSA. In England a dog older than eight weeks must be microchipped, and while a puppy is still with its mother that is the job of the mother's owner. The Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023.
• Going home. Puppies are inclined to wee when nervous or excited, so allow comfort breaks, Royal Kennel Club, and take a blanket from the puppy's first home. RSPCA.

Three things we looked for and could not source

You will read these often. We could not find a charity, Kennel Club or study source for any of them, so the game does not say them: that littermates teach a puppy to bite gently; that puppies instinctively leave their bed to wee; and that a flat-faced puppy needs different warmth in the litter.

The breed

One fact for the adults. French Bulldog litters are hard to deliver. In a study of 18,758 entire female dogs seen at UK first-opinion vets, French Bulldogs had the highest odds of a difficult birth of any breed, 15.9 times those of crossbreeds (O'Neill and colleagues, 2017). In a 2004 breed-club survey, more than 80% of French Bulldog litters were born by caesarean section (Evans and Adams, 2010; self-reported). None of that is in the game.

For parents and teachers

• Nothing can go wrong for the dog. There is no lose state, no timer and no score. A wrong place gets a hint, and the right place lights up after two tries.
• It is short. Fourteen small jobs across five weeks of the puppy's life, each ending with one or two plain sentences about why.
• The visitors talk. The family who come to see the litter say the things real buyers should say: can we see them with their mum, we came back to see him again, gently, let him come to you first.
• Questions to ask afterwards. Why does Barney stay with his mum until he is eight weeks old? Why do the visitors wash their hands? Why should a family visit more than once before choosing a puppy?
• Every fact is sourced. The sources are named above, and the verbatim quotes with their links are on our sources page.

How to play

• On a computer: click the picture, then hold the arrow keys (or W, A, S and D) to walk Barney about.
• On a phone or tablet: tap where he should go, or use the arrow pad under the picture.
• Walk for me turns the places into buttons, for anyone who would rather not steer.
• The question under the picture says what Barney needs. Walk him to the place that helps.
• After each step a short countdown moves on by itself. Press Next to go straight away, or Wait to stay and read.
• Sound on turns the noises on and off. The hoover, the yips and the rest are made by the browser, not played from files.
• Progress saves in your own browser. Close the tab and come back later on the same device.
• If your device asks for reduced motion, the bobbing, the walk and the hearts are switched off.