My friends dog is not Barking??

I would like to know why you think that taking a young pup affects it socializing skills. Five weeks is young but most mothers want nothing to do with the pups after four weeks. Vets say you can vaccinate at five weeks if someone should want that young of a pup. As far as social skills, that depends on what you want your dog for. Most people that want a family dog would rather the social skills came from people and not other dogs.

I guess I'm not like most people then, and honestly I have never ever heard of anyone thinking it that way. I would hate to have a dog that has had all its social skills coming from people. People cannot teach a dog to be a dog. Such a dog without extensive socialization with other dogs to play with before the socialization window at 4 months closes won't know how to behave around other dogs, and it's a dog that at least I would never dare to leave around other dogs without constant supervision. Just because the mother won't want much to do with them after 4-5 weeks doesn't mean they are ready to face the big world alone. A puppy that has had no interactions with his siblings and mother between 5-8 weeks of age is a puppy that will very likely grow up to be fearful/fear aggressive, shy and with very little understanding of the dog language and how to act around other dogs, as well as have zero understanding of bite inhibition. Those few weeks are a crucial stage of puppy development. Many good dog breeders insist on keeping the puppies until they are 10-12 weeks, simply because puppies need to get the chance to learn dog behaviour.

Here's a site that might explain it better than I am able to. http://www.petcaretips.net/stages-puppy-development.html Scroll down to Stage 3: The Overlap Stage 4-7 Weeks if you don't feel like reading the whole article.