when is the best time for them to leave their mother?

Question
QUESTION: they are 5 weeks old and still have blue eyes will this change soon?

ANSWER: First of all, I don't know a lot about labrador retrievers, particularly in regard to eye color, as my schnauzers' eye color changes over so quickly that one really never notices that they were ever anything but dark. After a bit of reading, I would guess that maybe you are dealing with chocolate, or even yellow labs? (Although I did see an ad from a backyard breeder who claimed his litter of blacks had blue and green eyes... but they certainly looked brown to me in the photos where I could see the eyes!)

One site said that chocolates with green eyes can take 8-12 months to darken... assuming they do darken, as some might still remain green. My best guess would be that your puppies' eyes will change, but that they will be a bit lighter in color, as most eye color changes between 4-5 weeks. I just recently heard of a couple of schnauzer puppies whose eyes opened *much* later than normal; I would assume that their eye color took longer to darken also.

Most everything is genetic, and it is theoritically possible that you have picked up a gene for later darkening eyes.

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QUESTION: Mother has very little contact with her puppies. She seems to be drying up. We are feeding them soft mushy and also hard puppy chow. They are eating very well and will soon have their puppy shots. When is the best time for them to leave Mom? Our vet said that they should be ready  after their first shots. They will then be 6 weeks old.

Answer
Puppies need to learn to "talk dog" and to learn to inhibit their bite, and they do this through interaction with their dam and littermates between five and seven weeks of age. They can be turned loose by eight weeks of age. Mom may no longer be wanting to nurse them, but she should still be playing with and correcting them, etc.

I never give the first shot before 8-9 weeks of age because the immunity that the puppies got from the dam's colostrum interfers with anything given sooner, in my opinion. Give your first inoculation at eight weeks and then place them.