The socialization period for the puppy starts at about three weeks of age and new behaviors are influenced by its interaction with its litter-mates and mother. Puppy that are handled by humans on a regular basis during their first eight weeks are usually more accepting of training and adapting to living with humans than those that have been not handled regularly. Puppies are fearful of new things between the ages of ten to twelve weeks, and so eight weeks is usually suggested as an ideal time for the pup to be taken to their new home.

Also at about three weeks of age, the puppies start to urinate and defecate on their own, with their mother cleaning up after them to keep the nest clean. Prior to this time, the mother forced the issue by licking the puppies' bottoms. As the puppies are able to move around more, they will try to get away from the nest to pee and poop, and the mother will follow along behind and clean up.

Who's in charge?

For your puppy to grow up to be well-adjusted and happy and to fit well into your household, she needs to have a master that she has confidence in and can look up to. Someone has to be the "boss" in the puppy's eyes. One person needs to fill this role; in the beginning, a dog can only have one master. The "boss" needs to be in control of the training and feeding, in the early weeks of the pup's new life with you. Later on, duties can be shared, but someone must establish themselves as a dependable "leader of the pack" from the beginning. I assume that person is you, the reader of this book. Congratulations and good luck!

Remember the pack hierarchy we talked about in the chapter "Understanding Your Dog"? Well, it is time to step up into the role of top dog of the "pack". Your "pack" may be just you and the dog, or it might be you, your family and the dog. While the dog doesn't have to necessarily be the bottom of the pack, she must learn that humans come first. You will earn the respect of your pup and her training will be easier for you. Once you have earned the respect of your dog, the remainder of your relationship will be built on this respect.

Later on, other family members will be able to give him commands and attend to his needs, but only after the hierarchy has been established. A dog with too many would-be masters will believe that he is, in fact, in charge of all of them, and could get confused by receiving commands from more than one "leader."

When can I start training my puppy?

The answer is - "The day you bring him home" - assuming he is at least 6 to 8 weeks old.

Up until the time you take your puppy home, his mother is responsible for his training. She, together with his brothers and sisters, will teach him the things you cannot teach him, so there is an advantage to leaving a pup with his litter mates until this age.

It is very easy to teach your new puppy some simple commands and responses at this age. He doesn't know that he has a choice about the matter and he has learnt to respect his mom's ability to lead him in the right direction - you simply take over where she has left off. He is very malleable and will learn what you teach very quickly. One of the easiest times to teach the lessons is at meal times, because you "reward" by putting down his food .