Stage 1: The Transitional Stage 2-3 Weeks The Transitional stage generally lasts from age two to three weeks, and it’s during this time that your puppy’s eyes will open, and he’ll slowly start to respond to light and movement and sounds around him. He’ll become a little more mobile during this period, trying to get his feet underneath him and crawling around in box (or wherever home is.) He’ll start to recognize mom and his littermates, and any objects you might place in box.

Stage 2: The Almost Ready To Meet The World Stage 3-4 Weeks The Almost ready to meet world stage lasts from 3 to about 4 weeks, and your puppy undergoes rapid sensory development during this time. Fully alert to his environment, he’ll begin to recognize you and other family members. It’s best to avoid loud noises or sudden changes during this period – negative events can have a serious impact on his personality and development right now. Puppies learn how to be a dog during this time, so it’s essential that they stay with mom and littermates.

Stage 3: The Overlap Stage 4-7 Weeks From 3-4 weeks your puppy begins most critical social development period of his life – he learns social interaction with his littermates, learns how to play and learns bite inhibition. He’ll also learn discipline at this point – Mom will begin weaning pups around this time, and will start teaching them basic manners, including accepting her as leader of pack. You can begin to introduce food to pups starting around 4th week – transition gradually as Mom weans them. Continue handling pups daily, but don’t separate them from either Mom or litter mates for more than about 10 minutes per day. Puppies that are removed from nest too early frequently are nervous, more prone to barking and biting and have a more difficult time with socialization and training. Puppies need to be left with Mom and siblings until at least 7 weeks of age - and preferably a little longer - for optimum social development. Experts say that best time in a puppy’s life to learn social skills is between 3 and 16 weeks of age – that’s window of opportunity you have to make sure your puppy grows up to be a well-adjusted dog. It’s extremely important to leave your puppy with Mom and his littermates during as much of this period as possible. Don’t discipline for play fighting, housebreaking mistakes or mouthing – that’s all normal behavior for a puppy at this stage.

My husband and I recently purchased a white German Shepherd. She is 12 weeks old today and quite a handful. Sometimes she can be so sweet, but other times she is actually quite vicious. Well, I don't know if vicious is right word, but when I tell her “No!” she just gets more agitated and lunges at me with her teeth bared. I got a small pinch collar since she's a puppy but I have a question as to how it should fit. When I take 2 prongs out it is snug against her neck and I worry about it being too tight. When I only take 1 prong out, it sort of slides down her neck a little bit and she constantly scratches at it and it circles around her neck and doesn't stay put. Which is right fit? She is really a handful and I think pinch collar is a great tool, but I want to make sure it fits right so as not to cause her any discomfort. You say in book that you should be able to slide half a finger in there, but I guess I am just confused as to how you should judge fit. Please help! I'm afraid my time is running out to get her to start obeying me. She doesn't see me as Alpha dog quite yet and it is very frustrating to be with her for long periods of time. When I say "Duchess, come" she only comes when she feels like it. With pinch collar, what is best way to make sure she comes each time I call her? I don't want to go around yanking on her neck, but at same time she needs to respect me. Any tips you can give me on making sure she sees me as boss would be very helpful! Thanks, Cassidy