Dog behavior studies have shown that the first 12 weeks of a dog’s life are vitally important because the puppy’s experiences during this time will affect its emotional responses as an adult dog. During the first 12 weeks of life, a puppy goes through many developmental stages and learns what it needs to grow into a well-adjusted dog from the stimulation of its senses of touch, sound, smell and sight during this period of life. The breeder needs to ensure that the puppy experiences these things in a positive way, so it is very important to pick a breeder who is well aware of the importance of early experiences and ensures that the puppies are properly introduced to things.

It is also extremely important that the new owners continue individual training when the puppy goes to new home: A puppy’s behavior continues to be molded by the new owner and continued training. A good puppy can be ruined by bad training or a lack of training or by mismatching a puppy with a certain type of person or family, so this is another very important job for the breeder to do. Training needs to be done in a gentle and positive way so that the puppy wants to do what is asked of it to please its owner and be proud of its accomplishments.

 There is a really excellent article that goes into more detail on this subject on the AKC website at:  http://www.akc.org/enewsletter/yourakc/2009/march/puppy.cfm