7 week old puppy raising

I wouldn't do anything differently that I would with any pup.   Seven weeks is about the age most dams have almost fully weaned pups. Start the pup on mushy kibble.  As for socialization, I'd start introducing it to all the sounds, sights, smells, people and other friendly, fully vacc'd dogs, possible.  Obviously, you want to avoid places like dog parks, big box pet stores and other areas that people might take dogs who aren't fully vacc'd. 

If you scroll down you'll see a position statement on socialization from the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior. 

http://avsabonline.org/resources/position-statements

edited to clarify what the position statement is about.

 I would have directed you to that link as well.

Baby may have a more difficult time transitioning to sleeping alone at first.  But go on as you mean to, don't give in to the whining.  

Here in RI, it is illegal to sell a puppy prior to age 9 weeks of age.  Why would you be getting a dog at such a young age?  Many responsible breeders prefer to keep the pups to 11 or 12 weeks, knowing how much they learn from Mom and litter mates during this time.

 Since you already have dogs, I think there would be little difference.  If the pup were going to a home with no dogs, those removed early like this have to learn bite inhibition, and puppy teeth are sharp!  Also, they may be more likely towards separation anxiety issues.

Freedom

Here in RI, it is illegal to sell a puppy prior to age 9 weeks of age.

That's interesting.  Back in the day, it was thought that 49 days was the ideal age to send a puppy home but as more studies and research was done it seems that between 8-10 weeks is thought to be the best age.  Many breeders keep puppies longer because they want to evaluate the pups conformation rather than any concern about socialization.  Just my opinion and every breeder has their own reasons why they keep puppies till they reach a certain age. Not really a right or wrong way, just differences between breeders. 

We don't know if Susan is asking about this pup for herself or for someone else.  Sometimes puppies end up needing homes regardless of age.  The pups do learn a lot from the mom and littermates but I've known of single puppies who were successfully taught bite inhibition and really most puppies still need a lot of reinforcement training in that regard when they go home with a new owner. lol

Freedom

Here in RI, it is illegal to sell a puppy prior to age 9 weeks of age.  Why would you be getting a dog at such a young age?  Many responsible breeders prefer to keep the pups to 11 or 12 weeks, knowing how much they learn from Mom and litter mates during this time.

Remember though these laws are to protect sales and taxes, they were not instated because it is actually better for DOGS.

I've purchased two puppies at 7 weeks and have never had issues with either.  I treat them the same as every other puppy except I fully expect they cannot sleep through the night right away and I potty break them every 15-20 minutes while awake for the first few weeks. GSDs are typically weaned at 4-5 weeks. Neither of my puppies were any more difficult than older puppies, in fact both were very good.  Neither had problems with bite inhibition and were never, ever mouthy; neither puppy ever bit us or tried to pull at our clothes.  Nikon took about 5 days to get used to sleeping in a crate but both puppies were sleeping through the night after a few weeks.

In both cases, the breeders were not keeping my puppy (though we didn't do a final pick until the day of, but in both cases I purchased males and the breeders (different) kept females).  For that reason I like to get my puppies ASAP.  My priorities for training and socialization are different than the breeders' and I know I can do a better job focusing on one dog than they can do having to start training and socializing 7-12 dogs at once. I agree with Jackie, ALL puppies are really hard work!  I've seen some real monsters that were supposedly being socialized and trained by the breeder and held for 2+ additional weeks.

 The puppy is not for me!!! I have my grandsons here and am already crating and rotating Kali and Tina...

However, my oldest son is getting this puppy from my neighbors accidental breeding. (They are getting her spayed after this!!)

I never fostered a singleton this young and wasn't really sure what would be different. The pup will sort of being raised with my pack but 

as more of a frequent guest than a member. 

Any hints and tips are appreciated!! 

I'd  check out dogstardaily.com. Look at the training textbook. I didn't get Luke till he was about 11 weeks old, because he was going to be the keeper and get used for therapy, but they decided not to keep any from his litter.

No matter the age of the puppy, one of my first stops or things to do would be to get the dog in a puppy class of some sort. I don't actually need it for the training, my dogs generally go in to puppy class already knowing most of what will be taught. I get them in there for playtime, socialization with other dogs and people, and working in a distracting environment. Luke was signed up into puppy class on my way home from going to see him, and signed up for a second class at the place I preferred more (could only get him into Petsmart immediately). I'd get the puppy into a class as soon as a good place will allow him in. This line in the puppy class description at the place we do flyball and weight pull says all that needs to be said, "More puppies lose their homes to shelters and rescues before reaching their first birthdays, mostly because their training and socialization was either not started early, or not extensive enough."

 He's being registered for puppy class starting the first week in November. I'm not too worried about that part.

I guess it's more the bite inhibition I'm worried about and all those other little things we take for granted that pups learn from their mother and littermates.

3girls

 The puppy is not for me!!!

This article was written by Dr. RK Anderson long before the idea of early socialization was on most people's radar.  He's passed away at the age of 90 and was obviously ahead of many of us who now recognize the importance of early socialization.

http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/RKanderson.html

The singleton thing would be more of a concern for me than 7 wks vs. 8 weeks but it really depends on the individual dog.  Temperament is so genetic but assuming the dog has a good temperament, you cannot over-socialize or over-expose a dog.  When I have a new puppy I take them to  new place every day for the first 2-3 weeks and these are dogs from planned breedings of very stable and good-tempered dogs.

Liesje

The singleton thing would be more of a concern for me than 7 wks vs. 8 weeks but it really depends on the individual dog.  Temperament is so genetic but assuming the dog has a good temperament, you cannot over-socialize or over-expose a dog.  When I have a new puppy I take them to  new place every day for the first 2-3 weeks and these are dogs from planned breedings of very stable and good-tempered dogs.

I did the same pretty much for Luke. I took him somewhere, or someone was over  every day. He's continued going places at least once a week for the rest of his life. There's a reason he got excited when the wobble board was dropped as the loud noise during his CGC test. He was also the one in his prep class, who wanted to go see the umbrella when we practiced with that. His breeder was socializing him for the purposes of doing therapy work with disabled children, so he got a good start before he got to me. Callie was my sister's, and prior to us getting her at 8 weeks, she was with my cousin. There might have been different people in seeing them before 8 weeks I think, but in terms of early experiences, that was it for her. She went to puppy class, but I don't think she went to all the places Luke went to when she was a puppy. My sister just didn't go to the efforts to do that. I believe Callie's mother is also very wiry, and nervous. The siblings that remained with my cousin, I know they weren't socialized, but I believe they are/were the same way. So, perhaps they are genetically prone to that anxiety, or maybe it comes from their lack of early experiences.

For me the early experiences are for learning about my dog.  I don't really believe I can change how my dog is going to be because temperament is genetic (this has been proven it's not just an idea).  It's important for me to see how a new dog reacts to all sorts of things so I know how to manage the dog in the future, what areas are going to need more work, or if there are any areas that are just plain not going to be acceptable.  I take them to all the places I like to go and meet all the people and dogs that are part of my life so I can carefully observe how the puppy reacts and how he will fit in.  What I saw from Pan and Nikon from 7-12 weeks told me what the future would be like and even at that age it was accurate.  Usually in my case if I have a dog at 7-8 weeks it's a puppy I bought, generally after spending years of research and developing a relationship with the breeder, so we need to know right away whether the dog's temperament is as we had expected and if not, it gets dealt with sooner rather than later.

Many dogs lack socialization early on but because they have good temperaments it doesn't matter.  Coke was basically neglected before we got him and he's a great dog with other dogs and people and is obedience while on a leash.  My friend bought a 1.5 year old dog from a breeder and the dog had lived in an outdoor kennel run her entire life but within a few weeks the dog was training for rally competition, housebroken, totally integrated into her household with the other dogs, and has always been stable around people even from day one.  Then there are dogs that are given every opportunity imaginable and yet are nervous, skittish dogs their whole lives.

Liesje

Then there are dogs that are given every opportunity imaginable and yet are nervous, skittish dogs their whole lives.

I'd agree with that. Would Callie still be nervous if she had the socialization that Luke had early on? Yes, probably.  Her dam was a nervous dog, and her siblings are all nervous dogs. My cousins didn't socialize the sire either, and he is a nice, stable, friendly dog. Though, they didn't have the parents since they were puppies. Could they have learned part of that from the dam as puppies? Yeah, they probably learned some of that early on. The difference would have been in seeing what the issues were, exposing her and working through the issues when she was younger, smaller, and more physically manageable.

Luke's sire and dam were therapy dogs, working with kids with special needs, on a farm with all sorts of animals. So, pretty good temperaments. Friendliness is part of his breed. He's better because I took him every where, but I don't think he would have turned out like Callie had I not. She's by no means bad either.

I agree with your line of thinking.  This is why when breeding, choosing the right dam is crucial.  Not just choosing the right looks or working temperament or titles/success, but how the dam actually whelps and raises her puppies.  Some dams might be very temperamentally stable dogs with high success doing whatever it is the breed is bred to do, but might be terrible mothers in the whelping box.  I've also seen dams that don't have the highest degrees of success within their respective breed but are awesome mothers.  The best aspects of Nikon's temperament I attribute to his dam and dam line, not just via the pedigree and the blood being passed down but also the fact that his dam was a very calm, confident dog through the whelping process.  She was not nervous or aggressive.  She was good with her litters and calm in the whelping box.  She let those she knew handle her and the puppies throughout the process.  I do think that this very early imprinting is critical when you have a dog that based on genetics/pedigree could go one way or the other with regard to temperament.  Nikon's paternal line does not bring a lot of courage, drive, or overall stability to his temperament but I think because of how he was raised by his mother in his first few days of life he matured to fall along the more confident, calm, and stable end of the genetic spectrum.