7 week old boxer behavior

Question
Hi, my Question is concerning my 7 week old boxer puppy Hank. We have had him one week (at 6 weeks) I am concerned that we got him too early. The place we got him was not the cleanest envirnoment and he came from at very large litter (15 puppies!..only 8 survived) I guess my real question is what should I be doing in order to teach him the things that he would have learned from this mother? He is doing great with potty training and we are working on crate training, but he cries and whines ALL night! I just want to make sure he will also have a good temperment and be a great dog for us for many many years...ANY advice will be appreciated. :)  Thanks!

Answer
Hi Kaylee,

Yes, you did get him a little younger than is ideal.  You can work to overcome that, however.  I'd first recommend you download the free e-book from Ian Dunbar, "Before You Get Your Puppy".  
http://www.siriuspup.com/beforebook.html

This will discuss what the breeder should have done up to 8 weeks of age, as well as steps you should take up to five months of age (and for life!).  

Most important will be to help him learn dog-dog communication; this is the education that he missed by leaving the litter too early, and it can cause lots of problems as he grows up if he doesn't learn it.  Find well-socialized adult dogs who you know are healthy, and let him spend time with them.  They will teach him 'doggie manners' in a firm, fair way, correcting him when he gets too boisterous and showing him how to positively interact with other dogs.  Don't be too quick to step in if the adult is growling or air-snapping; he needs to learn what these things mean, and you'll likely find that as he continues to interact with the adults, he'll start 'backing off' at earlier warning signals and the growling/lunging/snapping will decrease.  The adult's teeth should not come in contact with the puppy for more than a fraction of a second, however, and in general that will be a quick muzzle-grab after several warning growls, lungs, snaps, etc.; anything more and you'll want to step in, and find a different adult until he's more in tune with early warning signals.

A puppy kindergarten class can be helpful, too, as it will give him interaction with other puppies his age with whom he can generally play a little more roughly, while still learning things like how much pressure with the teeth is too much, etc.

Good luck!