49 days old is the perfect time. That is from research they used for training seeing eye dogs. If you wait much longer then this you loose valuable time. Dr. J. Paul Scott a social psychologist discovered this. Now all seeing eye dogs begin training at 49 days. They now have a 90 percent success rate instead of 20 percent. I started my dog at 90 days when I got him. Its not perfect buy the book, but I got a really good deal on the pup I wanted.Nothing is perfect, but the idea is sooner then you think I guess.