"dog nerd"! You're too funny!
Star is our first dog, but I can't really say I'd do anything different besides having pursuaded the breeder keep her with her family till she was 8 weeks old before sending her off. She was only 5 weeks old when we first saw her, and he insisted she was old enough to leave with us. Now I know better - they get a lot of socialization those last few weeks. OK, I do wish I'd have brushed her more often, maybe she wouldn't be such a pain in the butt to brush now. She's awful - it takes two of us - one to brush & one to keep her still long enough to brush her out.