Yeah, that's always the catch-22. A setting like the one you're going to which is cleaned and the other dogs are known is the best way to handle it, I think. Better than a pet store or park where you have no idea whether the other dogs are healthy or not.
I got my dog when she was 12 weeks, rather than the traditional 8, so she was socialized with her mom and littermates for that time. She was super easy to train (I had no idea what I was doing at the time) and is great with people (we visit at travellers at the airport once a week as part of the pet therapy program). Part of it is just her personality, but I think it also helped staying with her mom a bit longer.
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