Awkward stages? Do puppies go through those? Gusto certainly didn't. There was never a time where his tail was longer than his body, his head made up 90% of his body weight, his nose didn't know what color to be, and his ears couldn't decide what they were going to do.
I really was hoping for the ears to stay up at one point. Thankfully, they didn't.
Good lord, I thought he was cute, too.
He was also never awkward socially.