Picking pup from litter?

[Kylersk]

In a couple weeks I get to view the litter of pups (GWP) and make my selection. The pups will be 6 weeks old, but I wont take it home until 8 weeks. Anyways, any tips on selecting the 'right' pup?

[jeffreyd]

i waited on my lab until 10 weeks and it was night and day compared to the lab i got at 8 wks. seems like that extra two weeks with mom really helped

[FishinFreaks]

Hopefully you have talked over what you are looking for in a dog with your breeder. If he is a true breeder, he will be of great assistance to you in making your pick. He should have a good idea of the pup that you want before you get there. Have him let you see the litter and get some feel of the pups. Review with him the traits you're looking for, and between the two of you, narrow it down to the top 3 that you both feel fit. Then it's up to you to pick the one.

[brittman]

My experience has shown me that selecting the litter is more important than actually picking a pup from the litter.

Have fun with the whole experience and don't put too much worry into the decision if you have done your homework on picking the litter.

[870Express]

As brittman said, you pick the parents not the pup. I'd go with Male or Female at your preference then let the breeder know what you're looking for, he' knows more about their personalities from the last 6 weeks than you'll figure out in two hours.

[setterguy]

Sometimes I think you can tell more than you think...build, aggressiveness, and confidence can all be portrayed at even this young age to a certain extent.

[brittman]

Sometimes I think you can tell more than you think...build, aggressiveness, and confidence can all be portrayed at even this young age to a certain extent.

Agree that you can make these observations of the pups in their litter.

Not sure that translates into what the dog's hunting style and effectiveness will become as an adult dog.

[fishroger]

Had one picked out of a litter and put a little red color on it. , then went back to pick it up but it kept on running away and another little one kept licking my hand, so I picked that one. Not really scientific, but it turned out good. I like the one I got.

[fishroger]

collar

[Farmboy1]

When I was talking with breeders, they have spent much more time with the entire litter than you ever could. Talk to them about the traits you would like to see in the dog, how you hunt, where it will be (outside kennel vs indoor), and any other important traits. They can at least point you towards a particular dog in the litter that has these.

I also like to take the dog away from their litter mates and see how they react outdoors. Do they sit down and cry, do they roam, how they react to noise, walk a little and see if they want to come to you.

Then in the end, close your eyes and just pick one! You can't go wrong if you have a quality breeder with quality dogs.

[setterguy]

Right on Brittman, I never meant to indicate that one could pick a better hunter from a litter, however you might be able to see traits that would translate to the way you like to hunt....Some like the crazy, go all day full throttle dogs, some like a little slower pace. A grouse hunter may want a smaller framed dog for the grouse woods and a pheasant hunter may want a broader thicker build dog.

[Bryce]

Agree with above with a twist. If you've picked a quality litter and should know by now what sex you want, put em in a box and just grab one. Pup will adopt the personality you instill in it. I ended up with the third pup out of my own litter. Should be doing SH work by just over a year old.

[LightningBG]

I think it's luck of the draw once you've picked a litter. I've seen to many times people picking the calm one and ending up with a terror on 4 legs or picking the bold outgoing one and ending up with a shy-guy. and vice-versa.

I've always wondered how much to trust the breeder when it comes to choosing. If its a hunting breed with hunting lines, chances are, all of the customers are hunters and the breeders needs to take care of all of them, so where is the incentive to choose one over another (besides maybe some slight hunting style differences, which I'm not sure would translate into picking a pup) I wouldn't DIS-trust the breeder, because chances are they are good people if your buying a dog from them, its just they cant choose the best dog for everyone.

[Todd Caswell]

There have been alot of national champions that were the left over pup no one wanted. Find a nice litter decide what sex you want split them up and reach in and grab one. It's impossible to tell how talented they will be when they are 8 weeks old.

[duckster]

I have had a couple of great dogs and we used it very specific method to choose them.... we went with our gut. The first one, a springer, crawled up in my old mans lap and fell asleep when we were looking at the litter. They were buddies for life and a he was a great hunting dog

I went to pick out a dog and choose the one that was sleeping in the water dish, with water in it. Turned out she was a hunting machine and a great family dog.

Like the other guys said find a good litter, spend some time talking with the owner about the kind of dogs that the parents are, check out the parents some and take the one that appeals to you.

Good luck

Duckster

[perch_destroyer]

When I got my chocolate, she was in the back of the crowd but was really excited. She pushed her way all the way to the front and wanted all the attention. I loved her confidence. Sold

[caseymcq]

The turd eaters were the first ones weeded out when I went to look

The last time I picked out a pup I knew I wanted a female so we singled out all of them. I started walkding away from them and gave my leg a little pat along with a whistle. Three of the five females started following me. As we were walking one peeled off to do something else, so we were down to two. I had a pheasant wing with so I casually tossed that to the side and one of the little girls went over to investigate the wing. I picked her. She was the best dog I ever had. My wife picked out our other two dogs. With only having gone through my little exercise once and not having more than one dog picked that way to compare it is tough to say if it really meant anything. She was a great dog though, excellent nose, good temperment, easy to train and eager to please.

[bemidjibasser]

I got a chessie about a month and a half ago. Going in I wanted the biggest male of the litter as I hunt geese a lot and some especially muddy swaps/fields, but he was spoken for. So I asked for the breeder to bring the next biggest male when we met to look at the pups. He brought three males, two that were about the same size as the biggest and the runt... I ended up taking the runt because of his personality. He was active and using his nose while the big guys just sat there or slept. He is now about 15 weeks old and retrrieving doubles... Don't know if it is scientific, but he seems to be everything I wanted so far. Oh, and he is 26 pounds already...

[perch_destroyer]

The turd eaters were the first ones weeded out when I went to look

LOL