What to look for in Puppies?

[mnwild14]

When you are or were looking for a new puppy, did you look at AKC Titles. For example where you looking for a dog with titles JH(Junior Hunter), SH (Senior Hunter), or MH (Master Hunter), or one of the Field Trial Champions FC, AFC, NFC. Or did you just look for a dog with bloodlines of hunters.

Obviously you pay more for puppies with parents with titles. But what do most hunter on here look for?

[BLACKJACK]

I look at both the number of titles in the pedigree and whether the guy hunts his dogs. Make sure you're looking at the pedigrees of the parents and not some field champion that was the great great great grandparent of the prospective pups. Who knows what kind of breeding has occured since then? The parents could be mutts.

You also need to ask yourself what kind of dog you want and how you're going to use it for. Do you want a pet and occasional hunter or do plan on hunting it all day long and in field trials. I believe that you can end up with too hot of a dog. Some of the guys on this site will scoff at that but what happens is if you pay a lot of money for a dog with a lot of titles in its pedigree that dog is going to be hyper and energetic and quite a handful. If you just want a hunting dog, goto the guy that hunts his dogs, has a few titles in the pedigree, and if he has both the male and female, that a plus because you can go look at them.

Good luck.

[gundoglily]

BlackJack did a great job summing up the approach in what to look for in a pup. Other things to watch for: dewclaws removed, health guarentee or at the very least that the hips have been OFA certified. Another good source is to check out the pups that have come from parents that run in the hunting dog tournments, for instance: NBDCA, NUCS. These dogs also have the drive and ability to find birds in a hunting type format.

[Stratosman]

Blackjack is right, be careful with field trial line dogs, unless of course that's what you want to do with it. They have strong drive but can be very hyper and need to be worked with every day in some form. For a hunting dog I would look for some hunt test titles more than field trail titles, either way, finding the right pup is an awesome experience. Stay away from backyard breeders though, I know someone who got a lab from one and the darn thing won't even fetch a ball. Paid good money for it too.

[springerspeed]

Blackjack did a great job with this question.

The things I look for in a pup is a health gaur. and that the parents have been OFA certified. Also look at both parents and grand parents if available. Ask as many question as you can think of. I as a breeder, welcome any and all questions. In fact the more you ask the better I feel having that person as a owner of one of my puppies.

Last but not least, ask for refernces on previous puppy buyers. They will be able to tell you about their experience buy from that breeder. Any reputable breeder will have several referances available to you.

my 2 cents

[LABS4ME]

As many generations as possible of "clear" dogs from inherited disorders ie: hips, elbows, eyes, epilepsy etc...,

don't nessacarily disregard the "high power" field trial breedings... two of my better all around hunting dogs were direct decendents of Field Champions. My current male is a son of Lean Mac, the winning-est trial dog ever, he is actually a lot calmer and more tractable than a lot of other dogs with less "stuff". That's not to say what the others have posted, a little homework on the parents and other ancestors goes a long ways. I agree parents that are hunted usually will produce good hunting dogs with good instincts. Most times dogs that have been branded "hyper" actually just have a lot of drive and have not been trained to remain under control. A dog that has drive and that is properly trained is a dog that will go all day for you.

Good luck with your search!

Ken

[gspman]

I can't speak for retrievers or flushers but for pointers I like to have plenty of Field Champions in the pedigree but that's just me. I kinda like a dog with a lot of drive and run. Dogs like that aren't for everyone to be sure. Sometimes I wish my dog was a bit more mellow too. My pup has 45 FC's in the first 64 dogs. She's not a trial caliber dog though. She should be a pretty darn good bird dog when she get's it all figured out though. Also don't assume that all pup's from a field trial breeding will be competitive in trials. The pro I work with says about 2 of every 10 pups in a field trial type litter will be competitive trial dogs, the rest are good hunters. Also I'd pay more attention to SH and MH and wouldn't put as much stock in a JH. Many show folks will put a JH on their dog and then tout them as a titled dog and up the price of a pup because of it. That's a bunch of dump in my book.

You have to weigh alot of variables for getting a dog that's right for you. Your personality, which bird you hunt the most, the type of cover you hunt the most, maybe what types of pooches your friends have. The list goes on and on.

Basically if you can see mom & dad hunt and think you'd be comfortable hunting behind and handling those dogs then you'll probably do okay with a pup from them too.