| W |
Eromit Labrador Retrievers
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Picking Your Puppy
| Website, photo and contents copyright of Kinderdoggin (c) 2008. Website Design by Kinderdoggin Web Design. Suggestions? Comments? Report broken links to the webmaster. |
Depending on how many puppies are born, and what your goals are for your puppy, you may have a choice of
several puppies. How do you choose?
We generally do most of the puppy selections at 6 weeks of age, based on what you are looking for, and we
are happy to help with the match up. Honestly, who has spent more time with the puppies than we have? If
two puppies are very similar, you may choose between them yourself. Some of the most experienced
retriever trainers advise that once you have selected your litter of choice, and have narrowed it down either by
sex or color, the only step left is to close your eyes and grab a puppy. Sometimes the puppy will choose you!
The best part of the process is knowing that you have already done most of the work - selecting a breeder
you are comfortable with, and a litter with healthy, talented parents and pedigree full of high achievers.
Things to consider, if you are making your own pick, are the following:
We recommend that you don't place too much emphasis on the behavior that is exhibited the day you arrive.
The behavior of each puppy fluctuates throughout the day based on when they have last eaten, if they have
just waken up from a nap or finished a vigorous play, etc- energy levels at the time of the 'interview' so to
speak may not be a good indicator of how the puppy is in general - asking questions of your breeder will help
give you a better idea in that department.
What about the last puppy?
Some people worry that the last puppy is not as good as the other puppies. Years of emphasising the 'first
pick' in the dog breeding world has contributed to that attitude, but as we've suggested before, in a well-bred
litter the differences between puppies is actually pretty minute. The last puppy can be the last one for a variety
of reasons, but mainly simply because he wasn't the 'most' or 'least' of any one trait. For example, we've had
people choose puppies based on these characteristics:
and so on and so forth. So, the last puppy may simply be a medium shade, average sized, mainstream
temperament puppy.
In other cases, the last pick puppy is one that the breeder has specifically held back as a potential keeper.
This last pick puppy may very well be a "first-pick" puppy!
Overall, research leading you to a breeder and a specific litter is a much more critical decision than deciding
which of that litter to pick. So don't fuss about the details of the pick, we promise you will end up with a
healthy, happy puppy that meets your needs!
several puppies. How do you choose?
We generally do most of the puppy selections at 6 weeks of age, based on what you are looking for, and we
are happy to help with the match up. Honestly, who has spent more time with the puppies than we have? If
two puppies are very similar, you may choose between them yourself. Some of the most experienced
retriever trainers advise that once you have selected your litter of choice, and have narrowed it down either by
sex or color, the only step left is to close your eyes and grab a puppy. Sometimes the puppy will choose you!
The best part of the process is knowing that you have already done most of the work - selecting a breeder
you are comfortable with, and a litter with healthy, talented parents and pedigree full of high achievers.
Things to consider, if you are making your own pick, are the following:
- The Breeder's description and records
- The appearance of the puppy
- Your gut feeling
We recommend that you don't place too much emphasis on the behavior that is exhibited the day you arrive.
The behavior of each puppy fluctuates throughout the day based on when they have last eaten, if they have
just waken up from a nap or finished a vigorous play, etc- energy levels at the time of the 'interview' so to
speak may not be a good indicator of how the puppy is in general - asking questions of your breeder will help
give you a better idea in that department.
What about the last puppy?
Some people worry that the last puppy is not as good as the other puppies. Years of emphasising the 'first
pick' in the dog breeding world has contributed to that attitude, but as we've suggested before, in a well-bred
litter the differences between puppies is actually pretty minute. The last puppy can be the last one for a variety
of reasons, but mainly simply because he wasn't the 'most' or 'least' of any one trait. For example, we've had
people choose puppies based on these characteristics:
- Lightest Color
- Darkest Color
- Biggest
- Smallest
- Most Energetic
- Most Lazy
- Most Chewy
- Least Chewy
- Barks the most
- Doesn't bark at all
and so on and so forth. So, the last puppy may simply be a medium shade, average sized, mainstream
temperament puppy.
In other cases, the last pick puppy is one that the breeder has specifically held back as a potential keeper.
This last pick puppy may very well be a "first-pick" puppy!
Overall, research leading you to a breeder and a specific litter is a much more critical decision than deciding
which of that litter to pick. So don't fuss about the details of the pick, we promise you will end up with a
healthy, happy puppy that meets your needs!
