Dominant puppies - Page 2

Unless one is *always* on top of others, then no. Much more important is how they feed, how quickly after birth they nurse, how tenacious they are, do they search and search for mom or do they sit in one spot and cry, etc. etc. Under 2 weeks, sleeping pattern is not something I have seen correlate to much. I do watch if one or two are always alone, however.

Hi Jenni why do u watch to see if one or two are alone what does that show I have noticed that alot

Hi Entwerfer thanks for your reply why would you watch the one that sleeps on the outside of the pack.

I have found that the pups who sleep on the perimeters are less reliant on the pack and more often than not, turn out to be the independent pups.

I do agree somewhat with pups who will push other pups off of teats to take over. But I would not consider that until after 3-5 days. If there's a break in whelping, such as a few hours, the pups born first will always have the leg up on the new member.

You have to really know your dogs and litters. I recently purchased a male, biggest of them all, but timid. So, there's no doubt he hogged the food, but was NOT dominant at all. I worked him past those obtacles and he's turned out well, not breeder material and the lousy breeder should have known that, but will make a nice pet or therapy dog.

Hope this helps!

Guessing here but the sleeping consistently outside of the pack or alone could go a couple of ways.

If they're consistently on the outside I'm guessing they're confident independent pups, and don't need that comfort and secure feeling of being in the middle.

If they're alone a lot you would probably have to look at the context/scenario if he's exploring happily or the first to go check things out I'd say again probably independent and also bold and confident and sure of himself.
If he's alone in the corner not actively involving himself, perhaps he lacks confidence, is a bit reserved and likes to watch.

This is all me just guessing here. Never raised a litter, so take it with a grain of salt

Edit: seems I replied exact time as haus :-) 

Entwerfer thanks for your information.I've seen 2 pups that nearly always on there own just sleeping a foot or so away from the rest. One male is probly the slowest to find the bitch to feed but he never gives up constantly fighting to get from the back to the front where he feeds . No of them give up but he seems to have to fight the longest

Crumbs thanks for your point of view

Perimeter, Yogi. As Crumbs stated, in a corner away from everyone may very well show the opposite.

Again, it's key to know your parents, lineage and spend time with the litter. Not a lot of hands on (to avoid bonding, unless you're keeping it), but a lot of eyes on ;-) interaction, game play, testing

Yes, Crumbs, it would seem so!

Entwerfer no pups I in the corner ever .scattered around .One pup always makes a point of being on top I know the parents ped very .I'm keeping the 3males myself 2 females going to good work home

They're beautiful pups, that's for sure :-)