Best Pup selection from a Litter - Page 1

Hello fellow GSD lovers, How do we select the 3 best showpups from a litter? What are the factors to be considered? How do you go about the selection process? Please help me. Thank you in advance.

To get a general idea about the pups you need to wait untill they are 7 weeks old, any judgement can be made only after that age. At this age you will be able to test their drives and also physical attributes, a puppy with bad drives can turn out to be good if treated sensibly and vice versa. Physical attributes depend a lot on excercise and maintenance other than genes Once they are seven weeks and you select the best three you can single out the best at about 6-9 months of age. THERE IS NO HARD AND FAST RULE This is what I have been doing in my small Kennel with near perfection

I think Leerburg's "Bite training Puppies" is a must watch before you do a puppy selection atleast for a working line I can say regards Vikram

I have been very curious about this same thing and have questioned more seasoned breeders about this. There is definitely a formula (through measurements and viewing stacks & structure, etc.) they use, although I have yet to see it in writing at Barnes & Noble and only to hear that it works. Most won't go into detail at great lengths and will just tell you they have a formula for evaluating pups. Although there are never any absolute guarantees, it does give you better odds when selecting the "picks" for show/schutzhund, etc. I would be very interested to know this "secret methodology" myself! Let me know what you come up with!

Dogs change as they mature, but the rule genes + environment applies when it comes to make a prediction on what the dog will be like as an adult. Genetics are a must but you can mold the animal at will. My feeling is that there are good looking puppies and not so good looking puppies; sometimes the "ugly ducklings" thrive tremendously when off the rest of the littermates. As far as conformation i feel you can generally tell of the future conformation and size of the dog; you can tell whether the pup will have certain angulation, head size, overall size-small/medium/large, length of legs or other anatomical features. but this is just my opinion; my experience is rather limited. I've seen pups grow and by studying and looking at young pups you can have a feeling of what they will be as adults...

It is hard to evaluate a puppy's conformation. A few years ago, I watched a breeder friend of mine actually taking a tape and measure the length of the croup in relation to the reast of the back. I laughed about it, and he was insulted. That method did not work, he ended up selling them later into pet homes. The only thing I look for at 6 to 7 weeks is movement and the topline (in movement). Everything else is a crapshot. Every once in a while, there is a very special puppy you can pick out right from the beginning. But that does not happen too often, and certainly not in every litter. Chris

You don't need a tape, only a good eye and the knowlege what to look for.

Good eye is the key. I also agree with silbersee - movement and proportions are possibly your best indicators. Also GSD being a longer than tall breed, it is difficult to say with any degree of certainity - otherwise a lot of us would have had V and VA rated dogs by now ): I am also involved in 2 other breeds, and one is a "square" breed. Most breeders in that breed can predict with more than 90% accuracy on their best pups. Temparament is a whole different matter. I think the leerburg videos are VERY useful in evaluations.

I agree with alex...but i got only one thing to say... go to a couple o breeders...before u have alitter of ur own...mentally pick the pups u think best...then see them as they grow up... voila ull find...the formula.. as for me i can honestly say that even being fairly novice at this i have up till now picked up pups for me and my frnds and I find that the particular characteristics i look for has always paid up...for me. so u can do the same...see that traits u like ...i.e after doing some EXTENSIVE Research. and apply that in practise... ahh feels ogood giving the advise instead of talking it... lol Fida

Cheers Wok, Yesterday, I twice started to comment here, and then stopped because Alex's advice expresses utmost good faith, if not something that works for him. So how to add something without 'belittling' his post? Let me start by saying that I'm probably in a position not all that dissimilar to his, but that I simply do not have the same faith in my ability to select pup as him. Owners of large Kennels see a constant stream of pups, and develop 'the eye' over many years. From Silbersee's expert earlier posts I'm pretty sure that she would leave me for dead in such selection. I've seen 'professionals' at work here! You've got to know your limitations! To top it off, even the pros can make mistake and inadvertently sell pup that becomes champion.(See DH comment elsewhere) On word processor I have screed running now into twenty pages (compiled from different sources, including books that I keep adding to) solely to do with how to select the right pup: like a check list if you like, with detailed explanation as to why a certain feature is important - and even with that I ask friends more expert! Of course, I don't know at what level of Show activity we're dealing with here. My apologies to Alex - I find you only have to post slightest opinion on this site, and you'll have legion of others with anecdotal examples to 'prove' you wrong! Good luck.