pick of the litter - Page 1

Hi ppl,

What should one look for while picking up a male/female from a litter for show purposes? The breeding is yet to take place, both the parents are registered with the KCI, but being new to breeding gsd's, I want to ask for suggestions/advices etc.

Prashant

PIck out best movement , conformation and color.

unfortunetly nerves and drives don't count much..

Actually There will be a pick of the litter in the bitches and then there will be a pick of the litter of the males.

I can tell you there is nothing called pick of the litter as such. I know I may be slammed by a lot of purists but then

What you need to look at is the bloodline. If the bloodline is outstanding and proven( And this applies to both working line and show lines) then chances are all the litter mates would be equally good. Thats my personal experience. I presume you are getting a pup of 8 - 10 weeks.

What conformation will you look at in a pup really. Atleast I need to be educated on that. What you need to look at is parents and 3 generations back really.

If I were going to buy a dog for showing, I'd try to find an experienced GSD person to help me make my pick.  It's not a game for amateurs.

can depend on the litter and the strong/weak points of the sire and dam.  Also, if for show and you want to win then you have one criteria but if you want for other reasons then a middle pup may be best.

for working lines it also depends on the parents and strenghts and weakness. for example, if I want a sar dog then i ususally look for a well rounded pup, maybe not the extreme drive but defienetly one that is athletic. Usually tracking/ air scenting abilities do not show up until the pup is around 11-12 weeks of age. If wanting a police k9 then i look more for nerves,drives,confidence and aggression. While movement may not be of importannce I still have to have sound conformation so the dog can work as needed.

thank u all for ur answers.

I still have to do my home work on this before buying a pup for show. There are certain breeders who breed well known dogs but one cant trust anyone because of all the fraud things happening. I have seen people selling pups from well known sires around the world, but who knows if they are actually puppies of those sires. There is no DNA test done on dogs in India yet that I know of, so its going to be very difficult. Therefore, I think the best option would be to import a dog from U.S. or U.K. if thats the last choice...

Prashant