Question for the show line folks - Page 1

I see alot of very young puppies advertised with a picture of them stacked. ( some like 8 weeks old) I don't see the point.

Can you really tell what the puppies show stack or "structure" will be like as an adult or is this just for "show"? (no pun intended)

Most start putting the pup in the stack position to get them use to it.  The earlier you start, the easier it will be to teach them to walk into the stack position too, instead of having to position them yourself.  At least that's what I was told anyway.......

You can see things like length and position of the croup, as well as general proportions and also the upper arm length and angle (although this one is harder for me to see in a very young pup, but I'm sure other people can tell). They change as they grow, but if a puppy has a tiny, sharply sloping croup, it's very doubtful it will improve its length and position later.

No, you can certainly not be really sure of the structure at 8 weeks or so of age. If it were that easy, we all would pick the correct puppies. Certain strong features are visible early on, like moderate rear angulation, a very steep croup or upper arm. Everything else is a wait and see (like topline, underline, withers etc.). The only thing I can be sure of is that a good mover is the best candidate. Exceptional puppies will be detectable early on by their movement. Then, you can only hope that everything else will fall into place, but often it does not. It is a long and rocky road from a great puppy to a top adult, since a lot of things can go wrong (teeth, ears, size, hips, elbows, temperament etc.).

Chris

 actually yes, you can get an idea of their structure at 8 weeks. If you are the one raising the litter you also have an idea of drives.

Hopefully this will answer your question, GARD!   A picture's worth a thousand words, as they say!

Here's my female at a year of age, and at 8-9 weeks. She still has the same nice topline, and you can tell in the 8 week photo that her feet and pasterns are good (except for that white spotting!) So, yes, you can tell a fair bit. However, I'd rather see a photo at 8 weeks than 6. The older they are, the better you can tell what their future structure will look like. Still, even experienced breeders will confess to having sold pups they thought weren't up to their standards, only to have them do really well in the showring and competition!

Amazing how B&T's lighten so much with age.  I would never have expected the black pigment to recede that much.  I had a B&T a few years ago and he did not lighten up to the extreme that this female has.

 That was my one big disappointment with her, SchBabe. Her pigment could be better. And even though everyone I asked said the white toes DID NOT MATTER, I think they did. I asked a very experienced breeder how to judge pigment in a young pup, and she said it should look like the toes and nails have been dipped in black ink. Well, you couldn't say that with this girl, and now she's full grown, her nails are definitely paler than my male GSD, who has excellent black pigment. She also has one white toenail on a hind foot.

Saddlebred said it's fairly common with Ursus line females, and it's not that serious a fault, because most of them can produce good pigment, especially if mated with the right dog.

Ok I guess there is a reason people do it.

Thanks. I was just curious

My Rikkor daughter has almost the exact same profile she had at nine weeks.