Thoughts on my new puppy's personality? - Page 1

Hey all,

Just got my new black sable pup about 4 days ago, he's 9 weeks old today. Both his parents are from Czech lines. He's confident and hasn't shown any signs of fear. When I turn the vaccuum on he tries to play with it, and the blender is a total non-event. He doesn't mind when I blowdry my hair either. Big dogs or new people don't scare him. These are good signs I'm assuming? He is great in his crate, goes in on his own when he's tired and wants to nap, and whimpers at night only when he truly has to potty. He hasn't made any mistakes in his crate yet. On the other hand, he's super independent, not very affectionate, and doesn't seem very people oriented. I'm wondering what all this says about his future personality and trainability. Is this a permanent trait or will it take some time for him to come out of his shell? Anyone out there have some words of wisdom for me?

Do you have any other dogs living with you?
How much time do you spend with your pup?

This is a question I enjoy reading answers to, as it will be some education. waiting for comments.

IF  you have other dogs, and the pup spends too much time with them, it may not bond with you.

Make sure you give him lots of one-on-one time!

Try hand feeding him to get his attention... 

Strong-willed, independent pups often make good workers, but aren't that easy to train.

And yes, the characteristic are present at birth. That's the reasons for tests like the Vollhard puppy temperment test. They aren't 100%, but they are fairly accurate.

I just got a new pup, and the breeder does evaluations before they go to their new home. My girl tested as being fairly social. She ran after a ball, played with it for a bit, then brought it back. She was slightly aloof in that she hesitated to come to a stranger.

lol sunsilver thats exactly what I was thinking :)

Sounds just like my first dog. He was aloof with us until around 3 years old. Dominant, hard but not handler aggressive unless I  was unfair.  EXTREMELY smart, learned in less than 4 repetitions, not afraid of anything.  BEST dog I ever had.  Would love one like that again actually.  Not sure I  would say hard to train, as he learned lightening fast, but sometimes he would hesitate  if I was impatient with him.

Red Sable, the independence often means they don't have that  desire to please that a more social pup would have. Your dog was obviously not like that.

http://www.volhard.com/pages/pat.php

I find this test useful and quite accurate

No other dogs in the home. He's a great little guy, well-behaved, but like I said, not people-oriented. I spend lots of time with him. In fact, I'm not working at the moment so he's with me pretty much 24/7. I talked to the breeder about him and they were pretty excited about all his qualities, I guess that's what makes a good working line dog, but I just want to make sure that he'll be a good companion as well! Signed him up for puppy kindergarten today, starts in 10 days.

 you are spending to much time with him try crating him  for a couple of hours in the day and overnight.

all the best