Question - Puppy Selection - Page 1

Hello,

1. If you have a litter of puppies:
   a .  Do breeders just randomly select a pup even though you give a strict description of what you want?
   b . What characteristics do you look for when you send to a customer who wants a service dog vs a customer who wants a protection dog?
   c . How can you tell if a puppy will be friendly when he grows up vs one that is territorial and will not let an inteurder into your property without you being there?

2. If at the end of the day, how your dog behave is all about the training he receives, right? If this is the case, why not spend $1000 on a puppy and then $2000 on the training vs $3000 on a puppy plus another $2000 for training?



 

1. You don't buy an 8 week old puppy, you look for a 12-18 month old geen dog.

2. Spend your money on a green dog and look into enjoying the training with your dog.  Or as is often suggested, look at a rescue that already displays the characteristics you need and desire.

Sometimes you have to decide what you really want.  If you want/need a dog with specific characteristics you're better off looking at a young dog and not a puppy.  Puppies are a crap shoot both in temperment and also health, you have a better chance of getting X-rays that mean something with a green dog than hoping a puppy from Good/Fair/Excellent parents wins the genetic lottery.

If you want a puppy because you want to fun of raising a puppy and are ready to have the dog as a companion should s/he not turn out to have the temperment or health characteristics you want, then decide what you want to budget for a puppy and stick to your budget with the understanding that ... puppies are a crap shoot.

I only bred 1 litter and made a few mistakes.  So take my information as a consideration and listen to the others.

1.  I talked extensively with my buyers and I spent hours with my puppies watching them grow and develope.  Based on knowing my puppies and knowing the buyers, I was able to match up puppy to owner.  Actually, I chose the puppy for every buyer.  All of the owners are very pleased with their dog and each match was perfect.
2.  My litter was bred for service/handicap work, so I cannot help on what to look for in a potential protection dog.  For service work: 
             Having a calm temperament was the priority; laid back was another.  As you work with the puppies, you will figure out who is your "drama queen", "clown", "trouble maker" and who is the "peace maker," who is content to play and just as content to lay with mom and watch the world go by.  By 5 weeks of age, I had a good idea who had the potential for service work and who did not.
             Once the general temperament was established, the next thing I looked for was exceptional problem solving.  If a favorite toy/treat was lost in a towel, who figured out to pull the towel away and who continued searching through the towel.  I also had some of the doggie puzzles: hid a treat behind a sliding knob and see who could find it.   By 7 weeks, I had narrowed down my potential service dog list to 2 of the 8 puppies.
             Empathy is another trait I looked for.  For this, I did not get a perfect hit.  The puppy with the most empathy also was the most hyper.  The calmest puppy with good problem solving skills did not (and still doesn't) seem to have much empathy.
3. For your "c", I am not sure there is a tried and true method for this.  Others may have good suggestions.   Most of my litter turned out to be people oriented.  I think environment plays a big part in this though; especially after the 8 - 9 week mark.   My ever curious, clown of the litter never met a stranger.  He went to work on a cattle and goat ranch.  I am sure that now, due to his limited exposure of people outside of the ranch, he is not friendly to strangers any more.
4.  For me, behavior and temperament is not the same thing.  Behavior is taught; temperament is a personality.  As for how much to pay for a dog, that is something you need to work out within yourself.  Personally, for me, the dog comes before the cost.  Many factors come into the price of a dog, breeder quality, time and effort put into the litter, GREED.  There are breeders out there that charge 3000- 5000 for a puppy and that puppy is worth every penny.  There are other breeders that charge the same and the puppy is not worth a dime.  If you base your purchase on the price and not the quality, you will likely be disappointed in the long run.

Just my 2 cents.  Good luck

           

Let me say this first, Fawn that was an excellent explanation of how you chose from your litter for different venues.  To Tabby, I wish you all the luck with whatever you chose.  Here are a couple of points to take into consideration when chosing your puppy.  First and foremost I would definitely join or at least visit your local Sch H club or working dog club in your area.  There should be members willing to work with you and IF you like a particular working dog TRY to ask questions about the dog and the breeder.  Check out your local GSD Rescue group also;  sometimes those people can be very helpful and have some great dogs that come into rescue that may even be a puppy or young adult and some have the family history and why they are in rescue,  Many many great dogs for whatever reason get into rescue.

Look up the breeders in your area;  scroll down to the US or whatever area breeder map and investigate all of your options.  Find out who may be a back yard breeder and stay away from them;  find the true professionals that have bred GSD's for a length of time and their accomplishments and their contributions to the breed.

When the right dog comes along for you I am sure you will be feel the connection.  You don't need to rely on someone to pick your dog only to guide you.  Make price your last option but for a puppy make it a price that fits your budget and within the boundaries that anyone would pay for a well bred puppy.  My example of this would be personally I found a suitable dog; he was a 2 year old Executive 3 level of protection training among other accomplishments and his price had been LOWERED to $22,500.00.  Unfortunately that is NOT within my budget therefore I started with a 10 week old puppy, which was priced reasonably for me and I chose to have 4 weeks of basic obedience training done by the breeders as I really admired and chose their methods of training and for me, worked out great.  That training of course was extra from their puppy price.

So many breeders and doggy professionals will be able to help you.  Get yourself in competent hands with eyes wide open and shop for a reputable breeder that communicates well with you and your needs.  Good luck to you  Nan

Thank you RHLR, fawndallas, and Nans GSD.

Tabby, think very carefully about what you want to do with your pup, and what you want from the mature dog.   Relay these thoughts very succinctly to the breeder, and describe in very honest terms your experience raising/training a dog.     Only through honest and frank discussion between you and the breeder about your experience and what you want your mature dog to become, will the breeder then be able to match you with a pup that he/she feels suits you best.     Be prepared to answer many questions from a breeder that wants to make sure all their pups go to permanent homes.