# Young pup qualities



## julie allen (Dec 24, 2010)

After reading the post about what people are looking for in older pups, I am wondering what you look for in pups say around 6 - 10 weeks. I have a litter now and I see what i like in several. I don't have near the experience of everyone else here, so what are things that I should really want to see?

Things that I notice in many of them now- the willingness to check out new surroundings with confidence. Loud noises, if they startle, a fast recovery and want to 'see' what made it. Interest in 'prey' and chasing it. How they handle surfaces like slick floors, common things like the vacuum cleaner, rattling food bowls, strange animals (horses come near the yard, they start barking). I like them to want to interact with me as well.


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## andrew tygo (Oct 29, 2010)

confidence (and a lil bat sh*t crazy) is what i like


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## Ricardo Ashton (Jun 3, 2010)

Julie it depends a few factors, such as what traits the pup was bred for, lineage/ancestry, and what type of work the dog will be expected to perform as an adult.


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## Gerry Grimwood (Apr 2, 2007)

julie allen said:


> Things that I notice in many of them now- the willingness to check out new surroundings with confidence. Loud noises, if they startle, a fast recovery and want to 'see' what made it. Interest in 'prey' and chasing it. How they handle surfaces like slick floors, common things like the vacuum cleaner, rattling food bowls, strange animals (horses come near the yard, they start barking). I like them to want to interact with me as well.


I think you notice these things because you've read about them somewhere, nothing wrong with that except you probably don't have a gut to go with when making a decision.


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## Faisal Khan (Apr 16, 2009)

No expert here by any means but this is what I used to select my pup from an 8 week old litter, 2 years ago. 

1. Open kennel, whole litter should be out and exploring within ~5 seconds.
2. Gun shot from 15 paces, no reaction from whole litter.
3. Bite rag test, pup must stay on bite when lifted up for ~3 seconds. 
4. Give food see who finds it first.
5. Pinch toe (lightly), watch response and recovery time.


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## Christopher Jones (Feb 17, 2009)

In my honest opinion, the only real way to judge the pups in a litter is to actually raise the litter under your roof. Pups change from week to week. One day pup A looks the best, another its pup B. 
It is of great benefit to be able to have seen which pup was the strongest consistantly over the whole 5-8 week period. Even then there is no guarentees.
For me I look for drive, lack of fear, dominance and recovery.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

I look for confidence when they first start comng out of their dog houses into their new envirnment.. Don't care care what else is or isn't there


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

I think that you can read this shit all day, and still be so stinking far off. I cannot tell you how many people I have talked to about how crazy their dog is in prey drive, and how he is nuts over the ball, and then you see the dog and he is way way below average. WAY. 

Not saying that your pups are like that, it is just that peoples opinions are so far off, and some just CANNOT see the bad stuff to save their lives.


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## Brian Batchelder (Mar 11, 2011)

Don Turnipseed said:


> I look for confidence when they first start comng out of their dog houses into their new envirnment.. Don't care care what else is or isn't there


Yes.

I think of confidence as the strength to carry the load of drive.

One can have a semi-trailer of drive (weeee!), but if you got a power unit of a Geo Metro...well, you get the idea. The drive will remain parked in familiar situations.

A confident dog will bring his drive everywhere with him. Everywhere. This is where something resembling "medium drive" (something less than frantic) could be entirely useful; when the environment is of zero concern. Of course, "medium" is pretty darn subjective too.

The problem is calibrating one's expectation of confidence properly.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

> The problem is calibrating one's expectation of confidence properly.


I look at confidence as it relates to pups in their world. Not mine. Bullying is a weakness, shows me less confidence. Getting bullied is a weakness, shows less confidence. I like to see a pup that gets on well with all the pups....bullies and the ones getting bullied. What isn't obvious to many is that the bullies don't try to bully this type of dog because they already see him as a cut above....and he will always be a cut above. This behavior is what I see in the males. Females, even as pups ar a bit different. It is like they are more open and don't have things to prove like male pups. They are more genuine in actions and it is easier to see the confidence of each. I have been duoed by several females that were as tough as males and played the same games as males. Every one of the females with this persnality turned out to be poor producers. Every one of them! I don't like to see the girls acting out like the male pups because of this. While it is impressive as a puop....it has its downside.

As far as the drive go, less confident dogs can have great drives, but all the drive in the world is worthless in an unconfident dog.


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## Brian Batchelder (Mar 11, 2011)

That strikes me as accurate when I draw a mental analogy to people.


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Faisal Khan said:


> No expert here by any means but this is what I used to select my pup from an 8 week old litter, 2 years ago.
> 
> 1. Open kennel, whole litter should be out and exploring within ~5 seconds.
> 2. Gun shot from 15 paces, no reaction from whole litter.
> ...


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

"if they startle" 
I stop looking at the rest of the litter! I don't want that! Can't handle it! Don't want to try!


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## Drew Peirce (Nov 16, 2006)

everything I thought I knew about pup selection went out the window on this new one, twilight zone type shit I tell ya, 14 weeks old and the wife refuses to go near the thing until the puppy teeth are gone and I get her under some semblance of control


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

When are you going to post some video up of her?


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## Alice Bezemer (Aug 4, 2010)

julie allen said:


> After reading the post about what people are looking for in older pups, I am wondering _*what you look for in pups say around 6 - 10 weeks. *_I have a litter now and I see what i like in several. I don't have near the experience of everyone else here, so what are things that I should really want to see?
> 
> Things that I notice in many of them now- the willingness to check out new surroundings with confidence. Loud noises, if they startle, a fast recovery and want to 'see' what made it. Interest in 'prey' and chasing it. How they handle surfaces like slick floors, common things like the vacuum cleaner, rattling food bowls, strange animals (horses come near the yard, they start barking). I like them to want to interact with me as well.



I must be really simple since I look for the biggest pup...biggest head with the stockiest build...the rest dont make fk all difference since the pup will evolve in time according to what its subjected to.....you cant look inside a pup to see what it will be in the future...its all in the upbringing.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Alice, there are times I actrually think you know what you are talking about....then you post something like this. You are definitely a trainer.


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## Alice Bezemer (Aug 4, 2010)

Don Turnipseed said:


> Alice, there are times I actrually think you know what you are talking about....then you post something like this. You are definitely a trainer.



ofcourse im a trainer 

what else should I be looking at tho ? how it behaves like in the 5 minutes before I actualy pick it out of a litter and take it home with me ? what are those 5 minutes going to tell me that is so all telling about the pup I just picked ? sweet **** all! its a moment in time that you cant measure the pups entire life against.

No matter how good or sturdy or strongwilled or nervefree or praydriven the dog may be...how you let it grow up is what makes the dog at the end of the day...its the one one holding the leash that is the biggest pro or con in the evolvement of the pup and not how the pup sits and looks pretty in the litter before you pick it out....granted tho...a good bloodline with nice genetics are a big + and even then in the wrong hands a pup can be turned into a totaly useless nervy twit.


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## James Downey (Oct 27, 2008)

Heres a thought provoking question. How many people do you know picked a pup based on some form criteria they believe shows promise and did anything of great signifcance, How many duds, how many just average run of the mill dogs?


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## Drew Peirce (Nov 16, 2006)

Alice>>>>>>:lol:


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

I know a lot of people that cannot see what is in front of them. I have seen what I thought was the best pup in the litter go to a home, and get sold 3 months later, as "he didn't have it" and then the dog goes on and is all that I thought he would be. I am sure many people have seen this.

Too many are "dog collectors" and while there is nothing wrong with that, they get a dog and then don't train it, and when the little shit is showing some sort of confidence, then they have to knock it down so that they can deal with it.

Hell, I am guilty of doing that with pups here and there. 1 good shot to the balls and my temper would almost always get the best of me. Now I am older and just lie down like a pussy and wonder what happened to that other guy. Great. Now I am bleeding from the head thanks to old age, and idiot happy pups.

I never ruined a dog before for freaking out over getting hit in the balls, so these pups should be even better.

Damn GSD's are all about the ball smacking though. If only the alzheimers would allow me to remember to put a cup on.


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## julie allen (Dec 24, 2010)

Thank you for all the replies. Three were sold yesterday. I have five left, one female who is quiet compared to the boys. One male is last out to explore, sits back and takes it in, then will go along with the rest. 

The other three males are just everywhere, into everything. Out of these, one male will quit first everytime if they are all tugging on a toy. He will still chase the tug, doesn't seem fearful.

When I picked my female for tracking she was middle of litter, not too rowdy, not too bossy, not too quiet. She is great now, but another female, who I thought was just as good, went to Colorado for tracking, and the handler is having trouble with her. The rest of the litter is doing good, all working or starting out good.

Whoever said I have no gut to go on, is right lol. I am learning everyday. We took the litter yesterday and had a lady spend some time with them. She does the training for the task force dogs, and she bought two, also was pointing out who she thought would be good for patrol, SAR, etc.

I just don't know how to evaluate who will be good for what or if thats even possible yet. I do believe alot has to do with the handling and building up of the pups. any advice is always welcome.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

James Downey said:


> Heres a thought provoking question. How many people do you know picked a pup based on some form criteria they believe shows promise and did anything of great signifcance, How many duds, how many just average run of the mill dogs?



I've never been dissapointed with any pup that I've personally picked out for myself.
Picking for someone else you can only tell them what you think at the present time. How they raise it is out of your control.


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## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

Confidence in all things--people, environment. I don't do recovery. I want the one that didn't startle in the first place. Like Chris, I want to look at them at 3, 5 and 7 weeks. If I've raised the litter, what I picked at 3 weeks hasn't changed generally at 7 weeks and I test them for things at 3, 5, 7 weeks. Next intelligence and desire to interact with the human. Its that pup that looks you in the eye and communicates. You can see the wheels turning. I haven't been disappointed with any puppy/dog that I picked with the 3, 5, 7 weeks scheme or even just at 7 weeks. I've had dogs that I brought home at 12 weeks, 6 months, 9 months. They had some baggage ultimately that I didn't care for.

Terrasita


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