I spent months phoning breeders. Settled on one breeder who was planning a litter. She already had a waiting list for specifics (colour and gender). We didn't mind, although I was not keen on a black dog, thought he'd get too hot (little did I know allergies make dogs hotter, and seems that yellows are more allergic than blacks...?). When the litter was born, all females were already accounted for due to the waiting list. We had first choice of the yellow boys -- two boys. One was white (Snowie), the other a butter yellow. I chose Snowie cos his colouring was the same as his dad's and his dad was just beautiful. This was all from photos!! (Would never do that again!! Although in this case, the breeder was too far away to pop in for a visit -- 6-hr drive.) I did spend many months regretting my choice, thought I should've taken the butter yellow boy after I saw photos of him, he was just gorgeous! Wanted to often say to that owner: if you ever want to give up your boy, let me know. Little did I know she would do this! And when she heard I would've taken him, she was sorry she'd not told me -- they moved countries and they got into problems with his microchip (suddenly stopped working) which meant reinserting a new microchip and leaving him behind while he was revaccinated and shipping him unaccompanied, and she took that as a sign that he should stay here. When we went to pick up Snowie, the other yellow boy was already collected (I was actually in two minds from the start!!); in fact, all the pups had gone except for two yellow girls -- one the breeder was keeping, the other the runt of the litter that no-one wanted (was eventually taken by the breeder's friend and has grown into a healthy girl albeit quite small). Snowie showed no excitement to see us, he was sleeping and drowsily got up and walked out the door to make a wee (already house-trained!). I was concerned he was brain-damaged, he was so slow!! Haha -- he turned out to be incredibly boisterous! But still wakes up drowsily to this day, not usually a jump-up-I'm-ready-for-action kind of boy. His mother was so friendly, a real delight, which was a great sign of things to come -- Snowie definitely has her personality. We would never trade him for the world now, but I would definitely select a puppy differently if I ever did this again, ie spend time getting to know the parents, see the litter (although I guess this would make the choice even harder!!!!!), ask more health-related questions than just the hip/elbow/eye tests.
I didn't get to choose either of my dogs although we did meet them in advance of them coming home. Both litters were generally friendly and lovely and I don't think any of the puppies "chose" us. Building a relationship with them as they grew was a lot of very enjoyable effort and I think that's true of most dogs I have to say though I VASTLY prefer my dogs as grown ups with proper personalities and a bit of training under our belts. There's much more fun to be had then. Puppies are cute but very hard work
My first was from a breeder and I visited probably 4-5 times before the eight week mark came around. The breeder knew me pretty well by that time and essentially said THAT ONE is the best for you. She really was 100% correct and I'm so glad I got the one I got. We'd have litter reunion meet-ups every once in a while over the years and boy, oh, boy, did I get the most chilled out and easy boy, which is just what I wanted. For Brogan (second pup), he was a rescue but the whole litter was at a foster home. I was volunteering for the same rescue group so got first pick of the males (foster mom got first female). Foster mom knew nothing about puppies and while I spent hours visiting, it was only one visit at 5 weeks old. One of the puppies was a complete bruiser bully and then there were two other boys. One did not like to be held at all, the other spend the whole afternoon pretty much in my lap. That was baby Brogan. Now, I'm really, really glad I ended up with Brogan, but as soon as I picked him up a week later he did not want to be cuddled, touched, held or anything else of the sort. In fact, that first "picking out afternoon" was the first and last time that Brogan ever let me snuggle him for more than 5 minutes. So while I wouldn't want to go back and not choose Brogan of course, I'm kind of the school of thought that I'd prefer the breeder either choose or make a strong recommendation. Even then, to be honest, I am NOT looking forward to making that decision again....STRESS!!!!
All of this could be describing us and Pongo exactly (except he is now 42kgs)! Actually we were looking at the more active pup, but the breeder was very clear that that pup would need to go to a family with kids who would provide constant stimulation, so she steered us strongly towards the quiet boy.
Go Pongo - the quiet ones are totally my favourites! I had a little foster puppy who we thought at 4 weeks was a Rottweiler and he had a rough start as he was thrown onto a motorway. I got him straight from the vet after he was well enough and all that puppy did was eat, sleep, poo and grow. He was my dream puppy, I just cuddled him and cuddled him. I took him to adoption fair after adoption fair and would sit in an x-pen while potential adopters overlooked him week after week after week. Everyone wanted that puppy that ran up to them, licked their faces, bit their noses, etc. That was not Oso. He was just a big old love that liked so sleep and cuddle. He was with me for SEVEN months before I found him the right home. He did wake up around 3 months but still was such a cool little dude. After his initial "sleepy period" though, the reason he wasn't adopted quickly is that it turned out he was not JUST Rottweiler. He was Rottweiler plus BASSET HOUND. Huge Rottie body, big ears and teensy weensy short legs. I thought he was gorgeous of course, but it did take a while to find someone who agreed with me enough to give him his forever home.
We had the first choice on the litter... and to be honest you could hardly choose between them, they were like little chocolate peas in a pod! We narrowed it down to one of the bitches (but only OH had a preference), so four to choose from. One was about a millimetre smaller than her sisters, and barking feistily to boot, so then there were three, and in the end we chose the one that happened to fall asleep on OH, but they were all friendly, energetic, lovely puppies and we could have taken any of them home
As if you aren't driven to distraction yourself with the "constant stimulation" of having kids, without being given the more active puppies!
We went to choose a black girl but a yellow girl snuggled up to my daughter and that was that. Love x
We went to visit when there were 5 weeks old. We chose one from these three boys. Which one is Homer?
When we went to see Benson, he was the last, at 10 weeks old. He was sat alone and sad in a huge pen. We weren't allowed to touch him until we had agreed we wanted him, thought that was strange? It was all a bit odd really. We did see the parents though and even tracked the original breeder of the stud dog. Every was spotlessly clean, even a boot dip as you came through the door, which I must admit was interesting with one leg in plaster! Choosing Bramble was a completely different experience Relaxed, noisy, wonderful people and lovely dogs, Marcus fell in love with a smashing old black labrador who kept wandering in and giving him toys. The pups were in a huge sort of whelping box in the middle of a large, busy kitchen. Bramble was one of two that we could choose from as most were already reserved. She was the only pup awake and so we got to know her a bit. We took her home there and then as they were 8 weeks old, and a fair old hike for us as they were based in Cumbria.
Do you think their environment made a difference to their personalities? Do you think one environment made a better dog? Obviously so many other factors, but given that you had such different environments for your pups, do you think it had an effect? I'm so curious!!
We went to see the pups about 4 times before we bought Molly home. One of her sisters' was identical and in all honesty each time we visited I had to ask the breeder which was Molly In the end she developed a slightly darker nose than her sister and that's how we knew who we were getting. Not a very romantic method eh?
Good question MF...I think Benson is bombproof really, a really well adjusted and quietly confident dog, genetics I think played a part. Regarding Bramble, her default tends towards caution with other dogs, so her relaxed upbringing immersed in a household with other dogs, children, visitors and her littermates at such an early age was probably was better than just being kennelled in a barn.
