# Picking the right puppy out of a litter?



## Angelina (Aug 11, 2011)

Have you had a puppy before? Do you have other pets? It would be helpful to know a bit more about your environment and the environment for the dog. Did you want to show a dog? Sport? Hunting? or pet? What made you decide you want a puppy versus and older dog? K


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

Most reputable breeders will actually be doing the picking. They are with the pups 24/7 and will be able to match what you are looking for.


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## Sterling Archer (Feb 8, 2011)

From the sounds of it, you're just looking for a family pet? My wife had her eyes on the most active/playful pup in the litter. Then another playful pup "winked" at her. That's the one she got me.

As the others said though...unless you're talking about a "woops" litter or backyard breeder, the breeder is likely going to play matchmaker.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Penny & Maggie's Mom said:


> Most reputable breeders will actually be doing the picking. They are with the pups 24/7 and will be able to match what you are looking for.


Not always. Flora's breeder just stood there and let me do the picking. I asked for help and he more or less said all the puppies were the same. So to the OP, my suggestion would be to first ask the breeder for help, and if that doesn't work then do what I did: I sat down and just watched the puppies. I let them play with each other and come to me on their own accord. I picked my puppy after she nibbled at my shoe and nipped my hand.


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## kwhit (Apr 7, 2008)

All my Goldens have been rescues, but all my Danes were from breeders that chose the puppy for me.


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## Luv4puppiessk (Sep 30, 2011)

I have a 10 year old black lab mix. But we got him
From the shelter as a puppy at 8 weeks. He was the last one of the litter and
When I saw him knew he was the one! He is awesome with other dogs. But I have never bought a puppy from a breeder before. That's why I ask


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

My breeder picked Beamer and he is the perfect fit! Why not just ask the breeder for their opinion?


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## Luv4puppiessk (Sep 30, 2011)

Okay I will ask the Breeder


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## Gwen (Aug 9, 2007)

Luv4puppiessk said:


> Okay I will ask the Breeder


When you go to see the puppies, you won't know what the puppies were up to before you got there. The most active puppy might be sleeping because he's been playing hard & you could label him as a quiet pup. Your breeder is with those puppies 24/7 and knows their personalities inside & out - trust their judgement. As well, some of the puppies might be reserved as show pics and not available for you. Trust your breeder (that's why you choose a GOOD breeder)


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## jackie_hubert (Jun 2, 2010)

In most cases if your breeder doesn't pick for an inexperienced home I would wonder about how good the breeder is. It is unlikely that all the pups are the same. 

However, for myself, next time I will ask to see the temperament test results myself to understand why a particular puppy was chosen. 

Remember that puppy behavior can be very different from adult behavior. Energy levels especially are not necessarily predictive. A super calm puppy can grow into a wild child and vice versa. Fearfulness, however, is quite predictable. A puppy that is at all hesitant to interact is likely not going to grow into a confident adult.


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## JeffP (Jun 30, 2011)

Penny & Maggie's Mom said:


> Most reputable breeders will actually be doing the picking. They are with the pups 24/7 and will be able to match what you are looking for.


That is exactly what our breeder is doing. She has them evaluated at about 7 1/2 weeks. As she explained it to me, it is because they change so much, and their real personalities don't start to show till then. The puppy you fell in love with at 5 weeks could be totally different at 8 weeks.

When we filled out our application, we were asked what qualities we were looking for in our puppy. She will take the qualities we listed, and try to match them with the puppy best suited to our needs when they are evaluated.


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## MGMF (May 13, 2009)

Talking to the breeder is the best thing to do. A good breeder spends endless hours with their puppies to get to know each one individually. This will help them match a puppy to you.


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