# Evaluating puppies for the right homes



## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

Breeders – when you have a litter of puppies what is your process for deciding which pup is suited for which home? I know you would have talked to potential buyers and have an understanding of what they are looking for (IPO, SAR, ACK venues, companion only, etc.).

How do you evaluate your puppies? At what age do you really start to see who they are? Do you evaluate them individually, as well as how they interact with their littermates? Are their certain exercises you do to see what their drives are, test different surfaces, etc.?

I’m very curious and would love to hear your feedback.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

I start as soon as they are beyond the eating/pooping blob stage.  There are things I see early on that I have seen before. It helps being so many generations into my lines. For example, this time around there was one male that showed 'tude very early on and LB would constantly push him around as though she knew he would be a punk. I have seen that before where my females would be harder on a pup in the litter as though they knew that one needed the extra manners. Vala was this way with Deja and Deja with LB. 

I expose them to different environments, different footings, loud noises, new smells, etc both as a group and alone. I have a test developed by a friend used to test working prospects. I don't use the standard pet dog tests. I look for environmental soundness in a new location after a ride in the truck (I also look for car sickness. HATE puppies that get car sick) and whether they will engage with me and a stranger despite the new location. Test for sound sureness, hunt drive, food drive, prey drive, fight drive, grip, if they will bite harder or get worried if gently challenged, toy drive (I don't care if they bring things back), interest in strange objects, pain sensitivity and how they react and if they recover (I would never put a puppy with a low pain threshold that tends to react aggressively in a family with small children). I am rarely surprised when the pups are tested though a few have shown me that they were better away from their littermates than with them. Oh, I also like to see how they react to heights. Do they freeze, panic, explore...


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## wolfebergk9 (Oct 11, 2014)

lhczth said:


> I start as soon as they are beyond the eating/pooping blob stage.  There are things I see early on that I have seen before. It helps being so many generations into my lines. For example, this time around there was one male that showed 'tude very early on and LB would constantly push him around as though she knew he would be a punk. I have seen that before where my females would be harder on a pup in the litter as though they knew that one needed the extra manners. Vala was this way with Deja and Deja with LB.
> 
> I expose them to different environments, different footings, loud noises, new smells, etc both as a group and alone. I have a test developed by a friend used to test working prospects. I don't use the standard pet dog tests. I look for environmental soundness in a new location after a ride in the truck (I also look for car sickness. HATE puppies that get car sick) and whether they will engage with me and a stranger despite the new location. Test for sound sureness, hunt drive, food drive, prey drive, fight drive, grip, if they will bite harder or get worried if gently challenged, toy drive (I don't care if they bring things back), interest in strange objects, pain sensitivity and how they react and if they recover (I would never put a puppy with a low pain threshold that tends to react aggressively in a family with small children). I am rarely surprised when the pups are tested though a few have shown me that they were better away from their littermates than with them. Oh, I also like to see how they react to heights. Do they freeze, panic, explore...


I was curious, at what age do you usually see puppies start to develop toy drive?


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## EyeDogtor (Mar 21, 2018)

They should start to develop better visual acuity at 4 weeks, enough to see objects. Their range of clarity may not be very large so tracking and going after toys may be very difficult at this stage.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

wolfebergk9 said:


> I was curious, at what age do you usually see puppies start to develop toy drive?


It depends a lot on the lines. My D litter took awhile. Donovan went from half hearted ball drive to crazy for the ball at 8 months. Deja I had to develop it using her desire to fight with me. Elena never showed a lot, but her brothers did by 8 weeks. My B and C litters showed it early (4 weeks) and I think so did my F.


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