# Choosing the right puppy from a litter



## GettingToKnowGSDs (Oct 25, 2017)

Good morning! I'm a lurker recently turned question asker, so let me know if this isn't the right spot for this on the site.

I've read several threads where people have said they have let the breeder choose the right puppy for them based on what they wanted from the dog. Sounds like generally people who go WL GSDs prefer lower drive for companion, higher for sport or working dogs.

My question is, how much can you really tell about the drive of the dog at such a young age? What observations would you see in a puppy that would tell you this? And how early can you make that determination? 6 weeks? 8 weeks?

I'm thinking of just asking the breeder to choose the lowest drive female from the litter for us, but when would she be able to make that determination? Or is that really just an educated guess and it's also fine to just pick a pup from the beginning and go with what we get?


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## wolfstraum (May 2, 2003)

At 7-8 weeks, an EXPERIENCED breeder can make a pretty good guess on what pups are more dominant and more drivy.....you - on the other hand - from a photo or a visit or two cannot begin to understand the dynamics between the pups and their interactions with people in that capsule of time.

Most people I know who I respect do not let people "pick" pups from photos....or even a short visit.....


Lee


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## GettingToKnowGSDs (Oct 25, 2017)

Oh believe me I'm not trying to determine a puppy's drive myself - I'm just curious about what kind of behaviors the breeder does look for? The breeder we've chosen takes our requests/situation into account and will make a puppy recommendation for us. And it sounds like a person that knows what they're doing can make a good guess at that early age, so that's reassuring.


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## az_girl (May 21, 2017)

What Lee said is totally true. The *experienced* breeder knows exactly how to read those puppies and can tell from a very young age how their drive is. Our breeder has been doing this for 20 years and she 100% picks the dog for you. In fact, it is part of her guarantee that she will get you the type of dog you want. She had one dog picked out out for us from the first week, but by 4 weeks she changed it based on the pups personality. She said the first dog was too diva for us as first time GSD owners and she decided to change it with a happy go lucky, wants to be with her people puppy. I completely trust her judgement and she has testimonial after testimonial of people saying how wonderful of a job she did picking out their dog for them. So, to answer your question, I would say the experienced breeder would have a really good handle on things between the 4-6 week age group but sometimes this can change up till the end of week 7 (I asked her this very question and that was her response  ). On another note, once pups hit 4 weeks, we started visiting. How she acted at 4 weeks was SO different than her at 5 weeks, which was SO different from her behavior at 6 weeks! Its amazing how 1 hour of interaction per week, you see all these little personalities. Funnily enough, the original dog she picked for us, didn't even come up to us the first time we visited, yet the dog she switched us to, made a beeline for my son (and there were 3 families there) right when she left her gated area. And the second time we visited, she did the exact same thing. Crazy. So, I definitely would only work with an experienced breeder that chooses for you . Good luck and keep us posted!


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## GettingToKnowGSDs (Oct 25, 2017)

Thanks for the responses, I had no idea they could begin to tell that early on! Our litter isn't even conceived yet...so it'll be a while before an update happens, but I will update with pics as soon as we have the little guy/gal!


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