Did you get the runt of the litter?

[Julie B.]

I am in the process of picking out my second doodle and I have pick of the 4 females in the litter. The one I have my eye on is the runt and that isn't unusual for me since my Luah was the runt and I owned a golden retriever that was the runt also. I have found they turn out to be really good dogs and I was wondering if anyone else has found that to be the case. Granted they have their "weeny submissive issues" but I would rather have those than the dominant tendencies that can occur.

I should add I know that the runt isn't necessarily the smallest because they didn't get enough to eat... they can be the result of a second breeding. End result is they are the smallest amongst their littermates and I think this creates certain personalities...

[F, Calla & Luca]

Maybe there are no innately bad dogs? It just might be you're a good owner and the dogs thrive.

[Jenna B. & Chianti]

We got the smallest of our litter and she is anything but submissive. The breeder told us she ruled the roost while with her litter mates. She certainly has had alpha tendencies around us. We are working hard to declare our alpha over her! So I think it should be more about personality than size when making a decision. Good luck with your 2nd doodle! I am already ready for #2 and my Chianti is only 4 months old!

[Chris & Boys]

Hehehee! Yep Jane, he is a giant! All, what????? 25 lbs? LOL!

[Chris & Boys]

OMG! So he really is a giant compared to what you were expecting! And didn't they ship him to you in error????

[Chris & Boys]

I got the runt of the litter with Fozzy Bear. He was by no means the smallest one, but one of the smaller ones. He weighs 52 lbs and at his birthday party, which 7 of his littermates attended, he was much smaller than the rest of them. His biggest brother to attend was 92 lbs. And he is by no means the most submissive - he tried very hard to dominate our late Boomer...... He tends to be submissive to smaller dogs to show he means them no harm and wants to play, but with the big boys he really puffs out his chest and wants to be king of the hill.....maybe it is the small man syndrome?!!!? (no offense intended guys)

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Taquito has small man syndrome aka Napoleon's complex! He will submit to another chihuahua but looks like he wants to attack a Great Dane. Too funny!

[Chris & Boys]

LOL! They sound like they are cut from the same cloth!

[Ellen aka BeauBeau's Mom]

I had to respond to this one: we have a little Chihuahua at our dogpark that plays with Beau daily. He definitely has a Napoleon complex.....we all laughed hy\sterically last week when little Dior took on both the pitbull and the husky, all at once, and got both of them to lie down and cower in fear. We kepy wishing we had a video camera so we could submit the video to U Tube! Incidentally, the owner frequently dresses Dior in pink dresses, and he is a MALE....those are the days when he is the most aggressive LOL

[Ellen aka BeauBeau's Mom]

To go back to topic: my Beau was the runt (I believe) of his litter....I can see that he is significantly smaller than the one of his siblings we are in touch with, and he was the last of the litter to be adopted, I believe that they had to stregthen him and let him grow a little before he could be adopted, although the breeder would probably not admit to that. He is so adorable and loving, but he has had some health issues.....he is only four and has developed cataracts in both eyes, and had to have a surgery this past year for a neoplasia on his lip (thankfully benign). I will of course figure out how to get him the $3000 surgery he needs and then he will be perfect again,

[Natasha]

The smallest dog of Rouser's litter was a little spitfire! If she wasn't the primary alpha, she was certainly right there with one other dog.

I highly recommend getting the right personality fit for your family based upon your habits, your plans for training, if you want to do therapy work or go for the CGC or do agility, etc. Be honest with your breeder about how much time you can and want to devote to training, walking, or just sitting around the house. If you're a runner, then there is no way you could have adopted our lazy doggie and our breeder knew that.

My husband thought it would be great to have a dog to take to dog beach - our breeder shared with us that the puppy we chose (who is perfect for us, btw) really took after his mother and was showing all the signs of not liking water. I think my husband thought he would grow out of it or we could train him to like it - nope! Good thing we're not big water people!

Talk a lot about your history with dogs and the kind of behavior you CAN'T tolerate (for me it's digging and jumping as I'm just not great at training around either). See what the breeder has to say and really consider paying attention to both the natural draw that you have as well as the advice that your breeder is giving you.

The smallest may only be the smallest right now and size doesn't really tell you much about personality.