Puppy selection

[F, Calla & Luca]

Should puppies be allocated by breeders or should owners get to choose amongst the available puppies?

[F, Calla & Luca]

I wanted to be able to select my own puppies and so I looked at breeders that would allow this. I had certain preferences about sex and size at the time. Even my color choices had some rationale behind it: I wanted to be able to see any ticks.Yet in the end much of my selection was based on superficial, emotional qualities involving which pups looked most pleasing to me. Some breeders do temperament testing and send questionnaires to owners in order to try to match families and pups. I think, though, that in the end , most breeders will allow any reasonably responsible owner have whichever puppy they want if there are remaining puppies in the litter. I wonder if breeder selection or owner selection works out better in the end.

[Lynne B]

I think a good breeder who spends alot of time with the litter is best suited to picking out your puppy. Just make sure that you tell the breeder what is important to you: For some folks it might be a particular color or coat, for another temperament.. Let them know if are you looking for a docile puppy or one that is more outgoing? Is size important to you? Once they know what you want they can usually get a good idea of which puppy will be the 'perfect match' by 5 or 6 weeks!

[2m42srv7vi6sq]

As far as puppies go, if you are not showing, I feel it is better to actually go and pick (or let the dog pick you). I couldn't tell you how many people came to us, for a girl, and left with a boy. There is just a bond or connection that is immediate.

Nobody wanted our smooth little girl, CJ, she wasn't as pretty as the other puppies, when she was little.
She is now going to be 4 months old, is FULLY housebroken. Knows commands and is utterly GORGEOUS.

I firmly believe that, if the litter is from healthy stock and you are not going to show, go and make the connection. You wouldn't let someone else pick out your spouse, would you?

[F, Calla & Luca]

I like your philosophy.

[Meg (Murphy's Mom)]

I think this is a nice answer from a seemingly wonderful person/breeder. I noticed when I was looking for a puppy many of the breeders didn't want families to come and pick they wanted to do the picking for you.

Our breeder let us pick but from photos because we were not able to travel that far. I was extremely lucky because I chose a puppy on size mainly and the breeder tried to persuade me to pick a different pup. In the end my puppy turned out much larger than what I or the breeder thought but his personality is absolutely perfect for me I couldn't be happier.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Let's have the best of both worlds. The prospective owner chooses from what is available with guidance from the breeder for those things deemed important. We have always picked our pups from what was available, but we have always personally been able to see the puppies and choose - clearly the choices we have made are bonding ones. I definitely want another small to medium doodle in the future, but I am going to have to rely on the breeder to steer me to an easier-to-maintain coat type.

[Adina P]

I have no problem with a breeder choosing for me. I don't really believe in "love at first sight" as a pre-requisite for choosing a dog. It was definitely NOT love at first sight for me and Rosco. He didn't seem to take any interest in me (he was already chosen and was the only puppy I met at pick-up) at all. But because I worked with my breeder (who didn't force me into the choice, but made a recommendation based on her knowledge of the litter and what I wanted in temperament) WE chose Rosco and he turned out to be a WONDERFUL choice. Also I think except for those dogs on the very end of the spectrum....the temperament of most doodles is nice enough that you really can't go too wrong. Most of us have or have had dogs that were unruly, naughty, high energy, etc and still called them "perfect" and so on. Jane, for example, got the 'wrong' dog ... but Noah has turned out to be wonderful.

So I think whether a person chose their dog or their dog was chosen...it typically ends up fine for a dog lover with a doodle.

But I would most likely lean toward the breeder choosing (from a given set of criteria of course) vs. me choosing if I had to choose only ONE person making the choice. The breeder knows the pups better than any visitor can know them in a short visit.

[Julie B.]

I firmly believe the owner should pick their puppy. First of all you need some commitment in the process and secondly you are usually paying a lot of money so you are the consumer. It certainly doesn't hurt if the breeder can give you insight on the puppies personalities but the ultimate decision should be the owner's.

[RIDOODLES]

lynne b said "Once they know what you want they can usually get a good idea of which puppy will be the 'perfect match' by 5 or 6 weeks!"....I have to say This is definitely true....very true..for all looking for a puppy ask the breeder as many questions as you can...they have been with the litter since day one...and sometimes you can tell as early as 3 weeks who are the bolder of all the pups...and sometimes it is fun to tell wonderful things to the prospective owners about the pup they selected like for example...he/she was the first one to walk, or the first one to potty in the potty area, or the first one to climb on the see saw agility ramp Tom built for them...or the first one to growl, bark, open its eyes..the first one to climb the stairs up , the first one to climb up and down the stairs..haa haa...we love teaching them as much as we can in the first 8 weeks of life ...they gain confidence when they can learn what seems like a trivial action to some humans, but a great activity in self esteem and assurance for the puppy..
Yes the greatest breeders will know all this and more.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I can see all sides that have been presented here. That being said, I think I have to come down on the side of listening to what the breeder tells you, but ultimately I would have to pick the puppy that feels like the right puppy to me. I particularly like the "you wouldn't let someone else pick your husband would you". There are arranged marriages that ultimately do end up perfect, but I don't think any of us would choose to go that route. I just know that my puppies changed so much after they came home. When they were puppies I would of bet you a thousand dollars that Lucy was going to be the most amazing therapy dog ...... but, she became shy. She may come through that and end up being wonderful, but if she were my only dog I would be really disappointed in that right now. However, Sophie who we had our doubts about doing therapy work at times, has turned out to do a wonderful job. I think that the environment that you bring a puppy in to has a lot to do with how that puppy turns out. I think if we had only gotten one puppy instead of two, that whichever one had come home with us would not be the same dog that they are today because there are 2. A puppy who is bully in a liter of 11 puppies could be a very easy going little fellow once he is the only puppy around. I feel that if I make the selection (again I would listen to what the breeder says), but the decision was mine, then I have to happily live with that decision. Where if the breeder says this is the perfect puppy for you, take it or leave it, and I don't end up with want I want, then I'm regretting that decision to allow that as long as I own the dog.