Some Thoughts on Puppy Selection
When a prospective buyer has selected a breeder and litter and the interview process has been completed to the satisfaction of both parties, the process of puppy selection begins. Even before a litter is whelped, the breeder will ask the buyer a multitude of questions about lifestyle, family, training tendencies, hunting style, expectations and preferences. Once the puppies are born and begin to show individual qualities, the breeder will attempt to match each buyer with the ideal puppy. Over the last few years I have discovered that as much as we observe a litter of puppies as they age, their environment, feed, training and experiences can have much to do with their ultimate outcome and that outcome may differ from the assumptions made by initial observations.
Joe Irving says it here far better than I can in his book, Gundogs, Their Learning Chain:
"Consider this: even when you can go and see the puppies, it is very much a case of 'backing your hunch', for, contrary to popular belief, the breeder does not [necessarily] know what is likely to turn out to be the best of the bunch at the end of the day. After all, at eight weeks of age they are just little, playful bundles of fun. How much more of a gamble must it be to buy by post [buy sight unseen]? ...
What chance have you got in this lottery? And to cap it all, at the end of the day, you’ve paid your money and, provided that the puppy that awaits you is healthy, then the breeder has fulfilled his part of the contract; you have no redress. The poor breeder, on the other hand, who may be genuinely offering the public top class material, has his problems too. For he would much prefer to see his clients in person, that he may judge as to what type of home his puppies are going to. …
Probably the best advice I can give you is: if on seeing the advertisement you are uncertain of the veracity of the claims made, seek guidance, either from a known breeder, a gundog correspondent in the sporting press, or write directly to the Kennel Club….
A little effort at this stage pays dividends in the long run, for you cannot be too careful. …
Whilst the breeder probably doesn’t know which puppy is likely to turn out to be the best, he can give you advice and, if asked, will be only too willing to give guidance and indicate which puppies he likes best. However, you must bear in mind that the development of a puppy over the first few months of its life can vary from pup to pup quite dramatically. As a result, any advice the breeder may give you is no more or less than a ‘gut-hunch’!- founded, probably, on his past experience. In other words, the pup that exhibits traits that are reminiscent to him of traits displayed as puppies, in successful dogs he has trained in the past, will be his natural choice. That is not to say that the puppy indicated will necessarily be the one best suited to your personality, and the two personalities are very closely linked; that is, yours and the puppy’s. What may suit the breeder’s personality may not be compatible with yours. Say, for instance, he is a ‘hard’ trainer, then he will naturally do better with a hard, outgoing type of dog as opposed to a softer, introvertive one. …
On average, litters tend to cover a fairly wide spectrum of temperament. …
Mother Nature has a wry sense of humour and is by no means the most obliging of mistresses; consequently, what may appear to be a bright, bold, outgoing puppy at eight weeks of age could very well be a dullard at six months old. …
Probably the best advice anyone can give you in this respect is, providing that you are inspecting a quality litter, a litter with a good background, you might as well as close your eyes, reach into the box and take the first one that comes to hand.”
By and large I agree with Mr. Irving. While we breeders do our best to predict a puppy’s temperament, energy level, conformation, size and overall quality we sometimes find that a puppy does not develop into the dog that we anticipated. With each litter we ideally observe, test (through venues such as NAVHDA, AKC conformation, field tests, as well as day to day hunting, and owner reports) and learn more about the indicators that help to predict the overall outcome that those early indicators represent. Through our experiences and observations we attempt to use these indicators to help new owners choose their new puppies.
Puppy placement is an on-going learning experience for every breeder. To capably match puppies and owners we must put aside our own preferences and earnestly listen to the new owner to learn what his needs are in his new companion. Sometimes an attentive breeder will hear one thing and realize that the prospective buyer really means another thing altogether, and that further education of the breed, training, puppy rearing, etc. might be called for. This attention and willingness to learn by the breeder will increase the odds of successful puppy placement.