Looking for suggestions on selecting a dog by attitude and temperament. How do you go about selecting a dog?

Gary

Just love and blind faith.

I get along quite well with most dogs. They all seem to like me for some reason. It's been that way since I was a kid. So, I end up having to pick the dog.

I've found that different stages in my life have called for different personality types with dogs.

I set by the bitch and wait for a pup to come to me, if it stays and finds me interesting then that is the one I pick, provided it is a bitch.

Don't take anyone with you, no wife, no kids...unless the pup is for them.

I prefer the pup to have opened it's eyes recently, and when travelling home I have the pup sleep on my dirty work clothes, same in it's bed at home.
Same system if the pup is for another member of the family.

If the temperament is acceptable, I let the dog pick me/us.

I've said it before, I've had many dogs and have never had more loyal dogs than adopted dogs who appreciate their new safe home.

It's just like when ya met your wife, Ya just knew she was the right one for you.

The dog I have now was the runt of the litter and the last dog. He was just a sweetie from the first. I held him on the way home. That night I slept in my recliner with him laying on my chest so he could smell me and smell my breath. When he stirred I took him outside. We've bonded well. For the runt he's a 100 pound yellow lab and still a sweet heart.

Thanks, guys. I knew I came to the right place to ask.

One suggestion I have heard is, take a small ball when you visit the litter of pups - a ball of appropriate size for the pups in question. Toss it a short distance and see if one of the litter will get it and bring it to you. That's a dog who wants to please.

Good one, Tex. I'll do that. Another thing I heard is to roll the pup on his back and scratch under his throat. If he fights it, pass. If he is passive, he's good.

I can tell you from sad experience that a friendly, curious pup can still turn out to be a total disaster. I want a lot more info than that about them.

I like to watch how the pup moves. Whether or not their legs move in an efficient manner. I speak with the owner and ask their opinion of the pups. I handle them all and get a feel for the relative weight and build of each. Then I pick the cutest one.

You adopt children. You buy a dog.

You pick but it's still a bit of a crapshoot.... I've seen dogs that were clearly timid and had issues eventually come around over time. This can be incredibly satisfying. I've seen others that seemed to have all of the right stuff never produce what you expect in the end. The most important thing of course is often what you do with them once they come home.

The best book I ever read by far was about pointing labs. Even if your dog isn't a hunter or a pointer or a lab, I highly recommend it. Hell, many of the concepts have helped me raise my children!

Been exactly my experience as well

I make an appointment with a reputable breeder, tell them what I want, take out cash from the savings, buy dog, and start training.



Travis

Totally agree! Wife and I have had nine rescued dogs and they've all been amazingly loyal. Our last adoptee is a senior citizen German Shepherd from the local Humane Shelter. He's 14 and had a lot of medical problems when we got him, but he's an absolute joy and such a sweet old gentleman. But, there is no doubt that he'd gladly give his last breath to serve or save me, if needed.

When choosing a pup, I try to look for one that's not necessarily the most aggressive/rambunctious one, but not a shrinking violet either. And I do the roll-over test, mentioned above, also. It's ok if you have to do it slowly, as long as they eventually will trust and submit to you.

You know when you know. Dogs are like kids, they thrive on attention and love. Positive reinforcement does wonders for both.

5 months old when she picked us at the shelter. There ain't a mole/squirrel/armadillo safe in her yard.








Not sure what this ones role is, but I'd not want to be a thing going after mommy. He was 8 weeks old when we got him from the shelter.

I've always let the dog pick me. I've always felt my dog would know me before I know it.

^ This. Pick a professional breeder who is active in the breed and knows something about genetics. Look at the parents. best thing to do is look at dogs from prior litters of the same parents if possible. get references. don't pinch pennies. Then again, ignore all the above is all you want is a yard mutt or something to fill empty space under the kitchen table .

Pure bred dogs tend to be more neurotic than mongrels.

Cats pick their owners because they're picky. Dogs, not so much.

That's [bleep] hilarious.



Travis

That is NOT a good analogy. Many of us [bleep] slam up pickin' a wife....some of us several times.

Not if they're bred right, "right" being the operative word. Pure bred isn't necessarily well bred. There are way too many backyard breeders out there and they prey on the ignorance of the general public who seem to think that animals are somehow cookie cutters and one puppy "with papers" and a few "Ch" 's in the pedigree is as good as the next. You can have a terrific bitch and a terrific dog but they might be the worst possible combination to breed to each other. That's where a real breeder is worth his or her salt. They understand the breed, they know genetics, they are familiar with the recessive traits to watch out for and how to identify them.

Agreed.

I've been running bird dogs (all but one Springers) for 30+ years, and was also active in two Springer field trialing clubs, so I've worked with dozens of the breed.

My current (and all-time best) bird dog was the product of a very selective process.

I searched online for reputable breeders across the country, then discarded any breeders who weren't active in training and/or field trialing. Most breeders will brag on their champion dogs, but that doesn't mean much. I called each one to talk to them to find out what their breeding and training philosophies were, and only after I'd found a breeder whose ideas mesh pretty well with mine did I actually go look at his dogs.

The breeder I selected happened to be fairly close to where I lived at the time, so I drove over and looked at his dogs. He had 3 started dogs for sale, all of them about 18 months old. He ran the dogs for me on birds, so I could see how they performed. He also ran the sire and dam of the dog I eventually picked, to show me what I could expect to see with further training.

In the end, I selected the one out of the 3 that appealed to me the most for non-tangible reasons... I mean, all 3 dogs were fantastic bird dogs.

Yes, I paid a good bit more for a started dog, but unlike buying a puppy whose potential is only a guess, I bought a dog whose ability and personality were already evident.

I don't think I'll ever buy a pup again. If I get a hankering for puppies, I'll buy a started bitch and get her bred once in between hunting seasons.

One dog picked out sight-unseen, worked out fine. The other after playing with a bunch - worked out fine.

But anyway, the latter time we got to interact off leash with maybe a dozen of a breed we thought made sense. None were that exuberant or friendly, poor things. But when told the lady managing the place our specific needs she brought out yet ANOTHER dog, and this one radiated demure sweetness, crawling first into gf's arms then mine, holding on with all her might. She's been a great dog.

And any breeder worth a schit will pretty much guarantee the pup is going to have all the traits you are after, or you can have another dog.


Travis

I went to a breeder and got a gun shy pris of a cocker spaniel.

Went to the pound and grabbed a beagle/dachshund mix, and it was the best rabbit dog I ever had. Low Rye Der.

"Worth a schit" being the operative phrase. references references references If you're serious about having a dog, study the breed, be sure it's what you really want then look around and talk to people who are active with the breed. Don't decide you want, for example, a lab because all your buddies have labs and, hey, there's a guy on the next road over who breeds labs... labs make a good example here because they're currently a very popular breed, maybe #1 in the US. Popularity can be a problem, it promotes quick buck backyard breeding which really confuses the issue and gives you a lot more breeders to have to sort through. We had a guy around here who bred labs for years but never trained or trialed his dogs, never even hunted them. He didn't know jack about dog breeding, either. This area was flooded with really poor quality labs for years, bad hips, bad eyes, all kinds of (probably) congenital defects and a lot of them didn't even look like labs. Many were dead by the time they were 5 or 6 years old. Same way with golden retrievers. Are there good ones out there, yeah. Also a lot that aren't even recognizable as goldens.

the last one I adopted picked me...really picked my daughter...at Pat's camp in east Texas.

he's Mickey's favorite child now.

it has always been the dog that does the picking in our family it just seems too work that way never got a bad one yet swore I would never get a pit not because I don't like them I do but the neighbors and what not kept me from doing it after our lab of 14 years retired so too speak we went too the shelter a bull dog pit mix saw the boys came over too play would not go back too her kennel would not leave the boys side yep aint hard too figure out what happened good dog no regrets about the farthest thing from vicious as you can get likes too play with the cat and the hamsters good guard instinct guess we will keep her.

Plinker if you are going to attempt it yourself, google 'Volhards Puppy Aptitude Test' It'll give you sone ideas...


That being said A truly good breeder, will screen applicants for puppies,figure out your experience level and lifestyle ,do the temperament testing themselves, and THEY will pick the puppy for you.A good gun dog breeder, or working dog breeder wouldnt consider anything else. Pet dog people will do anything...