Like the gender-reveal party has become a thing for people having babies, now pick-your-puppy day is apparently part of getting a pedigree dog. That means, next week, Bob and I are going to Arkansas to pick our puppy. We have ‘second choice male’ (out of a litter of 13!) and we have absolutely no idea what to look for.
At 5-6 weeks old, all of the puppies are cute, pudgy, floppy little things that sleep, nurse, poop, and walk like drunks all day long.
How the heck do you drive 6 hours and sagely pick the one puppy who will grow up into the perfect adult dog? Everything we read says it’s a bit of a crap shoot—you can just start to see differences in each pup’s size and personality, and if you’re hoping for a show dog, you can get some mild clues about conformity to breed standards. But it’s clear you find out much more meeting and evaluating the litter’s parents and the breeder’s history. After that, picking a puppy is a little like eeny, meeny, mo….
Of course, Bob and I have a secret weapon on our side: Symeon, who will be joining us on a FaceTime call at the breeder. He’s going to help us know what matters and what doesn’t and help raise our odds of getting the dog that’s just right for us. Time to get the oil changed in the car!