How to Pick a Puppy

Opportunity of picking a puppy comes the fewest times in your life. This is why most of us are not well acquainted with what to look for while picking a puppy. While novice people usually make mess of things by picking a wrong puppy in hurry, knowledgeable people are cautious enough and spend more time in picking a puppy from a litter than they spend for picking the right kind of attire and pair of shoes of themselves. If you haven’t been a dog owner before, chances are there that you may need to know a lot of things that are quite essential to keep in mind while picking a puppy. You need to know about different dog breeds, their characters and traits, their requirements, their temperaments, personality, likings and disliking etc. But the knowledge shouldn’t be confined with these few topics only; expand your knowledge by visiting the all-breed dog shows. Mingle with breeders and canine behaviorists, and spend times with them. Remember all breeds are unique in their nature, characteristics, ways of maintenance, feeding habits, and many other factors. Moreover, puppies within the same litter may have uniquely distinctive personalities.

The most important step to bring home a right puppy is to decide on a right breed that will suit your lifestyle and then find a right breeder. Making correct decision n this regard is quite important for you and your family. This is something that shouldn’t be left up to your children and novice people. Let me assume that you have already decided on a specific breed and found a good breeder.

1. Observation is the key to the success of picking a perfect puppy. When you arrive at the kennel where the puppies are born, take a note of the cleanliness of the kennel. In an unclean kennel, the dam cannot be in good health, and so will be the puppies.

2. Condition of the mother is very important. Check out the general health of the mother dog. After delivery most bitches seem to be quite thin… that’s quite normal - especially during the weaning period. Mal nourishment will give you adequate indications. Better not to pick puppies from such litters, as puppies will be under nourished too! Remember the puppies growth and immunity power depends on mother’s milk. If the mother dog doesn’t get enough nourishment, puppies will be naturally undernourished.

3. Observe the puppies minutely before you pick one from the lot! Observe how they act, move and play. This will give you tons of hidden information about them. If you watch them carefully, you will get easily keep the dominant member in your choice list. You can distinguish the weaker and shy ones from the smarter members.

4. Puppies’ Pedigree chart is another quite important thing to be checked out! Don’t forget to ask for the parental lineage chart. If you are not well acquainted with how to check them and what to check, you should take help of an experienced person. A pedigree chart of a dog talks a lot about the quality of the breed. But again it should be kept in mind that the best bitch can produce the worst puppies. This is why you should consider checking out all the other factors that can influence the quality of a puppy.

Personality test finds its importance here! Do-it-yourself personality check is a great idea and a fun too! Above all it provides you with most important insight into the puppy’s character and what it may grow up to be! You will love to read about How to Test a Puppy’s Personality. Just as a few hints, all you need to see if the puppy is friendly, shy, strong-willed or energetic. Friendly, energetic and dominant member should be picked, provided he/she is well maintained and the mother is in good food and care. At the same time test the puppy’s “Response to Obligation” and tolerance power, which are quite important.

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