Help picking puppy! :)
Okay, so the day is soon arriving when our new MBT will be shipped to us. We have the choice between two brindle boys (the two in the front) and was curious what members thought on their markings. Appearance is not so important to me, but is to my wife. So any thoughts on which of these two guys we should welcome? The white face or the striped face?
Any personality traits that I could ask about at this age that may help make the decision???
Comments
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
Im a big advocate of the right dogs temperament for the right home.
are you new to the breed? if so, ask the breeder which pup is the most laid back and easily ignored.
because THAT is the one youll be wanting if your new to the breed.
if your an advanced bully owner and are very knowledgible in dog behavior, you can welcome the more outgoing pup.
it is those least noticeable pups who often make the best dogs and easiest to train because they are neither domineering and cocky, nor shy or nervous.
when directing my sister to which English bull dog puppy to choose, and it was between 2 feamles, I told her to ask the breeder which was HER favorite and why, the breeder said she perfered the pink ribbon pupy because she was "the baby" the one cutest, sillyies and most outgoing baby, I told my sister-take the other one.
and sure enough, I was correct. the owners of the pink ribbon puppy ended up giving her back to the breeder because she was quite pushy and dog aggressive, while my sisters was very calm, andn aturally more relaxed and MUCh easier to train.
while a nice color and shape are nice-its the personality that's going to give you problems-not the color
I know Stoges_mom and I "just knew" when we saw the first pic below of our little Man-imal... The second pic confirmed & sealed the deal!!!
Oh those pups are super cute!
I agree though, you're in for once heck of a ride!
If your close enough, take a quick trip before they are ready for their new homes, and see them in action. One of the 2 just may make a bonding moment and attach themselves to you. The decision will be made for you. If not Videos and study their behavior.
We're Upstate.
When we picked up our puppy, our breeder did mention that nobody asked for as many pics as us.
We only asked for new pics every week (sometime twice in one week) for a month & a half straight, haha!
Both of those Bullie-Boys look outstanding, I can hardly wait to read about the journey you're about to em-BARK on
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com
On arrival to their house, we apologized for all our requests and thanked them for their cooperation. To quote them "How could you not want as many pics of him as you can get, he's some damn cute!" haha! Then Stoeger pee'd on their kitchen floor, lol! I guess he was excited to see us too!!!
Like everyone has said, no reason to be shy or feel like you're gonna bother the breeder.
Here is a small sample of the pics we convinced the breeder to send just in the first week or so of Stoge's life. We got MANY more in the following weeks.
P.S. We're 20mins outside Albany.
Definitely looking forward to reading about his life-long adventure with you!!!
I got to be honest with you, it is extremely difficult to predict the temperament and character of a Bull Terrier at such a young age. Many people will have their myths about how to pick out the best puppy by some sort of test they conduct, touching a puppy a analyzing their reaction, and so many other weird methods. There is yet to be some form of method that has truly proven to be accurate.
If you met Sooner when he was a young puppy you'd swear he'd grow up to be the most dominant and aggressive male Bull Terrier you'd ever run across. Sooner just had to be wrestling with his siblings all the time. He would stir up a fight just for the sake of not being bored. Sooner used to wake Rocky up from a dead sleep by biting on his ear. If I scolded him he'd turn around, growl, and haul butt away from me. Now he's the biggest baby you'd ever meet. He loves all dogs and begs them for attention. He shows more affection than any other male BT I've met. He's a super lovable BT that absolutely adores attention from both people and other dogs.
Ears back, nervous, or anything else could happen from one puppy to next every 5 minutes. In the photos you've posted I see a confident puppy with his ears erect while someone is standing over him with a camera clicking away.
My recommendation to you is to get very familiar with the parents of the litter vice trying to judge the individual puppies. I promise you that you won't be able to get any sort of accuracy in judging a 6 week old puppy's temperament and character right now. With this said, judge the parents. Judge how much time the breeder is spending with the puppies. Have the breeder video tape the puppies playing outside together.
I hate saying it but if the breeder is having some difficulties finding homes for all the puppies and they are coming up on the age in which they're going to new homes there's no telling what they'll say especially if they know they have 2 or more people wanting to claim the same puppy. I'm not saying your breeder would be this way. However, I'm a little leery about the claim that a Bull Terrier judge conducted an assessment of character on these particular puppies. If that BT judge wanted to provide better insight he'd have explained that 40% of the future temperament can be based off the temperament of the parents, 50% of the future temperament can be based off the way the puppy was raised and trained from 8 weeks on, and the last 10% is just luck of the draw due to the intelligence of the individual puppy.
Again my recommendation to you is to pick the puppy that you and your family prefer the most. A video would be very helpful in determining which one YOU thought had the best personality. I think you are fortunate to be able to see photos of the puppies at an older age and be able to choose between 2 puppies. For us, the people who claim ownership to one of our puppies are usually doing this the day they born and their decision for a puppy is simply based off their preference in sex, color, and markings. The future structure, conformation, temperament, and character can best be predicted based off the parents, their bloodlines, and pedigree.
Here's a video of a past litter where you can see the puppies having a good time outside playing together. Our female "Double Deuce Dakota" is amougst this group. She was chosen the second she was born due to her color and markings only. We knew what her temperament and character would be like in the future.
"It's not just a Dog, it's a Bull Terrier!"
www.bulliesofnc.com