Picking sheepdog pups

[neilo]

Thought you would have it sorted by now @neilo ---- my dogs have been recorded for many generations & i can now give you EBV's for a whole rack of traits. Shittin' on the carpet, chewing quad seats, ignoring every word you utter & of course escaping when in heat and shagin' the toy poodle from the village ---makes selecting a pup so much easier!

I was thinking of you when I was reading suggestions of those with dark mouths being stronger.

The shagin’ of toy poodles from the village is why I won’t have a dog pup. I like to be able to leave them to potter about the yard with me, without worrying if they’ve buggered off to the town half a mile away, or are chasing some bit of skirt on the numerous footpaths here.

 

[neilo]

I was told in NZ allways keep the runt! Because its allways had to fight for its food. So i kept a runt from a huntaway litter and he is a very good dog. But I usually go for the one that likes a little fuss. When I go in amongst them.

The trouble is, they all like a bit of fuss when I go amongst them, like the mother does. I’m not a great fan of ‘needy’ dogs, like Mrs NeilO’s annoying Lab cross that’s lying on the sofa next to me, constantly wanting fuss.

 

[Tim W]

I was thinking of you when I was reading suggestions of those with dark mouths being stronger.

The shagin’ of toy poodles from the village is why I won’t have a dog pup. I like to be able to leave them to potter about the yard with me, without worrying if they’ve buggered off to the town half a mile away, or are chasing some bit of skirt on the numerous footpaths here.

I had the same reasoning for not keeping a male-- but i gave in and the dog i have now is the best i have ever had , you would be hard pushed to better him in-spite of my ''training''

 

[MRT]

Go for the ugly one they always improve

That's what my wife used to say...

 

[neilo]

Go for the ugly one they always improve

We’re not discussing that kind of dog.

 

[neilo]

Pick the one you like best when you are enjoying the pups company. You'll like that one most and give it a better go than one you feel coerced into keeping to comply with someone's convention. They will all have the same good genes in them somewhere. And happy, sad, bouncy, noisy, quiet puppy traits are not nurtured adult sheepdog traits so unless you keep them all till training age you're picking an apple on pear traits at a few weeks old.
Unless you have an iron hard will don't be tempted to keep them both. Left together they will buddy bond rather than become your shadow unless you have the will to house, train, exercise and befriend them separately.

No, I won’t be keeping two. I promised myself never to bother keeping another pup, preferring to buy a decent one and work on letting them train me......... so one will do.

The flaw in you plan, is that they’re all lovely characters, so struggling to pick any that stand out as ‘must keeps’. TBH, i’d Be happy enough with almost any of them if there wasn’t the choice.

 

[Longlowdog]

I had a teckel vasectomised. It was great when you got blamed for every weird litter in the village and could categorically tell the folk to vacate the area in a sexual manner.

 

[neilo]

The police train their dogs here. I was talking to them the other day and they use this to pick pups

http://www.volhard.com/pages/pat.php

Hmmm, I’m not sure about that, having read through it. I’m sure most of the responses would just give an indication as to how much they’ve been handled/played with by humans in the early days.
I don’t think any of these pups would shy away from anyone coming in, as they’ve never known any reason to be afraid of people (until I half trod on one’s foot this evening). All the humans they’ve met have either been feeding them, making a fuss, or both.

 

[Joe S]

God damn if @neilo collies with ginger bits are a bit of a weakness of minethere so cuteNow I want one why do this to me?

 

[Al R]

Hopefully when my pup pups in a weeks time i’ll have a litter here to so before long i’ll Be in the same situation @neilo .
both parents are of outstanding pedigree and all siblings of sire and dam are all very good working dogs.

I’ve got 3 generation of bitches currently ( grandmother, daughter and her pup)
I would love to keep a dog on as the last 3 dogs we’ve had have been truely awesome dogs and able to drop a texel ewe within seconds and keep it there is of huge advantage, as opposed to our current 3 bitches who just about slow a ewe down enough so that we can corner it and then jump on it.

A glimmer of tan(ginger) always looks nice in a working dog Neilo, and also looks different and unique sometimes too.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

God damn if @neilo collies with ginger bits are a bit of a weakness of minethere so cuteNow I want one why do this to me?

Neil made up his mind which to keep weeks ago - this is all just convoluted advert

 

[Joe S]

Neil made up his mind which to keep weeks ago - this is all just convoluted advert

As much as I would love to it’s really not fair having one without any work for it! Think a collie would get pee'd off sooner or later sitting in diggers, tractors or running about while I’m in one etc

 

[neilo]

Neil made up his mind which to keep weeks ago - this is all just convoluted advert

You're right. I did make my mind up weeks ago, then I changed it, then I changed it again. I was trying to find out from the more experienced dog people as to what I should be looking for.

Get someone else to have their first pick maybe, then keep that one?

 

[scholland]

You're right. I did make my mind up weeks ago, then I changed it, then I changed it again. I was trying to find out from the more experienced dog people as to what I should be looking for.

Get someone else to have their first pick maybe, then keep that one?

Get your better half to choose, then when it's a hopeless pot licker you can blame her! [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

Just go with the one you like the best.

 

[Gulli]

I had the same reasoning for not keeping a male-- but i gave in and the dog i have now is the best i have ever had , you would be hard pushed to better him in-spite of my ''training''

I think that's mostly because he doesn't listen to you

Pick the prettiest one Neil. Fact is no one has the faintest idea how to pick a good working dog from a litter of puppies.

 

[Nithsdale]

You're over thinking it. Go to them in the dark... Feel around til you grab one. The first bitch you lift - that's the one to keep

 

[neilo]

Right, so I've checked the roof of their mouths. What am I looking for? They all have dark patches of various sizes. Does that mean they are as 'strong' as each other and no use for picking one from another? Or that none will be strong as they aren't dark all over?

Jeees, I'm actually asking about judging any kind of performance from cosmetic markings.

Dropped half a bag of shavings on the floor whilst I was freshening up their bedding. Two weren't happy about it, and backed right off for a minute. That's Mrs NeilO's favourite out then.

 

[unlacedgecko]

You're over thinking it. Go to them in the dark... Feel around til you grab one. The first bitch you lift - that's the one to keep

That's how I met my wife!

 

[Nithsdale]

That's how I met my wife!

I've met a few women like that too but none of them were keepers

 

[MRT]

I've met a few women like that too but none of them were keepers

Play hard to get @Keepers