We take each pup and evaluate her. Topline, tailset, front and back view, angulation, bite, bone. They’re all good, several are very, very nice. In order of amount of white, #2 and #3 are about even, and the other two are close. Physically, none of them would be a mistake.
We take each pup out of the litter and evaluate her personality. Every pup in the litter brings back the rolled ball – wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a whole litter do that before! It shows me good prey drive (useful and fun for training), and an interest in playing with people (they could have kept the ball, or run off with it rather than bringing it back to the tester). They test out eager and fun, none frightened. Good solid temperaments. Some a bit quieter than others. MY puppy is #2 white. I think “Wow, good thing I came along, this isn’t a puppy I’d wish on a beginner!” She’s over the top – too cheerful, too happy, too loud. Bites too hard. Barks too much. Wants to be over THERE when she’s over HERE, and vice versa. I’m in love!
Scuba hates her. Stitch doesn’t move like an adult dog, and Scuba’s had no experience with puppies. Scuba’s trying really hard to be polite, but she doesn’t want to turn her back on any of the puppies, or even get too close to the puppy pen. We took them all to the ophthalmologist to get their eyes checked. The tech was carrying two of the pups and put them down on the floor so she could do something else, trapping Scuba in the room with two piranha. She snapped and snarled at them, dancing away on her tiptoes. I couldn’t grab any of them as I had two in my arms as well. As I was trying to figure out how best to get her away from them, the tech said “Gosh, she really doesn’t want them to nurse right now, does she!” When I pointed out that Scuba wasn’t their mother, she put a little more effort into getting them out of the situation.
I know that Scuba looks like she’s trying to kill them, and this could be worrying some people, but she’s really just telling them to stay away from her. The more sound and fury she produces, the better the chance that they’ll listen before she has to actually come in contact with them to MAKE them listen.