Choosing Puppies, Debi Style

It's a rainy, blustery, gray day here on the coast. This is the perfect day for a fire, a book, a cup of cocoa all enjoyed from the comfort of a favorite chair. But True doesn't care. True WANTS to go outside in the wind and wet. In fact, it's what she's been waiting - no, pining - for since oh-dark-thirty.  This is what I signed on for when I chose her out of a litter of seven.

This is True nagging. She huffs and grunts and whines and periodically comes over to lay her snout on my leg and look at me soulfully.

This is happy True. Out in the wet and wind. With her ball. She looks a little like Dobby from Harry Potter, but she's happy. You can see that her hiney and tail are a little blurry from wagging.

So, every day, twice a day, True must go out and chase her ball. Rain, snow, sleet, shine, doesn't matter. Chasing is a must.

She's actually one of the smartest dogs we've ever had. She rings the bells we tied to the doorknobs to go in and out. She fetches, sits, lays, stays on command. She knows every one of her stuffed toys by name and will bring them to you when asked. She'll bring the treat jar to you. In fact, she'll bring you anything you ask for as long as it fits in her mouth and she understands that's the thing you want. She'll put her paws up in the air when you point your finger at her and say, "Stick 'em up!", and will drop down play-dead when you say, "Bang, bang". She'll jump over and through things like fences or hoops on command. She once climbed a ladder onto the roof to retrieve a Frisbee. She's got good manners, too. Like she won't rush out the door ahead of you, she waits for the command to go out the door. She won't jump out of the back of the truck until commanded, etc.

How did I luck into this paragon, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. These are my requirements when pup shopping:

1. First of all, I use the word "shopping" loosely, because it must be free. I have gotten pound puppies before and paid the shelters' fees happily. But when you get a pup from the shelter, you most likely won't get to meet the parents, you most likely won't know what breed(s) the pup may be (I'm pretty sure the shelter folks guess the breed based on what the puppy looks like), your pup may be traumatized just from being in the shelter. I figure I'll be taking on the feeding, grooming, vetting of this animal for 10+ years, so don't want to pay much up front.

2. It must also be a PUPPY under six months old, but eight weeks is ideal. I like being able to teach my dog everything I want it to know. I don't enjoy "unteaching" bad habits.

3. It must be a mutt. Many breeds have their own issues - be it health or personality. Sometimes with a mutt, you get the best of whatever breeds are mixed, sometimes you get the worst. But I simply like the idea that there's a chance of not having to deal with negative aspects of the puppy's breed(s).

4. I must be able to meet the dam & would like to meet the sire as well, but meeting mommy is the requirement. I just want to see what her personality is like. And it helps me to know what breed(s) the puppy may be.

5. It must be female. I don't deal well with testosterone-induced aggressiveness, so prefer to avoid it altogether.

6. It must have some type of shepherd in its ancestry. My first dog was a German Shepherd mix and I fell in love. As with all working-type dogs, they need to have a job or they'll assign themselves one and that attitude fits well with our lifestyle.

7. This last one is a little harder to describe, but is the most important to me. Once I've gotten through all six of the above and I'm standing there looking at a box with three female puppies out of a litter of seven, I take out the three females and set them on the ground. Is her coat thick and shiny? Does she have a nice fat puppy belly? Is she interacting with her siblings? Is she curious about her surroundings? All these have to have "yes" answers. THE ONE also has to have this: a sweet face and a willingness to look at my eyes. Is that weird? I can't have a dog with "intense" eyes or a dog who won't meet my eyes. We have to be able to look at each other and receive signals from each other. Because, for me, that's where a lot of our communication is - especially during training. If she's got too intense a gaze, she may challenge me (not as in "I really enjoy this challenging job", but as in "I refuse to do what you say. Ever. Unless I feel like it."). If she looks away, or refuses to meet my eyes, she can ignore me.

So that's it. A sweet face and eye contact. It works for me.