When I was picking Annabell, a new thing for me as an adult since I tend to end up with "reject rescues"... I really pulled off of everything I knew about dogs and training, and way back when as a kid when we were deciding with a breeder which pup would be the next blue ribbon winner.
Luckily there were only 3 to look at. The boy I didn't full with, in this house, the boys only listen to me and my husband ends up not caring much for it. Enter... Logan-Bear the sweetest momma's boy EVER. Since I already have one of those, I narrowed it down to the two girls.
From there, I pulled one from the crate and watched the other. She screamed her head off in anxiety. Put the one back and traded. The first one I held, immediately started looking for a way out of the crate, not saying a word. realized there wasn't a way out, and she sat down and stared. Alright, good sign, she has a brain, but isn't obsessive.
So I pulled her back out, held her on her back like a baby. Didn't care. Tried to bite my ear. I laid her on the floor on her back, struggled a bit but not much. I let her up to wonder off, smacked my hand down on the ground to startle her. She ran back to me. Made the other in the crate jump. So I continued on with the one I had out.
I stood her up like a show dog in as much of a stack as I could get from a wiggling puppy. She stood straight, legs looked good. Nice topline. Not that it matters in this house, but it never hurts to have a well put together dog. And she didn't mind me putting feet where I wanted them and holding her tight by the color.
Next was leash training 101. This will tell you a lot about a dog. Does it sit and freeze and refuse to move? Does it immediately grab the leash and start walking itself? (not so cute if you let that continue until it's 100 lbs!) Does it follow you around and grasp the concept quickly? That's what Annabell did, so I took her home.
Don't get "cute puppy and rainbow butterfly" eyes. Really think about sleepless nights through potty training and crate training... really think about anxiety and how that will manifest itself... in an eaten couch or destroyed crate? I saw my husbands eyes start glossing over when she licked his face. I reminded him that since I work full time, it will fall on him to take her out every 3-4 hours while I'm gone. When she gets the runs from a food switch, it'll be him cleaning it up. He needs to watch where he puts his shoes. He needs to make sure all electrical cords are well hidden. He needs to play with her and make her tired so she sleeps a good chunk of the night.
And then he also needs to work with the two grown dogs so that jealousy doesn't become an issue. Logan is especially sensitive to change. He LOVES puppies and other dogs, but he's an attention hound and lord forbid someone take that away from him. Ricca... she's picky about puppies.
So I had to think about the puppy in terms of not only do I like it... but will Ricca, Logan, husband, and household like it? Annabell is submissive enough for Ricca to not mind her. Independent enough that Logan doesn't see her attached to my hip 24/7. Sweet enough that my husband and my brother LOVE her, and smart enough (yet just the right amount of dumb) that my husband can manage her as well as I can since he's the one home with her all day.
We would not have picked any of them if they didn't look healthy, if the breeder was being pushy, or not proud of their dogs, or other red flags about their origin. Same if we both worked full time. But one of us has time for potty training so we can slowly introduce being away from home, to prevent the worse case separation anxiety. There's a lot of pups who are taken from home, and promptly left alone for 9 hours a day, no easing into it. That's rough on even the sanest puppy.
There's a lot to consider, the household, the breed chosen, the breeder who produced the dog, lot's of variables. Think on it from every angle so that 6 months from then, you're not thinking you made a mistake. Lot's of dogs needing homes because of glossy-eyed impulse mistakes.
Luckily there were only 3 to look at. The boy I didn't full with, in this house, the boys only listen to me and my husband ends up not caring much for it. Enter... Logan-Bear the sweetest momma's boy EVER. Since I already have one of those, I narrowed it down to the two girls.
From there, I pulled one from the crate and watched the other. She screamed her head off in anxiety. Put the one back and traded. The first one I held, immediately started looking for a way out of the crate, not saying a word. realized there wasn't a way out, and she sat down and stared. Alright, good sign, she has a brain, but isn't obsessive.
So I pulled her back out, held her on her back like a baby. Didn't care. Tried to bite my ear. I laid her on the floor on her back, struggled a bit but not much. I let her up to wonder off, smacked my hand down on the ground to startle her. She ran back to me. Made the other in the crate jump. So I continued on with the one I had out.
I stood her up like a show dog in as much of a stack as I could get from a wiggling puppy. She stood straight, legs looked good. Nice topline. Not that it matters in this house, but it never hurts to have a well put together dog. And she didn't mind me putting feet where I wanted them and holding her tight by the color.
Next was leash training 101. This will tell you a lot about a dog. Does it sit and freeze and refuse to move? Does it immediately grab the leash and start walking itself? (not so cute if you let that continue until it's 100 lbs!) Does it follow you around and grasp the concept quickly? That's what Annabell did, so I took her home.
Don't get "cute puppy and rainbow butterfly" eyes. Really think about sleepless nights through potty training and crate training... really think about anxiety and how that will manifest itself... in an eaten couch or destroyed crate? I saw my husbands eyes start glossing over when she licked his face. I reminded him that since I work full time, it will fall on him to take her out every 3-4 hours while I'm gone. When she gets the runs from a food switch, it'll be him cleaning it up. He needs to watch where he puts his shoes. He needs to make sure all electrical cords are well hidden. He needs to play with her and make her tired so she sleeps a good chunk of the night.
And then he also needs to work with the two grown dogs so that jealousy doesn't become an issue. Logan is especially sensitive to change. He LOVES puppies and other dogs, but he's an attention hound and lord forbid someone take that away from him. Ricca... she's picky about puppies.
So I had to think about the puppy in terms of not only do I like it... but will Ricca, Logan, husband, and household like it? Annabell is submissive enough for Ricca to not mind her. Independent enough that Logan doesn't see her attached to my hip 24/7. Sweet enough that my husband and my brother LOVE her, and smart enough (yet just the right amount of dumb) that my husband can manage her as well as I can since he's the one home with her all day.
We would not have picked any of them if they didn't look healthy, if the breeder was being pushy, or not proud of their dogs, or other red flags about their origin. Same if we both worked full time. But one of us has time for potty training so we can slowly introduce being away from home, to prevent the worse case separation anxiety. There's a lot of pups who are taken from home, and promptly left alone for 9 hours a day, no easing into it. That's rough on even the sanest puppy.
There's a lot to consider, the household, the breed chosen, the breeder who produced the dog, lot's of variables. Think on it from every angle so that 6 months from then, you're not thinking you made a mistake. Lot's of dogs needing homes because of glossy-eyed impulse mistakes.
