Which Puppy?

J

jlcorp

New Member
So, I get first choice of the boys in this litter. Any thoughts on which puppy? The one on the left has ears that are slightly lower, thinner face, seems more lively. The one on the right has chubby face and seems more laid back. My other Cocker spaniel is on the thin side- thinner face and body, active and athletic.

Any thought?
 

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Do any of them seem to like you more than the others do? My first cocker crawled into my lap-none of the others did. So, she chose me.
 
The one in the middle seemed to really like cuddling with my daughter. We saw them at 5 1/2 weeks- so they did not have a lot of personality yet.
 
What is your dog experience? What does the breeder recommend for your family's lifestyle? Was the litter temperament tested? The one that crawls into your lap may be the boldest most dominant in the litter. With kids, I would usually recommend something middle of the road. Confident but not overly pushy. mid energy wise also often makes a better pet for the average family.

If we're going solely on looks, they're all adorable! I like the ones with the blaze, but is there anything cuter than a cocker puppy?
 
@Cockers4Ever
We are experienced dog owners. Litter has not been temperament tested. When I asked the breeder about their personality a couple weeks ago, she said they were not really displaying a lot of personality at that time. None of them seemed dominant when we visited.

TBH, we ended up with a very high energy cocker who is very athletic. I actually have not seen another cocker as lean and fast as she is. One of the reasons we are getting another is that she really seems to need another dog around her. Not only will another dog occupy some of her attention and energy- but she also is entranced by watching dogs on TV. She really, really wants a companion. We are empty nesters, so children are not a consideration. However, our cocker is well-socialized with adults, children, and other dogs and loves to cuddle when she is not active.
 
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You might ask about birth order. The last one born rarely turns out to be the best physical specimen....they are often undersized....but not in every case. Fiona was the last one born from a litter of 9 and Is really small for her breed but otherwise quite healthy. You might also consider the sex of the new puppy: At some point in the future, I may get Fiona her own puppy and if I do, it will be a male dog because she can sometimes be a bit of a snot with other female dogs.
 
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Have you figured out what kind of dog you want as a companion to your dog? Do you want another high energy dog or one that’s more laid back or one with medium energy? Sometimes two high energy dogs can be difficult but some people really like that. Figure out what you want in a dog and then talk to the breeder about which puppy they think is the most like the type of dog you desire.

With our beloved Dylan, we had first choice of the three males. One was so handsome, one had nice markings, and one was definitely my third choice. I talked to my breeder about what we wanted. The extremely handsome dog (who went on to be a grand champion) was extremely laid back. The second dog who crawled right into my lap was very dominating. Since we wanted to try agility she strongly recommended the third dog. She said he was intelligent and wanted to please so she thought he would a good dog to train. We took the third dog and one week after we brought him home my then 16 year old daughter said, “If we had taken one of those other dogs we wouldn’t have had Dylan!” He went on to have our hearts until the day we lost him, our original third choice but first in our hearts.
 
@karenwalksthedogs Thanks for sharing this perspective. I also decided to go with what the breeder recommended. We were traveling with our other dog to take my daughter back to college after Thanksgiving and stopped at the breeder's house to look at the puppies. Breeder came out to the car and had the chance to meet our high energy, fun-loving cocker. She said the male in the middle played all the time with his sister and the other puppies were not very active. She thought he would be the best companion for our cocker, so we chose him.
 
UPDATE!!! We brought our puppy home last night and both our cockers having been playing a lot:). It is a match made in heaven (or maybe just by the breeder...):D.
Here is the first picture I took of our new boy. He is in a cat carrier for the trip home.
 

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Thank you! We have named him Baxter. It sounds a little bit like the name we had for our first beloved buff cocker- "Bailey". He is much smaller than what the picture makes him look like. He is a 12 inch-long, little bundle of luv who alternates between spurts of energy and naps. :)
 
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