Character building
Nick Ridley on the sometimes difficult task of how to choose the right dog from a litter of puppies
For the first time in 40 years of owning dogs I find myself in the slightly daunting position of being able to choose a new addition to the canine Ridley family. All our previous dogs have come to us, to some degree at least, by default in that a puppy was the only dog or bitch in a particular litter. That said, I have been lucky enough to be able to choose the breeding that I was looking for, if not the individual pup. However, despite my limited choice, they have all turned out to be brilliant working and family dogs.
With the arrival of our first home-bred litter of cocker puppies I have had the opportunity to watch six youngsters grow and develop. It has been hard work but totally fascinating. My first decision was whether to keep a bitch or a dog, and that was quite an easy choice. I felt that introducing another male dog into the Ted and Percy mix could potentially cause some real issues, so that excluded half of the pups.
I have an extensive collection of gundog books and I have been going through each and every one, trying to get a handle on what is the best way of assessing a puppy. I am not ashamed to admit that I am confused. I have also spoken to a number of experienced owners and listened intently to what they had to say but it hasn’t helped much with that feeling of confusion.
Advice
There is a saying that ‘no gundog is a bad colour’ and on paper that is true enough. We ended up with a blue roan, black-and-white ticked, lemon roan, lemon and white and orange and white; the three bitches all take after Dott and are orange and white. They vary in their markings, of course, but there isn’t much between them.
One bit of advice I was given was to go for the smallest in the litter. That doesn’t mean the runt, as we will be aiming to get the pups to roughly the same size when they are ready to go at eight weeks. I have also been told to go for the biggest and boldest in the litter, so you can see how easy it is to get confused.
Let’s take a look at the boldest puppy scenario. It is a fairly common view that when you look at a litter of pups you should be looking for a bold, outgoing pup, one that comes up to you and wants to interact. However, in the wild it would be that puppy which would be predated on very quickly and therefore perhaps doesn’t have a high degree of self survival.
Another common view is not to opt for the pup that hangs back and watches you from a distance; in fact, that pup may well be the one that would survive in the wild and may prove to be the more intelligent. I have been told to put the puppy on its back to see if it settles quickly or struggles — apparently that
will show you how ‘easy’ or otherwise it will be to train.
There is no doubt that sitting and watching a litter interact with each other will go a long way to helping you make your choice. I have already spent hours watching our puppies feeding, playing and sleeping, and being able to observe their development has really helped me to make my decision.
In the pack
Another great help has been a book called Beyond the Breed by Heather Stevens, which has been a constant companion during my observations. It discusses what is known as the ‘functional characters’ (FC) of dogs and how that in turn influences their position within the pack. I have now read it a couple of times and I have a pretty good idea of the concept. A dog’s functional character is set at birth and to a certain degree cannot be changed. It is not breed dependent.
The eight characteristics are: guide, defender, overseer, observer, hunter, follower, peacekeeper, lone individual. I am not going to go into each one here, but the important aspect is that if you can identify which FC a pup has, it can influence how you go about training it and whether it will fit in with any existing dogs you may already own.
I can give you a perfect example. We have a bitch pup that we currently call Red due to her coloured collar, and I have been watching her as she was the biggest in the litter when born. At four weeks her character is really beginning to show. I have decided that she fits into the functional character of being a ‘defender ’. This particular character is identified as being strong, confident, sturdy and has a somewhat upbeat attitude. This ticks all the boxes for Red. She is always first out of the whelping box at feeding time, she is by far the most adventurous and simply oozes confidence, but to me the most important trait of a defender is that they tend to be good problem solvers and are mentally more able to deal with situations that other FC would find traumatic.
Red has been earmarked to go back to Dott and Percy’s breeder and ultimately her life regime will be different to a puppy that is going to live in a house. I feel that her character is going to fit perfectly with her new life. Another useful trait of a defender is that they can cope with a lot of repetition and, because they are also great problem solvers, this fits in perfectly with a life as a gundog, However, because of their natural exuberance, they can be a daunting prospect for a first-time dog owner.
The one thing that has really hit home with breeding this litter is how much time and effort you must invest in the puppies. Making sure you find the best possible homes for them is a huge responsibility and one that cannot and should not be taken lightly. If being able to identify the inbuilt functional character of a puppy enables you to match it with a suitable new home, that can only be a good thing.
“Sitting and watching a litter interact with each other will help you make your choice”