Choosing a new puppy/dog

Contrary to popular belief, picking a puppy or dog because they “chose” you is a horrible way to select your new best friend. This can lead to a total mismatch in personalities and trouble down the road.

Do you remember the low/medium/high that you assigned for your activity level, personality, daily training time, etc. when deciding on a breed? (https://idealcompaniondogtraining.com/2020/03/12/pick-breed-that-fits-lifestyle/) We are also going to use that to pick your puppy/dog. In every breed there is going to be a wide range of personalities with a lot not being typical for the breed. Even in every litter of puppies you are going to get different personalities. So having your list ready to give to your breeder or when you go to the shelter/rescue will be very helpful.

If you are getting a puppy from a breeder then you may not be able to choose which puppy you get. The breeder is with those puppies from day 1 until week 8 or whenever they go home so they know the personality of every single puppy and what type of family they will do best with. They should know how to match puppies to their best home. When you first start communicating with the breeder you should give them your list of low/medium/high wants/needs so they know what you want. This option is super easy since it’s done for you.

If the breeder doesn’t choose your puppy for you based on the information provided then I might be hesitant to buy from them, unless you have already vetted them with help from my previous post. So if it’s up to you to choose a puppy ask the breeder about all of the puppies personalities. This will give you an idea. Watch some videos of the litter during their play or active time. If you are able to meet the litter in person then I highly recommend doing a temperament test on every puppy individually. A good one is the Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test (created by Jack and Wendy Volhard), which is recommended to be done at 7 weeks of age. It’s pretty easy to understand and score. Based on the results you will be able to choose which puppy will best fit. Make sure to get the one that best fits your current lifestyle. So if you aren’t very active then a low energy puppy will be best. Or if you have a soft, pushover type personality you will probably be better off with a puppy who isn’t really pushy and will match your soft personality.

Choosing an adult dog is a little different. You’ll use the same low/medium/high values, but you may not know the dogs true personality until they are able to settle into your home (unless they are fostered). Dogs often act differently in a shelter environment. So they could act one way when you meet them and another after they spend a few weeks in your home. This makes adopting older puppies/dogs a little more tricky. If you can, I would definitely look for a shelter/rescue that puts their dogs into foster homes before adoption. This would give you a better idea on how they act when in a home environment and you can ask the foster about the dogs energy level and other issues. For an older puppy or adult dog a temperament test *should* show whether they resource guard (protect food, toys, water, etc), how they react to an inapproate stranger, hugging, how pushy they are, etc. You can use parts of the Volhard test, but you shouldn’t do some of the exercises with larger dogs. Unless you can cradle 100 lbs of struggling dog, whicb I don’t recommend trying. Asses-A-Pet by Sue Sternburg is a good test for adult dogs. She has extreme views when it comes to what’s acceptable dog behavior and what to do about it, but the test is good nonetheless.

This is always a hard decision, but totally worth it when you choose the right dog.

I am always willing to help temperament test a litter of puppies or adult dogs so please let me know if you would like any guidance!