Selecting Your New Pup
USE BIRDS!

written by Butch Goodwin
       of                     

Northern Flight Retrievers  
The Retriever Journal Special Spring Issue 2001 

y dog training, bird hunting, and storytelling buddy, the late Bill Tarrant, used to talk about River Oaks Corky in such glowing terms, you'd swear the old Labrador was more royalty than dog. His favorite story told of how this great dog's owner, Mike Flannery, sat him on the craps table in Carson City, Nevada, when they were there to run a National Championship trial and he had the dog hold a mouthful of hundred-dollar bills! When the manager told him that dogs weren't allowed in the casino, Mike scowled back that since he had won about $10,000 of the casino's money, if they wanted any chance of getting it back, the dog could damn well sit anywhere he wanted! Corky stayed.

  But Corky wasn't simply a decoration holding money on a craps table. Some of his better known accomplishments included: 1967 National Derby Champion; 1971, 1973, and l974 Canadian National Field Trial Champion; and 1972 and 1975 National Amateur Champion. he compiled an unheard of total of 505 1/2 combined Open and Amateur points, which included 301 1/2 Open points! Gorky was one of the greatest retrievers ever. I guess Bill was right: he was royalty.

  By the way, I forgot to mention that Tarrant also used to tell the story of how Corky was the last pup to be selected from the litter, and that he didn't have a home until he was nearly four months old! All of the authorities came and performed their tests and made their choices. And, when they selected their pups, Corky was left until, finally, he was bought by a lady as a birthday present for her husband. And the rest, as they say, is history.

  Prospective puppy purchasers come to my kennel to select their perfect pup armed with all manner of books and testing check-off sheets. Some of these are written by true experts, some by "cookie trainers" who promise that all training will he totally effortless; amazingly, some of these books are by writers who have experience training only one dog! So they come and perform their tests: They turn the pups over and lay them on their backs; they disorient them; they pay attention to whether particular pups follow or run away by themselves; and they watch them interact with the other pups - and then they ask me which one I would take! You see, I have spent seven or eight weeks with these pups. They have spent, at most, an hour or so. By the time the pups are ready to go, I am intimately familiar with each pup in the litter.

Which one would you choose?

  Sure, it is necessary to watch each pup as they develop their personalities and how they relate to the other pups in the litter. It is equally important to watch how they relate to humans and the stress of being handled. A pup's structure is beginning to develop at this age and, with experience, such things as head shape and size, leg length, movement, and overall conformation can be predicted even at this tender age.

  But, when someone asks which pup I would select as a hunting dog, without hesitation, I head for the bird pen. You see, we are talking about selecting bird dogs. It doesn't matter whether this bird dog is a retriever, a pointing dog, or a spaniel - they are all bird dogs. And, if he is going to perform as is expected for his breed, he has to have that burning desire for birds.

find that the first time I toss a shackled pigeon in a pen with a litter of six-week-old pups, they all look with uneasiness at this intruder in their midst. They usually group in a pile on the opposite side of the pen from the bird and give him a good long look. Eventually, one or two of the boldest pups will try to get a closer look; but when this trespasser flaps his wings, they forsake their inquisitiveness for the safety of numbers.

  Inevitably, a couple of the pups won't be able to stand the suspense any longer and take the leap of fate. They grab the bird by a wing and, by attempting to drag the bird around the pen, show the group that this is nothing to be feared. Within a few short days, most of the pups are showing interest in the chase.
This is the time that each individual also begins to show his distinguishing characteristics related to birdiness. 

  This is the time to begin to separate them singly from the group and make notes about which pups show the most interest in the bird. Some traits to note at this point are: desire to chase, desire to carry, attention span, and persistence in trying to locate the bird - and, of course, any tendencies toward "hard mouth."  Sure, there are always a couple of pups in each litter that are apprehensive and stay back. These pups usually need some special individual, one-on-one attention. But almost all will come around and show some degree of predatory drive by beginning to aggressively chase and trying to drag or carry the birds within a few days.

  Now is also the time when each pup's true inherent characteristics will begin to show themselves. Some will continue to chase the bird until it is captured; some will beg the chase and then be distracted by outside influences; some will only show all interest in the bird as long as it is a group effort. It is also possible at this point to recognize the Alpha pups in the litter by their higher level of aggression toward the birds and toward the other pups. Pay particular attention at this point to any adverse indications of behavior such as extreme possessiveness (which usually shows itself very readily around birds or retrieving toys). Be extremely wary, and be sure to note the pup that might have a tendency to not want to give the bird up, or growls or snaps at a human when attempting to take the bird from him.

  It is natural for a pup that grabs the bird to want to run off from the pack or from you and keep his prize. This is not necessarily adverse possessiveness. It is when he is captured and you try to convince him to give up the bird and he doesn't want to that his traits of possessiveness or aggression show themselves to be a problem, possibly throughout his life.

o, after looking at all of the pups in a litter and how they react to and handle birds, the obvious question becomes  "Which one do I take?" It is usually easy to eliminate a percentage of the pups in a litter right off the bat. You must have decided ahead of time which sex you want - that eliminates all the pups in the litter that are of the opposite sex. Now is also the time to begin to look at the subtle differences in the remaining pups and to be totally honest with yourself.

  Ask yourself, "Do I really want that hard-charger that I will likely have to 'stand on' throughout his training life? "If you have the experience necessary to train and handle such a dog, then the answer might be "yes." Otherwise, this pup is probably better left to someone with aspirations of competition or someone willing to spend the time training and capable of administering the necessary pressure to get the dog to perform under the control of the trainer. On the other hand, do you want the one whose attention span is short and seems to lose or change his focus repeatedly? This pup might also be frustrating to train because of a lack of focus.

  You might want to take a long look at the pup in the litter with what I call "laser focus." This is a pup that is always looking at you, and willingly makes eye contact. He is likely also the one that, when you have a bird in your hand, has a stare that is fixed on the bird. Remember, a pup or an adult dog that is obviously trying, to avoid eye contact is telling you something - he is telling you that he doesn't want to submit to you (see "I Really Don't Want to Do This - Recognizing and Correcting Escape and Avoidance Responses," RJ, July/August 1999). This looking away or avoidance of eye contact is one of the forms of subtle body language that dogs of all ages show, but it is one that is readily recognizable.
Unless the litter that you are looking at has a large number of pups of whatever sex you have decided on, the field of selection should have narrowed considerably by this point. This is also the point where you might want to rely on the breeder's expertise or a gut feeling that you might have. Remember what I said earlier: That breeder has spent eight or so weeks with these pups and knows them better than you will at this point.

  Once I have noted and separated Out the pups by the way they handle birds, I try to narrow my selection further by looking at the pup's structure and movement, which is called functional conformation. A great build is terrific; but if the dog isn't interested in birds or retrieving, that great structure is wasted. Conversely, a birdy dog that can't move ends up walking at "heel" in 30 minutes or so when hunting in the field, regardless of how much he would like to hunt. It can be tough to recognize which pups have shorter legs and which have longer. Another challenge is to note the pups that are short in the back in relation to their leg length, which will make them run like a rocking horse, and also note the pups that are more proportional. But a breeder who is aware of movement and structure and what is necessary to make a dog move correctly will be able to help you recognize these things.

  So, I guess that the texts are a great indication of the dog's temperament and willingness to work with a trainer. But for my money, I'll take the one that has that burning desire for birds, has a good build, and moves efficiently.

  Take a couple of pigeons when you go to pick your next pup - they'll tell you more than all the books and check-off sheets!

End