Visiting breeder on Sunday!

[cavalicious]

Hi everyone

As you probably know by now I'm getting my baby in a months time and I CANNOT wait!!!

On Sunday me and my dad will be driving to the breeder's house to choose our puppy. She already sort of has one chosen for us but it is our decision.

What do you recommend I bring and do? Should I bring a toy along? What should I do with the puppies? Should I turn them on their backs or separate them from their litter mates like I've read in books? What do you think?

Thanks in advance

Emily

[Claire]

We just held ours and saw the mother - and how she was with them. At four weeks - ours really didn't do anything, just had fat bellies, just remember to ask questions about vets visits, feeding, are they socialising with the other puppies in the litter, how the mother is....good luck.

[Bruce H]

Congrats on the upcoming puppy!!!

As to advice: Most importantly, don't stress about it! Just go there and enjoy every minute of your visit. Second most important is don't forget your camera and have fresh batteries. Thirdly (sorry, I just have to say this as obvious as it sounds), listen to what the breeder has to say. The responsible breeders want only the best for their puppies.

We have a rule that we think is a good one for people visiting puppies and that is that they have to sit on the floor while holding a puppy. Those little guys are amazingly squirmy and fast and you don't want to drop one. I know a lot of people maintain the test of holding a puppy on it's back is good, but my personal opinion is that this is not as important as some say it is. If a puppy won't do it at first, don't worry about it; just keep working on it and it will happen as the puppy gets to know and trust you. Certainly, you can bring a toy and a lot of our puppy people do. Just don't be disapointed if the puppy doesn't play with it at first. Every puppy likes different things.

When we have people visit their puppy, we usually keep the littermates in their x-pen so the people and the puppy can concentrate on each other and that's what I would suggest, at least initially. Later, if you want, you can put the puppy with it's littermates and watch them play. When it comes to puppies, there's probably nothing I enjoy more than watching puppies play.

Good luck this Sunday!

[Lindsay]

I have heard of people bringing a t-shirt and/or towel/blanket, etc. to leave with the pup so that it is more familiar with your scent when it is time to bring it home. I don't know if there is any merit to that advice, as I am no expert, but what could it hurt!

[cavalicious]

Thanks for the tips everyone!! I will definately be bringing my camera and I like the T-shirt idea as well thanks!