April 16th 2006 - Lineage or Individual Temprement?

I wouldn't use 100% of either. I would have to do all of that plus. Even with pups in the same litter some will be better than others. Picking the best one is tough. They will change so much from week to week. It's a crap shoot.

I would use a combo of both, if buying for myself for my reasons. However, it's also dependent on the use of the dog. If the dog is just going to be used for work and not breeding, then you could just rely on individual testing because pedigree doesn't really matter, only the individual does.

OK lemme try and get this point accross....

this is hypothetical... its logical to take both into consideration, but that's not the question -- if you HAD NO OTHER CHOICE... which option would you choose? Nobody's gonna make you do it, it's a hypothetical question. Nobody's gonna take this as advice and go do it, myself and a few other folks are just curious what the results would be on a poll to see what people would put more faith in, in a situation where they would have no other choice.

Don't take it too seriously, puppies are a gamble... but which gamble are you more willing to take? Option 1 or Option 2?

I would look at the individual.Not the ped.

Greg

brrrrrrrr you have akward questions Mike... I would look at the ped, so I can make a good assumption what the character will be.. BUT in real life I won´t pick a puppy on this conditions :evil:

haha, it's a difficult question I know, I haven't quite reached a conclusion as to what MY answer would be... you can blame Connie Sutherland for this

A pedigree will indicate what the character may be like.... but if you are good at testing puppies then there is a chance that if u look at 20 litters that maybe you can pick out a nice pup and not know anything about the parents.

So, I guess my answer would be that I'd look at the pedigree -- because I dont have enough experience picking puppies to be able to make any reasonable assumption that I could pick a good puppy. A pedigree showing very nice parents gives ME personally better odds of a pup being suitable because at least I know something that way.

Mike Schoonbrood said:

haha, it's a difficult question I know, I haven't quite reached a conclusion as to what MY answer would be... you can blame Connie Sutherland for this .......

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My idea was to question which people thought was more important, and a way to pick the most important might be to decide which you would choose for info if you could only have one: the pup itself to look at and test, OR the pedigree.

Naturally, this is hypothetical.

I don't know my answer yet, either.

Mike Schoonbrood said:

haha, it's a difficult question I know, I haven't quite reached a conclusion as to what MY answer would be... you can blame Connie Sutherland for this ......

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Hey, *you* guys think up poll questions for Mike!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

I would have to go with #1- The pup and not the pedigree.

Bastin is a super dog with a nice ped. but I don't think he produces well. May be some out there but I haven't yet heard of it. With the right bitch I think will make a difference.

Jerry Lyda said:

I would have to go with #1- The pup and not the pedigree.....

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Yeah, me too. I would want help in assessing the pup (either way, actually), but it would be the pup and not the pedigree if I had to choose one or the other.

Connie Sutherland said:

Jerry Lyda said:

I would have to go with #1- The pup and not the pedigree.....

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Yeah, me too. I would want help in assessing the pup (either way, actually), but it would be the pup and not the pedigree if I had to choose one or the other.

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But wait.....Mike S. makes a good point about how good (not) I would be at assessing the pup......... whereas the pedigree would tell me SOMEthing.

Maybe if I knew a lot about puppies' temperament, and had loads of experience......then I could trust myself more than the pedigree.

If you can see the puppies several times in several situations it tells a lot, but just see them 1 time you could make more of the ped :wink:

Selena van Leeuwen said:

If you can see the puppies several times in several situations it tells a lot, but just see them 1 time you could make more of the ped :wink:

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That sounds like a good answer!

Hey, can I buy one of each!!!

Here's the problem...

I won't even go look at pups unless I like the pedigree! If the pedigree pleases me, then I'd go and look at the pups and do testing to see if there is something in the litter I like. There is no guarantee that I will find something that I like, even if the pedigree pleases me. If the pedigree displeases me, then what's the use in even looking at the pups?

Now, if I was just searching for dogs that I would put into service and there were no aspirations of ever breeding them, then I'd just look at the individual dogs...however, how would I really know how to find the right kind of dogs that might do the work without looking at the peds? I would end up wasting a lot of time if I just went around looking at all the litters for GSDs that I could find!

Perhaps I should rephrase the question.... because I understand that both elements are required for picking a pup, but my question is more relating to what you value more as a tell for what a worthwhile dog is -- the dogs behavior regardless of its lines or the lines and hope you get a good dog.

So, in hopes that some of you who are insisting on being difficult...

Lets say you HAVE 2 dogs, one was picked purely based on its pedigree, the other one was purely picked on going to see a bunch of GSD litters and picking a pup that exhibits the qualities you like to see in a pup between 0 and 12 weeks of age. Which pup do you feel is more likely to be better than the other pup?.

I know it's a difficult question, and I know that neither single option is a realistic way to pick a pup, but this is hypothetical. Do you value a pups behavior more than a pedigree or trust a pedigree to dictate a pups behavior???

Mike this is a hypothetical question only. There is a lot of what IFS. If a bull frog had wings he wouldn't bump his butt when he jumped. =D> We all had said we would like to have more info when picking a pup.
If you had a have a pup for what ever reason and you would be getting it for free and along with the pup you would get a free ten year supply of food, of your choice, and 50% off on all vet bills which of the two options would you choose?
This is just a game. :wink:

with a 12 week old puppy, i'd have to go with pedigree. it's darn near impossible to tell what a dog's temperament will be based on what they are like at 12 weeks old. now if it was a one year old puppy, i'd go with option A, but at 12 weeks, i go with option B (pedigree only)....

Tim Martens said:

with a 12 week old puppy, i'd have to go with pedigree. it's darn near impossible to tell what a dog's temperament will be based on what they are like at 12 weeks old. now if it was a one year old puppy, i'd go with option A, but at 12 weeks, i go with option B (pedigree only)....

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Now I am learning here. About what age can you actually start to judge the puppy's temperament and drives, etc.? You mentioned age one. Would you say that's about the age when you know what the dog will be able to do?