How do you decide which pup to keep when you have 2 pups who are 'show' potential? Both girls in my 3 pup litter are nice. They both have pros and cons. K pup has been my favorite from day 1 - can't really pinpoint why she just has been. A pup is maybe a little nicer all around. We did puppy evals - A pup is the 'pick' as far as future brood goes, while K pup may be the better 'show' pup. Breeding produced what I was hoping to improve upon. Have a family who would love A pup. Am thinking about seeing if they would keep her intact for longer than I usually recommend and maybe letting us show her (or at least see how she turns out). They have and 8 and a 10 year old so am thinking maybe we can get them involved in JRs.
So - what I am really getting at is - have you ever kept a 'lesser' pup (who is also a really nice pup) because that is what your heart is telling you to do? I can't keep both at this time.
They have their 1st health check coming up so maybe that will be the decision maker.
Just wondering what others have done in similar situations.
Keep both pups yourself. If you can only keep one pup then realize that the one you give up may be the one that turns out nicer.
Dont try to have a pet home make a deal to be a show home. It usually dont work out. The pet family may change their mind, not wanting their pup going to shows being they have other plans. The pet family may not be willing to have you breed their girl being they dont want their lab going to the breeder for months to be bred, whelp, nurse, etc;
Keep what you can but dont rely on others to keep your picks as it usually wont work out like you thought.
I would keep both and I have. If you place the pick puppy with a pet home even if they agree to show, they will not know how to keep the pup in show condition to grow it up right to reach its full potential. If you have to make a decision to keep just one, just make sure you are not wanting the lesser puppy purely for reasons of emotions and attachment. It has to come down to where you want to go in the breed. Do you want a brood bitch for breeding or a show bitch that you can also breed? If I could only keep one I would keep the pick puppy and place the second pick.
It has worked out for me. But realize that you will have to accommodate your desires to theirs. I finished a girl who lived with some friends of mine. She hunted every weekend during hunting seasons, so I could show her only in the off-seasons. She was too thin right after hunting season, and had no pigment on her nose (she wore it off in the brush while pheasant and grouse hunting). Sometimes she was too fat on the off-season. He granddaughter lives in another hunting home and had a litter for me last year. It can work as a back-up when you can't keep two yourself. But be sure that the other family really is fine with what you want to do and that you are OK with accommodating their needs.
Just remember that no matter what you think the family has agreed to, the minute the pup is out of your hands, your ability to control how the dog is raised etc is GONE.
Just because one eval picked 1 pup as best and 1 pup as second best, doesn't mean that's how it will end up later on...or if you had another group of folks evaluating, if that would be how they rated the pups.
I have dogs I have kept for personal reasons vs. being "best puppy" and had them do very well in the ring.
If you can't keep both for awhile, I would keep the one that feels RIGHT in your heart.
I would try to keep both. I keep two almost everytime. You have so much invested in the breeding. I agree, you will get disappointed with a puppy family and using your own dog. I have kept second pick several times. Twice that I could not part with a certain pup but I agree hard to call any of them pick. It is just which one has what you were wanting to improve on the most.
When you can't decide, the best thing is to decide not to decide! At least not yet. At some point, it will become obvious which pup is the one to keep. Not now!
Keep both for now. Most likely they will sort themselves out by 6 months or so - decision will
probably be easier then, but I would have other experienced opinions about both pups before you make your final placement at that age.
