A good many of our pups are reserved before the litters are even bred or whelped. Soon as the pups are on the ground, the future owners are wanting to know which ones will be theirs. So, we've developed a sense about choosing the pups, very early on, with potential.
First, check temperament, because this is fixed and you can't change it:
Avoid the or overly competitive or independent pup. While competitiveness and confidence is good, too much indicates a pup that will work for himself, not you. You'll likely battle challenges like running off with the bumper/bird, being hard mouthed and being stubborn/dull to correction. It's much more pleasant to work with a pup that has a
natural return to hand.
Avoid the wallflower or timid pup. Obviously, this pup isn't going to have what it takes for the rigors of sport.
Don't confuse FOCUS with complacency, lack of drive or timidity. I probably see folks make this mistake more than any other one when assessing pups. A focused pup is more quiet than his littermates and observes activity before making his move. This valuable trait is often overlooked in the haste to get high energy, high drive dogs. FOCUS in a puppy later becomes strong ability to learn, steadiness on the gun, intensity in the field. These pups learn quickly from their experiences, take correction seriously and can be tenaciously loyal. We rarely have to force fetch our dogs and FOCUS is why - they learn through gentler tactics.
Desire to please/attentive to humans. To some degree, all the pups are going to be attracted to a new visitor. But give the litter time and see which pup really displays a concern for how you respond to him. Some of the pups will go off and start playing with each other and forget about you - but some will be more interested in you, than his littermates. This is what people refer to when they say "The pup picked me." It's just one ingredient, but it's an important one. If this pup is going to be your buddy, your sidekick, you don't want him to have a 'take it or leave it' attitude towards you.
Pack Order:
Avoid the bottom dwellers and the alphas. Mid-pack puppies almost always make the best companions and gun dogs. They've already learned that survival and a more comfortable, consequence-free existence requires give and take. Some bottom dwellers really shine when pulled from the pack, but since you get first pick, why take a chance?
GENETIC HUNTING TRAITS:
You hunted over mom & dad, so you are getting a pup you hope will be the best of both of them. YOu know what made them good hunters, so look for this in pup. Once you've decreased the field of contenders using the screening above, test the remaining contenders for innate tendencies that can be further developed.
Retrieving Drive/Chase Instinct: We begin assessing this as soon as their eyes are open and they can waddle a few steps. I like a pup that tries so hard during this test, s/he falls over. Separate the pup that is being tested. Remove distractions. On very young pups, we put them in the bathtub. Put a frayed rope, feather, small stuffed toy, etc. on a string. Drag it past pup. Go slow, let him notice it. See how tenaciously he follows it. Do this a few times to see if he refuses to forget about it til he GETS it, or if he loses interest. Then up the ante... slowly raise it up over his head and see if he visually follows. Try this test again for the next two weeks - sometimes the pup's vision isn't there yet. I especially like the pups that will follow a mark overhead.
Game Seeking/Olfactory: Similar to the above activity, but this time with something like a piece of cheese, meat, etc. Move the item toward pup and see how quickly he picks up the scent. Hold still when he notices it... see if he pursues the scent by moving toward the bait. How accurately does he zero in on it? OK if he zig-zags... he is following a scent cone which will be valuable in the field when there's a bird down and no one knows exactly where it landed. Next level, hide the bait under a cup, place three cups out. See not only how well pup finds it, but again, how tenaciously he works to figure out how to get at it. By the time pups are 6 weeks old, I'm placing little obstacles in their way.
Love for Water: Hopefully the breeder is getting a bead on this, maybe providing a puppy pool. Some pups will continually play in the pool while others avoid it. Then there are the 'water dish divers' - will splash in their drinking bowl if there's no other water to play in. If you can put the pups in water and see how much it distresses or invigorates them, this is helpful. YOu can do a lot to indoctrinate a young pup to water, but all the better if you can start with one that loves it naturally. We get a lot of pups you can squirt with a hose and they'll like it. That's an added bonus.
Delivery to Hand/Soft Mouth: These go hand-in-hand. And a natural delivery to hand that doesn't require force fetching is great... that means the pup has this genetic trait to pass on. Using the Chase Instict test, let pup 'catch' the item. Then try to gently coax it out of his mouth. Don't yank... massage the muzzle and encourage pup to turn it over to you. The tug-of-war pup is going to have the harder mouth than the pup who releases it, but then is willing to pounce on it all over again. The wrong training tactics can cause a pup to develop a hard mouth or develop the 'dropsies', but that's another matter.
FOCUS/Ignoring Distractions: After the pups have become acquainted with the 'goodies' you used for the testing, put them together again, then try to get their attention with the item. Some won't even acknowledge it, some will - then try aggressively to get it and when they can't, they'll go beat up another pup.... and then you've got the ones whose attention it grabbed and held. Focus. Move the item around overhead, let them track it visually. In the field, this becomes the dog that learns to look up and out, does a great job at marking, holds steady til released, but is intent on his goal. I love when I can take an eight week old pup, say "LOOK", hold the mark over his head and he gets intense eye lock on it. That's gonna be a great dog to hunt over.
Hope this helps. We are pretty well able to nail down a pup's anticipated performance by 8 weeks. You can see some of these little tests on our YouTube channel. The pups are 40 days old in these videos:
This pup is going to be more hard mouthed (but notice the discussion, we are comparing him to Gixxer, his littermate, who has more focus.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVP8OeJ5y5QThis one gives it up easily and repeatedly without ever losing interest. Moose is now 4 months old and still training with us. He's already running blinds on dead birds and returning them to hand. Natural return to hand with a soft mouth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS62euwafxA
Seriously tho'.... that name is about as unique & cool as the dog. It's perfect for her! DUUUUUUUDE!!!!!