Selecting a pup

[jlboomer]

Just curious how some of you guys select a pup from a litter you raise or how are some of the ways you pick a pup if going out to buy one. I think this can be a good thread to some of the newbies out there and also be interesting for us all thanks.

[rabbitsmoker]

That is the hardest thing for me to do is pick a pup out of my own litter I have a litter right now 4 months old that i need to sell a few of them and i have picked and changed my mind so many times I am interested own how others pick too i most of the time raise and start them all then choose but this time i have so many and another litter on the way i dont think i am going to be able to do so

[Brian Westra]

I just pick the one that looks the best to me. At 8 weeks old it is just a crap shoot.

[BCBeagles]

I agree with Brian. You can only go by what you see. I pick by looks and personality. I like outgoing and bold. I have seen some pups show an independence early on
that seemed to be good in most cases. I am big on mouths as well and have heard little pups you just knew were gonna have a horn on them. I also have a male here I
raised and he did not bark, at least where I could hear him, until 4 months old. I thought something was wrong with him. Needless to say, it wasn't, and he has as good a
mouth as you will hear on a beagle. You just don't know.

[R.Ooten (RUFF)]

The best way to pick a pup? first thing you need to do, is to pick the right litter of pups. This will greatly increase your chances of getting a great one. Do your homework pick the right litter and then do just like Jim Hall and get the pup you like best out of that litter because there is no way to tell what 7wk old pup in a litter will be the best.

[Chuck Terry]

BOLDNESS - especially with the females - beagles tend to be on the shy side anyhow. One that is extra shy of unfamiliar people, strange settings, or load sounds is virtually worthless for hunting. Slip up near the pups and clap your hands loudly. Don't consider keeping the ones that head for the hills or take more than a moment to recover from the shock.

[bill huttozac]

I agree 100 percent with R.Ooten (RUFF). I would add the following; The right litter of pups comes from successive breeding of the same Sire and Dam. If pups from the first mating are better than the Sire and Dam you are on the right track, but confirm this by a second matting then make your pick based on what you see about the pup that appeals to you. If the pups from the second litter are better than the Sire and Dam then as Ruff said, you have the right litter.
I do not believe that you can determine if a mating was a good one unless you keep all pups through their second hunting season. Anyone who does not prove the worth of his own mating should not claim to be be breeding for the betterment of the breed. A long list of reasons can be heard by those not proving their own mating, in most instances, the whole litter is for sale by age 8 weeks amounting to breeding for a few dollars.

[Alabama John]

All good answers and if you have a good litter to pick from and still are stumped pick the one with the biggest butt hole.

Been working for over 60 years and here if there is a good litter for sale, you better get there soon or what will be left are the little ones. All young beaglers around here are taught this by old timers early on. Suprised ya'll don't know this.

Test this out: Notice under the tail on your best dog and see if I'm not right!!!

[BCBeagles]

Alabama John I have heard the same thing! With all due respect I couldn't quit laughing long enough to attempt this "Method". I think it nothing more than coincidence if a good hound has a large poop pipe, but maybe it related to heart size! Again, not trying to be disrespectful. IMO this is better for a laugh than a way of choosing a pup. The first time I
heard of this way of picking was a guy out of Indiana. Alabama, was that your uncle??LOL. Just kidding, but it was a guy from Indiana.

[Alabama John]

BC,

You obviously don't believe!!!!

He was probably my nephew as I'm too old to have living uncles.

We do teach our youth lots of things about dogs and game. This is only one of many. Gets lot of attention when the dog picked this way turns out to be the best.

At a Little pack field trial once my 5 year old grandson was running around looking for the rabbit to come out in the open and other trialers not from here noticed he kept licking his pointing finger. They asked him why and he quickly told them he was staying ready to run up behind it, stick his finger in its butt and crook it and catch the rabbit. That's what my hunter friends had him doing at the last hunt we were on. he stayed on the dirt road all day at the ready!!!

His mother didn't share in the enthusiasm of him telling of his hunt duties to her friends and church members at all!!!

[S.R.Patch]

John, up north we've advanced beyond the "greased finger" method (due to more women in the field), now we just put them on the game trail with a saltshaker in hand...

[BCBeagles]

John,

That is a great story!LOL. If I ever make it down that way I am going to look you up for tips and tricks of the trade!
I thought about the theory on butthole diameter and have had a few with backends as big as a super sized crab apple and they could
smoke a rabbit! Mind over matter can be powerful!LOL.

[cburchett77]

Back when I coon hunted I remember reading an article in a magazine about a well know coon hunter that had a good reputation of always raising good young dogs. They asked him how he always picked the best pups out of a litter(expecting a great philosophical answer). He answered them saying he closed his eyes and reached down and grabbed one.

[Alabama John]

BC you'd be welcome for sure! Hey, maybe it does work, ever can tell! All folks here if asked how they picked that dog you seem to favor they own will tell you that's how it was picked. Hard to argue with success!

Saltshaker? That would be a good one! When stranger or youth comes up after hearing lots of shooting, and a man is standing with his finger crooked up ones butt and saying he caught it after all that missing, its hard to despute.

Closing eyes and picking, Man, that would take guts or confidence, I can't figure out which!

Good to see folks lighten up.