Well, the time has finally arrived. You have read countless numbers of books, seen as many videos as you can get your hands on, talked to as many seasoned dog people that you could find (and that would listen), spent hours upon hours surfing the web reading about German Shorthairs. You have gone onto your breeder's website so many times that you single handedly are responsible for his hit meter reaching levels IBM would be jealous of. The night before you could hardly sleep in anticipation of going to get your puppy. You have purchased all of the necessary and some not so necessary equipment for training your pup. Over the months and months you had to wait for this litter to be born you found yourself reading anything and everything about German Shorthairs. When the litter was first whelped you held your breath as you waited for the call from your breeder to verify how many puppies were born and that the sex you had chosen was available.

Now you are on your way to go get this "special" puppy of yours. You pull up to the house and cannot get out of the car fast enough. My first suggestion would be to wait till the car comes to a complete stop before trying to exit. You half run/walk up to the door as you cannot wait to see what it is you have been smiling like a kid all morning for. The time has arrived. The breeder opens up the door to greet you, you exchange pleasant hellos and just about push the breeder out of the way to get to that litter box. You open the door to the whelping room, and BAM! You see all these little eyes and noses staring up at you from their whelping boxes. You find it hard to contain that grin which no matter how hard you try you cannot. As you approach the box and stick your arms in to pet these little guys you are oblivious to the fact that their little teeth and nails are digging so hard into your skin that they are starting to draw little droplets of blood.

Looking at the litter you now have a sense of panic set in as you wonder which one will go home with you. How will I decide which one is the best? Who should come home with me? How do I even pick a puppy? What did the book say? What did the video say? If some of you are lucky enough to have a self proclaimed dog expert to rely on, you turn to him for his/her advice. Oh, what do I do?

If you have purchased your puppy from a knowledgeable, experienced breeder and all-around dog person, make your life easy and rely on his advice. They have lived with that litter for the last seven weeks, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. No one will know that litter individually better then they will (except maybe their spouses). Rely on their opinion to help narrow down your selection. By the time you come to pick up your puppy they will have spent hours and hours watching the litter. If they are like me, they will know the litter inside and out. Be specific in what you are looking for and ask them for their advice as to which puppy most closely fits the personality you are seeking. Remember it is the breeding, the breeding is what you are purchasing. You initially chose your breeder after educating yourself on the bloodlines, checking references on his/hers past litters, and their overall knowledge of their breed and their accomplishments within the breed. Rely on your breeder and you will not go wrong.

Or you can do it the way I do. Over the years I have developed a sure fire scientific way to pick a puppy. I arrange all the puppies on the floor in a group, then place them all back in the whelping box. Next, I take a puppy out one by one, then place them back in the whelping box. Finally, I call my 13 year old daughter and my 8 year old son down to the whelping room and let them both pick out their new puppy. That method hasn't failed me yet. Good luck with your new puppy!!