Having read lots of posts here on selecting your new puppy, personality, sex etc, it got me thinking.  The last four poodles we've owned we played no part in selecting them from a litter.  First of these four was the only male in the litter, so our choice was made for us, then a rescue which brings me to the last two standard poodles, both female both black and both last sold in the litter.  First of these two was kept by breeder along with a white until she decided which she would keep for showing so both the picks of the litter, she kept the white we took the black, no decision on our part.  The lastest pup who is now a year old was also the last sold but the pick of the litter with regards black but again at the last minute the person buying her changed her mind to white! 

So it occured to me, we have never choosen a pup ourselves and all have been brilliant dogs, with this current one perhaps the best ever (although she does have time to lose that status if her recall doesn't improve).  It makes me think how much better (if that is possible) would it have been if we selected our own pups, or worse!

Would it put you off a litter if you weren't able to select your own pup?  Do you worry the last pup in your litter might not match the buyer, do you wait until you find a buyer that does match, or do personalities not differ a great deal within your litters?

Just curious :)

I find in a litter that each puppy does indeed have its own individual personality and that it is very important to match the right puppy with the right person/family.
If I had one puppy remaining I would wait for the right home to come, that would match its personality. After all it is a partnership of 10+ years so its very important to have a dog that fits.

With this litter (my first) I was keeping a pup, so only one girl for the other lady who also wanted a girl, but it turned out that the other girl had a temper much better suited for her anyway, so no worries there. One family came to choose their boy; that was painful to watch. I knew which puppy would suit them best but I wanted them to get to know them a bit, after all, they had just driven 5 hours just to meet him, and would be driving another 5 back again! So they sat on the floor, each had one of the boys on their laps, and just couldn't decide between the two of them. After an hour they looked at me and said 'Which would you choose for us?' and I told them the bigger boy, and why (very calm temper but confident too, perfect for their active family with two kids). They were delighted and agreed with me, and he became theirs. Last pup was the last boy who was show quality so if he hadn't have found a home by 12-14 weeks I would have kept him to show him with his sister; not ideal but it wouldn't be the end of the world. His home pulled out at 7 weeks, but at 11 weeks the perfect family came up and he was homed to them. Last puppy...I think they were actually a little relieved. All the harder bits were done for them regarding crate training, vacs, house training, lead training, impulse training, and such!

My bitch was the last pup from her litter so I had no choice there, but it didn't much matter, soon as I laid eyes on her I knew she was perfect and we were just incredibly happy the breeder had chosen us for her.
Our boy was a pick between two boys; we went to choose at 6 weeks and he was the one that stayed awake! 

Thinking about it, we also haven't had much choice in which pup we would be taking home either....

Akita - pick bitch of the litter as the breeder kept 2 dogs.  Breeder had turned down a few people who wanted her and was about to keep her aswell until I got in touch (I had been in touch with the person who bred the sire of the litter as I had been waiting for a pup for a long time) so this is how I got my girl.

My male Rottie - 2 dogs in the litter, I did have the choice to some degree but as I wanted to show it was suggested which boy I had because of his conformation....so he came home with me.

Rottie bitch - pick bitch of the litter for showing so the breeder chose her.

Rottie bitch (youngest one) - again 2 bitches kept for showing (same breeder as above), breeder kept the one which had a different shaped head and I got what would have been her pick....unfortunately both developed a fault so my girl isn't shown which is a shame as she's lovely in every other way!

The dogs previous to these (and we still have them) GSD's, Leo and past Rottie's were bought purely as pets and not to show so we did choose them.  So far either way has turned out fine and all dogs are great :)

Thinking about it, we've not had huge amounts of choice. We did have 3 blenheim boys to pick from Henry's litter, but as I wanted to try showing, he was even then the obvious choice. 2 buff American cocker puppies in George's litter, and hubby preferred the paler one. Ellie was the only tri girl in her litter, Hetty was a singleton, and Lottie was the one the breeder was willing to sell as she wanted a show home for her. :-)

We have always been very fortunate and in a position to spend many an hour getting to know the litter and watching them at play to enable me to make the choice. Jade was different, my son fell for her at 3 days but as we wanted a show puppy we kept telling him not to build his hopes up. At 3 weeks the breeder decided to keep a pup in partnership with her mentor, so we were pushed from 1st pick to 2nd pick which was really disappointing as at that stage Jade shone out as 1st pick and the 2nd pick didn't do a lot for me character wise. At the last minute they changed their mind and swapped to the pup allocated to us, so we had got Jade. As it turned out it was the wrong choice on their part and Jade has gone on to do well in the show ring and has the most delightful temperament, whereas her sister hated being in the ring and was a really bratty madam. She certainly wouldn't have been a good match for us and it taught me that no matter how much potential a pup has, character is the most important thing for me.

If there was only one pup, I would be quite open to looking, but I would have to be absolutely certain it was the right character for us.

Last time I picked a pup was 1982!! Since then I have had no choice for various reasons 3 rescues who found me I wasn't actively looking, one last pup left who was my once in a life time dog, 1 breeder had run on with his brother, 1 only pup in litter.

The most important choice is an ethical and knowledgeable breeder breeding typical well reared pups, after that there should really be no issue.

In my breed all pups to a stranger are pretty much identical so the breeder is best placed to steer you to the most suitable puppy based on character and what other than companionship the pups is wanted for, so having no choice in my breed would really not be an issue as in looks there would be no difference. 

Unless a puppy was at either extreme character wise and the new owner had specific needs in that direction that wouldn't be an issue either as the main influence on behaviour etc will be from new owners input.

The only pup we've had that we didn't choose was my Piglet - I bred him but he didn't sell so he stayed! My Daisy was the last bitch pup in the litter, but I still had a choice of whether to have her or not - there are always other litters. As it turned out she's the one I would have chosen anyway. :-)

However, in the scenario of several pups not being allocated, and breeder saying "This is your one" then I'd probably walk away.

Savannah (now 11), was the last one left and our first purebred of our current breed.  We knew from our conversations with the breeders that we wanted her, but due to circumstances we hadn't been able to see her before we picked her up (though we had spent hours on the phone and internet with her breeder).  The minute we walked through the door we knew she was the one we would have chosen anyway, and I have never had a second's regret.  My only regret is that so far we haven't had another one like her.

The next one the breeders chose for us as we wanted to show.  She was the last one in the litter I wanted (based solely on colour), but I knew she had real potential, and the minute they placed her in my arms as 'mine' she was totally and utterly mine.  Again - not a second of regret.

The next one we bred ourselves, and having bred the litter we strongly directed the buyers to the ones we felt would be the best matches for them in personality, and at 4 years on it couldn't have been better.  And the girl we ran on had a home waiting before she was born and they were very happy with whichever girl we would have let them have.

This time round it's been a bit longer, but we finally definitely booked our final boy (at 4.5 months) this weekend.  Yes, he was the last, but actually because he's so good, not because there's anything wrong with him.  In our screening of people the home had to be right for his temperament, so if it was potentially a good home, but not right for him we helped people find another one.  So while he's the 'last' and they don't have a choice from the litter, it's still what we feel is a good match, and probably the same decision would have been made had we had other puppies here, as I feel of all the pups he would be the best for this situation.

As both a buyer and a breeder I think it's important that as much as people have a preference because 'that ones cute' or 'they like a colour' or 'it's the outgoing one' the breeder also knows the pups a lot better and while a lot will be influenced by 'nurture' a lot is also potentially there by 'nature'.  So working together to ensure the best match is important, and I have yet to experience (touch wood) someone who wasn't happy with that in the end.

Great replies, and I'm surprised at how many of you have been like me and not selected the pup and like me it has worked out perfect.  It does make me wonder all the same, if I had been in the position to choose would I have got it right?  I imagine this is where the skill of the experienced breeder comes in, they would be able to match pup personality to owner.

Having had two children that I knew nothing of their personalities before birth they've worked out great too, although I did have extensive knowledge of their breeding lol.  Imagine how difficult it would be to choose a baby?

> the minute they placed her in my arms as 'mine' she was totally and utterly mine

I think this is such an important point, there's an emotional bond that gets formed when 'your' puppy gets handed over to you.

We've had pick boy the last two times and because of that the breeder has shown us, at each step, who the front runners are and which are likely to be the best for us (and critically: why they would suit us).  This process has enabled us to focus our minds on first three then two to decide on.  Our breeder is very good at giving us the best dog for our family whilst still giving us choices and enabling us to feel it was our decision :)

It's very clear too that we shape the dog we want to own.  I meet some dogs I know I couldn't live with, but that doesn't mean that they wouldn't have turned out a bit differently if they had lived here...

One person has had 3 dogs from me, and each time has said "I'll have the last pup as i always find it impossible to choose". That doesn't mean they've had the "last choice ", but have always been  very happy with their pup.

I am not sure if I shall word this exactly how I mean but will have a go...
There is, no matter how many pups in a litter(perhaps excluding a singleton pup) going to be the 'last in the litter/only one left'. It may not be for any particular reason & people wanting a pup who are on a waiting list will more than likely come before those who are not. I expect also that those wanting a pup will come after the breeder(they do in my case)in their choice of puppy.
What I mean is.....say there are 3 bitch pups in a litter I will have my choice first & would say that to the 'top of the list' for bitches & they will have(if they so wish) the choice of the remaining 2.... It becomes difficult if there are 2 I like more/are better than the other. I usually say to begin with that they can have a bitch pup but I will have my pick first...after all that why I bred a litter, to keep the best one(well the one I consider to be best) for myself....
Have I really said what I mean..I'm not so sure???...lol 

I got my first dog in 1981. I was able to chose my first puppy in 2000. There were a fair few pups in between. A good breeder should match the right puppy to the right buyer -they will know the puppies better than anyone else. Otherwise, the pet pups may end up with owners that cannot cope with the temperament they ended up with. The exceptions are when the puppy is needed for something specific like agility (or of course showing) -my agility buyers always spend a long time testing the pups out to see how well they tug, react to noises etc, but then they do that even if there is only one pup.

But then both my breeds can have very sharp temperaments that aren't suited to just everyone, so anyone wanting just an active pet have to take the most laid back pup.