At what age do people think you can start looking at puppies with a view to getting an iidea of whether you have anything decent to show. Mine are 4 weeks on Monday but at this age they do not normally have developed any length of neck for example.

We look at everything temperament attitude boldness a shy timid dog is no good for show ring markings in my breed can make a big difference.

There are markings they must have some can only grow to certain points when looking at puppies that is the first thing we look at. a lovely pup conformation wise had a white sock one front foot the other one a whole leg the optical illusion it gave made the pup look lame.

Saying that we sit for hours from four weeks on seeing how each pup behaves moves and stands naturally looking for balance in movement and stance, expressions with ears up how alert they are.

At eight weeks we start looking for the no`s we have long coats in the breed rare but if they are any they are first to go, next any mouth faults go if not a full scissor bite we do not take a chance on the adult teeth being right.

There is no right or wrong way to do it but the above faults can weed out the nos from the possibilities letting you run them on a bit longer we do not sell to ten weeks anyway.

We have cc judges who are friends and have been in the breed since the sixties and they come for tea and puppy watch and talk them over

At five weeks I often have an idea of which ones catch the eye, and the definite no's.

I like to choose at 7 weeks, though people who wrote the Puppy Puzzle say 8 weeks no more than 3 days either way.

Old time breeders in the UK of my breed said 6 weeks, but I find some pups may not have got leg yet and others have and as adults both turn out the same for leg so I like 7 - 8 weeks.

After 10 weeks had I not already decided I find that I would not be able to make up my mind as their proportions change with much more leg.

Six weeks ...then wait to see what goes wrong..teeth ..testicles...temperament.
Best you can say but at least you know the ones NOT to part with.

I'll copy my reply from where the question was asked in the other tread:

Totally breed related because there are so many things to think of. In my Papillons it is vital they have a good tail carriage with the tail up above their back and do not readily drop it, in the Malinois you DON'T want the tail high, but both breeds need good earsets -but Papillons want big ears, Malinois not too big. Really depends on what you are looking for. And even for the experienced it's easy to make mistakes. I rejected one bitch for showing as a pup and sold her, she came back aged 14 months and proceeded to win 2 CCs and 3 RCCs (so far)..... But in general, I would say around 6 weeks minimum.

Interesting. I asked because I have heard people say they can tell at a couple of days. At that age my breed have bodies with a head attached, no neck, and short legs attached!

I can often tell which is best in that litter at birth..when wet.
I can only tell if it is an excellent example from six weeks.

I make final choice at 6 week, quite often I have identified one or two that take my eye quite early on but so much can change I will not make choices before 6 weeks

By 4 weeks I have an idea, and usually pick after hearing test at 6 weeks, then I can allocate the others to the people on my list and they can get excited for "their" pup. If there is a patched puppy I can offer that one immediately, and when the eyes open if there are any blue, they can then be offered to my list. x

6 weeks for me, at 6 weeks old the pups have the same angles they will have as an adult, after that age up to around 18 months they go through such strange growing phases - sometimes the back legs shoot up then the front etc.