Hi All,was wondering when big litters arrive how do you i.d the pups i have a litter of 7 ,with potential owners choosing their pup,and am finding it a nightmare to distinguish which pup they have chosen,any ideas i would be most grateful for .thanks in advance.

sorry forgot to add that 5 of the 7 are girls, so it is really awkard

i bought small different colour cat collars the type with a bit of elastic on and removed the bell- they worked fine. It also got pups used to a collar.  before that we had tippex on the toes.

In my breed all the pups are the sme colour but shade may vary, and there is the occaional white toe, or white spot on chest.

I have to note the differences day by day and can usually tell pups apart as long as I have them together.

Where it has been extra difficult I cut out a bit of their thick coat, left haunch right haunch and left and right shoulder (with five girls leave one uncut) and keep redoing it until I know them well enough at 4 weeks plus to not mix them up.

When I tried wool collars I just got in a mess, and by 4 weeks they were loosing them as fast as I could get them on, and I was always worrying about strangulation, so used wool with plenty of give (hence loosing them).

The breeder will know which pups were chosen by who, but I would bet my life that no puppy buyer ever could after a few days as pups are ever changing.

I've used a spray on sheep dye for lab puppies - identifying each pup with different no of spots in different places ......it usually stays until they are picked up by new owners who then know that they have the one that they picked three weeks earlier - black one, two yellow spots on back :D

Didn't have that prob with Aussies tho.... all colours slightly different & noted at birth.

Margot

depends I guess on the breed mine are all white..

first boy and first girl I leave unmarked ..

second boy and girl I mark with the same colour of nail polish on the tip of the tail. I do it out the box and blow it till it is dry before puttng back in the box.

I have also used cat collars on our litter of Weimaraners.  Spent ages in the pet shop looking for 11 different ones - the lad at the counter must have thought I was mad! :D

The thought of collars on puppies frightens the life out of me!!  Luckily with my breed, I've never had a problem telling them apart, but if I did, I think I'd go for the clipping method.

Yep it firghtens me and to be safe they keep coming off, maybe my breed are too rowdy when playing

The Leo breeders use coloured ribbons and change them every week to make sure the size is okay.