I am looking at a puppy this morning and feeling very nervous !
Please remind me what to look for and ask.
( have already spoke on phone extensively but just want to be sure I've covered everything)

Well I went and everything went well, I was obviously better prepared than I thought I was !

When you saw your puppy for the first time did you feel a rush of love and did it feel 'right' ?

When you saw your puppy for the first time did you feel a rush of love and did it feel 'right' ?

Absolutely, and ashamed to say I cried like a baby...

Yes to both questions and any reservations or worries I had had just melted away. I just knew she was the one for me and I would do whatever was needed to make everything work out.
She is now 7 yrs old and the love of my life ( don't tell the OH, but I think he knows !!) We have done a bit of agility, Kennel Club Good Citizen, Bronze, Silver and Gold she has also done well in the Show Ring so I have many magical memories of things we have achieved together. I also now have her beautiful daughter who is following in her footsteps.
Sometimes things are just meant to be, and you just know it is right.
Very best wishes for lots of happy times with your new puppy, when will you be able to bring him/her home ?
Do please keep us updated, their are lots of very knowledgeable people on here, who are always happy to give advice.

I remember when I went to look at a litter 7 years ago (is it really that long?) I said to the breeder "I like that one, don't like that one but bet I go home with that one.." The one I liked ended up being a non standard colour (tri colour in a black and white breed) still didn't like the 2nd one and came home with the 3rd one like I said. I sort of had a feeling at the time that she was mine. I didn't bring her home for another 7weeks as she was only 2-3 days old when I said it.

It doesnt just work with puppies!When I worked in a care home,a man used to visit his mum,bringing his two dogs, a gsd and a little black cross.As soon as I looked at her-the gsd-I felt a connection,like she d just slipped into my heart,and I just Knew she d be mine one day.Two years later,sadly,her owner had to go into a nursing home,his sister took the little dog,and I was asked if Id take Sheba,(or she was going to be pts)Well,Id just had two collie pups and id already got 2 other dogs as well,got my hands full!So I said Id have her over the weekend to see if she d settle.The first night she chewed my front door a little,but after that she was an angel.The only sad thing was,I was told she was seven by one member of the family,but another told me she was actually ten,so I didnt have her as long as Idve liked-but then,thats always the case,anyway!

I had the same with my cat Polly, a girl I used to dog walk with told me she'd got a kitten one morning, the second she said it the thought " that's my cat " popped into my head, one week on I met her coming through the park with the kitten, she wanted to know if I could take her as her boyfriend was allergic, 18 years on and I still have her.

When we went to pick up our new pup last year I absolutely fell head over heels in love with her dad, he sat by me and we just connected, in fact pup had gone off to sleep over by her owners.  I just stared into his eyes and him into mine, he laid his head on my knee and I scratched and stroked him for most of the visit.  In fact if she'd said 'take him home too' I would have.  Now I love my pup, she is the image of her dad in every way, but deep down in my heart I hope one day the owner calls to say he's mine lol..

multitask,I wouldnt be surprised!these stories are lovely!

After a year of searching for the 'right' pup, when I went to see one litter in which there was only one bitch - and I wouldn't consider a dog at all - I didn't hold out a lot of hope. So I looked at the seven pups tumbling about, and one in particular drew my eye. I picked it up ... and yes, it was the bitch. :-) Decision made straight away, and never regretted.

>I just stared into his eyes and him into mine,

Gulp!   I would just have to steal him in that case.

I am loving these stories. I have always thought that animal lovers have some special intuitions, lifelong friends who are involved with animals, when I met them it was like I had always known them, we were on the same wavelength straight away, and I never needed to explain myself, nor they to me.
We just know what each other are thinking. I have never really had the same connection with people who don't have animals.
As others have mentioned special connections with animals do happen, they are all loved by us, but sometimes you just get that connection with, a horse, cat or a dog that is extra special, so hard to define, or explain, but both you and the animal know there is a special bond, when it happens it is truly magical.

Lovely way of putting it Dorcas! I so agree. My boy is the best behaved, easy going, tolerable dog I know; but my bitch has my heart. She's naughty, cheeky, and overall much more demanding...but I love her so much it aches.

Lol Dorcas I thought I'd formed that special connection when I picked Henry - or he picked us, as I thought - he immediately climbed onto my lap and fell asleep, and every time I tried to put him down to look at the other possible puppies he climbed back up again. Turned out that he was like that with any lap, hehe, but I still wouldn't have missed my time with him for anything. :-)