puppy dilema

[Guardian Angel's White lightning]

So as you know we are getting another pup, well...i have choice puppy which is sooo wonderful, but how do i know what puppy? She wants me to go there this weekend and pick my pup, but they are 3 weeks old. How do i know what the pup will look like if they are just starting to walk?  What are some key things i should look for? I know the angles, shoulder angle, head, long bodied...but anything else? I do plan on taking bunches of pics and posting them here...but any suggestions?

[Guardian Angel's White lightning]

I have two breeders, i have titan's breeder who will help me and i have the puppies breeder too...or are you talking about another one who is not involved?

[Guardian Angel's White lightning]

we are still showing titan, in fact we have a show next weekend in fitchburg.  The reason we stopped showing was because titan turn 12 months, and the dogs we were going against were 17 months, i needed him to mature a little more, which he has.  We are showing titan to his Championship, as we have 4 points now. 

We first stopped showing because of Lyme disease and he lost weight, then once we figured out what was wrong we did the meds,, and waited until he was back up to weight.  The other thing was we couldn't figure out his stomach, he had diarreah for ever, and finally we figured out why and fixed that.  We are ready to go again and we will be there saturday + sunday

[Guardian Angel's White lightning]

no no allergies that the vet could find or go over.  He did have lyme disease though, which i went to our old vet for as early as 3 months old, and they claimed he was fine.  Trusting the vet he was fine, when he honestly was not fine. once the booty blowout continued on i switched vets and came to the conclusion of lyme. 

[patrick]

Puppies are chosen at 3-4 weeks all the time. Even show prospects. In my current litter the show prospects are already chosen and they are 3 1/2 weeks old.  In the past my accuracy rate on the show prospects has run 95%. And when someone is choosing their pup the breeder will usually advise on which one NOT to pick.   Now you do have to keep an open mind and realise that even the best puppy doesn't always turn out as an adult. And that is why there are puppy show contracts where the pup is guaranteed to remain a show and prospect to lessen the risk.

[patrick]

A mentor really is important as they have the expertise and knowledge that a newbie just doesn't have.  Choosing a puppy for show/breeding has to come with the commitment to change your mind should the puppy not mature as you wish.  There are a lot of dogs, even with championship titles, that really are not breeding worthy.  And a mentor can be very valuable in this area.  Including deciding when to purchase a puppy or whether to lease a bitch.  Leasing is a great option and a safer bet but NO breeder is going to lease a top producing bitch either. 

[People Whisperer]

to me, whether it's predicting the stock market, gambling, or breeding, you just shouldn't play until you know as much as possible. There are wayyyy too many factors that are out of your control, why not at least learn enough to control some of the factors you can?

off topic here...Julie, do you really learn factors before gambling?    

[ruffian]

That said personally I would not take a pup that was picked at 3 weeks, I would not take a pick pup younger that 3 months.  But that is just me I guess.

[People Whisperer]

LMAO!  Only if you are a math major!

No but seriously, if you are a professional gambler you do!

Well, let me think...Rob just won $2,500.00 You guys TOTALLY know how slots work! 

[Guardian Angel's White lightning]

i do understand what you are saying, don't get me wrong there...but... these pups have been evaluated by three different breeders as well as two handlers.  There are a total of 5 show pups in the litter according to both the breeders and handlers.  There is a choice within those 5 that i get to choose.  I was just asking if it was possible.  I do have four mentor breeders that i am working  with.  two are from different breeds...golde ns and elkhounds, the other two are mastiff people.  The handlers are those who handle mastiffs, berners, rotties, and pointers too. 
i do know that you can tell the structure, just not the movement.  I do have others i am talking with, i am not purchasing her to breed to titan, that is not the plan.  If that happens and they compliment each other that is something different.  I am getting her to show and do obedience with, that is the main point.  Yes titan is intact, but i am not purchasing her for that.  And i would like a female now, and we will be getting a female now because that makes sense right now for us in the stage of this we are in. Titan once old enough, and clears all of his health tests, he will be bred to this puppies mother.  The breeder likes his movement, structure, head,angles, and is impressed with his height as well.  I am not doing this blind, i was just asking if it was possible to know.

[Guardian Angel's White lightning]

oh i completely understand you, we are going to finish titan, it prob will be about 6 months-a year to finish titan.  Finishing him is not the problem at all, the pup will not even be able to come home with me until she is 12 weeks old anyway, but the breeder has a list of people already and asked me to come this weekend, which would make the pups now about 3-4 weeks old.  Yes we are getting a foundation b**** but the post before said you should not pick a puppy to match titan, but an adult to match him when that time comes.  I  have never said i would breed titan to her, i did ask though, or was told that line breeding is the way to go to establish a line of your own after several breedings.....

[People Whisperer]

Lauren, I think we are totally confused by now 
From your posts here we understand that:
1. You had major health and behavior issues with you dogs, all three of them
2. You had some major surgery planned for your self
3. You had problems in your marriage
Just that alone is enough NOT to get another addition!
If you have ALL those mentors why are you asking questions here on what to look in a pup when NOBODY here shows mastiffs or knows what a show quality pup will look like 
I beg you to reconsider!

[Guardian Angel's White lightning]

First of all, yes they have had health problems and they have had behavioral issues.  second of all, yes i had surgury, i had it last month...and what??? thirdly, i do believe that not ever marriage is perfect, if i felt that there was an issue, yes i would discuss  it with the hubs, and yes i may fume as well.  have i had doubts? Yes i have, i think that i am entitled to ask a question.  And yes the mentors, yes i know what they say, but i can also ask what others say too.  I can ask an opinion and you may give it since it was asked for.  I do believe my question was about if you could tell from a three week old puppy what it looks like. That is what i asked, and was told to ask from one of my mentors.  Getting other peoples opinions is an important thing, it doesn't matter what the breed is, i simply asked if it was possible to tell.  As for my marriage...yes hard times come and go for us, perhaps all of you have perfect marriages and that is GREAT!!! and i am happy for you.  Unfortunatley in my marriage we have had more rough times then not.  I didn't ask if i should get this puppy, i said i am getting her.  I also never once said i will breed her to titan, not once in this post.  I know that the pup may or may not compliment titan, and the opposite, therefore i would not even think of going that route...have i in the past when i didn't research?? prob. but now after studing pedigrees and so on and finding more information about titan's lines and futher searching.  Yes i did ask your opinion upon a 3 week puppy,, not whether my marriage is appropriate to you.