You all may have noticed the trend of my questions recently. I can't get my future little fuzz ball out of my head.
So how did you pick your puppy? (if you got your dog as an adult let me know how you picked your adult dog.)
Was is the personality?
Or where you looking for a show dog so you picked for structure?

Very soon I hope I have puppy pictures to show you.

We picked ours by sex and color, and then intuition I suppose. We were 3rd in line so we knew the blue eyed pups would be picked which was fine by us. Our original pick of "Link" ended up being Link, so it worked out for us.

Of course we were dealing with a reputable, ethical show breeder so we knew that the health quality and conformation would be sound. We would get behavior email updates once a week and the more we got the more our specified "Link" just felt right.

Breeders will ask for preferences and any hard requirements. Our only hard requirement was a male and then our commitment to this breeder was good enough to justify things like coat or eye color either way. A lot of breeders that I have seen don't allow you to say "I absolutely must have blue eyes" for example.

Yeah they did ask. Our first thing is temperament. We are very social with dogs and people and we want a dog that can some with. Next thing is we are kind of leaning to wanting a boy. Out Of the littler we are looking at there are four boys. And the health is good everyone has been tested and passed for generations. I checked. But I understand sometime there will be a dog with a fault like ears to big or not positioned great or some other minor fault that isn't good for showing so show people would not get that dog. I am just a pet home so I just want a healthy friendly puppy.

With Yuki's litter, I had 2nd pick out of the seven pups. I knew I wanted female, and there were three females in her litter, so that narrowed it down. And then one was already taken, so down to two. Abby held one, and I held one, and I looked over at the one Abby was holding actually trying to decide, and then down at the one I was holding, and when she snuggled into me I instantly knew she was going to be mine without a second thought. I'll admit, I'm glad it turned out that way. As she grew, it was obvious she was more anti-social, and my one person home was probably best for her. When I went to pick her up, she was the puppy way in the back not wanting anything to do with anyone. But the bond we have now is incredible and I wouldn't have it any other way, shes mommas spoiled little girl <3

That's great to be able to meet them in advance. We didn't meet Link until pickup day. His one available brother was very sweet and cuddling us, but Link was chasing butterflies and more aloof. It was fate . I wanted the more independent fella.

We were really lucky and had pick of the litter before anyone else even though they were all spoken for well before the litter was born. Like Jeff our pup came from a very reputable show breeder so conformation, health etc never played a part because it was all ready a given that a pup would be those things so really it was just down to personal preference. We met the pups when they were just a few days old and were very privileged to be able to visit the breeder at least once a week, sometimes more which was amazing so we got to watch as their little personalities came out. My partner and I actually disagreed initially which pup we wanted, he wanted a very dark red girl (almost brown she was so dark, she was stunning and still is) with a very bouncy attitude, she was an absolute bully lol with a hilarious little sense of humor. I wanted the dilute black boy (who I obviously got lol) who was our breeders favorite. He had a little strut as a puppy that just got to me, very calculating in what he did (stealing food off the others lol) and showed a level of intelligence even at a young age. Our favorites were kind of ironic because neither of us had a preference on color but I was leaning towards a bitch and my partner really wanted a boy. In the end it was just personality that won out.
Good luck in your pick, i can't wait to see pictures I sure they will be gorgeous!!

I was the second pick with Dizzy's litter of 4 boys and 1 girl. The breeder was planning on keeping the female initially and I had been leaning toward a male anyway. I went to visit at 3 weeks, 4 weeks, and 5 weeks before I picked Dizzy. I chose him based on personality mostly. As the others said, he was from a show breeder so health wasn't an issue. He was a super confident, independent, yet playful puppy. Energy wise he was what I would consider medium level. The female was just absolutely nutty, and one brother could barely keep his eyes open. Dizzy would go explore, but then come back to play with me. I live in NYC, so I wanted to have a puppy that was not timid or fearful at all and man did I pick the right one. As he's growing, he's developing a healthy sense of caution, but when I first brought him home, I was afraid he wasn't going to make it to his 1 year birthday. He was so fearless I thought he was gonna end up getting hurt! He is also extremely social. He loves everybody, adults, kids, dogs, cats, whatever, he wants to be friends. I also wanted brown or bi-eyed as I was considering showing.

We knew we wanted a boy and Bode's litter had 3, 1 had already been chosen, so we got to pick from 2. We visited at around 7 weeks to pick and picked him up at 11 weeks. Coming in, we had seen pictures of all of them and had a preference one over the other, but we wanted to see their personalities. We picked Bode because he was very curious but also was a little love bug and let me hold him. He also was the one that we initially thought we wanted from the pictures. He was just such a little fluff butt!

I had the first overall pick of the litter, but i wanted a male, and there was only 2. There was koda (agouti/white) and another one which was black and white. I luckly got to see all of them when they were 6 days old cause i set up a visit for that day before they were even born. When i held koda there was just a connection. He stood out with looks aswell. But i waited to make my offical pick till they were a little older at 4 weeks, when i went back. When he was 4 weeks i was sure. He was just the most energetic of the litter. When i was there at 4 weeks all the other pups slept the whole time, koda was the only one that played with me. He liked playing tug with me. So i told her then and there i wanted that one and his name is koda lol!

Our first Siberian we purchased from a pet store because he was pretty. Yes we were 'those' puppy buyers. He was older than most puppies in the store, bigger, and scared as you could imagine. I suppose part of it was he tugged at our heart strings and we wanted to 'save' him from the environment he was in.

Our second Siberian we did a little more research and though I really wanted to walk away from the 'breeder' we met Juneau through, she was an elderly woman who's husband had passed away just before the litter was born and the Siberians were more 'his' thing. We stayed and helped her with some basic chores that she was struggling with and again we ended up feeling sorry for her and the puppies and took Juneau home. What can I say we were suckers.

The next few dogs that came into our home/lives were fosters or rescues that just turned our home into their own. Once we had 3- numbers 4, 5, and 6 just happened.

Eventually I started honing in on what my 'goals' as an owner were going to be. Where did I want to go within the breed. I knew from our second puppy I wanted to get into conformation showing as well as performance sports with my dogs. I started looking for ethical breeders at that time. I wanted a breeder that did their health testing, that was involved in the events I was interested in getting into, and had solid temperaments on their dogs. I learned to wait and pick my puppies at 8 weeks when they are ready for structural evaluation, research my lineages, and there is still so much more to learn! And nothing is 'fail safe', even highly promising show prospects don't turn out or sled dog hopefuls have no working drive.

The adults I have brought in most recently again I have chosen based on structure, functionality, working drive, and temperament. Any dog I bring into my kennel now has a purpose and I have to be selective as our numbers increase.

We had first pick of the litter for Siku. We chose by looks at first, and then went and visited at 4 weeks since we still had time to change our mind within the time period if we met this puppy and didn't hit it off. He was cute, cuddly and didn't make a peep. I wanted to go back and check on him when he was older so we could really see his personality but we just couldn't make it work. So we went to get him on pick up day and man did he change. He was howling, and screaming like crazy and completely changed. We love him more than anything, but he is still the same as he was that day that we got him. High strung, and has anxiety in any new place or around new people. I love him and love our bond and wouldn't change a thing, but what I'm trying to say is: go see them in person if possible and make sure its when they are older so you can really see personality and pick that way which is best for your family and lifestyle.

When I was looking into getting a puppy I knew I wanted a gray/white male, preferably with blue eyes. The breeder I had put a deposit down had a small litter w/ 1 male that was already spoken for. So when the next litter came I had first pick male. I debated on passing because they were all black/white but in the end decided that getting a puppy at that time instead of waiting was better than looks. I didn't get to meet any of the puppies before I chose. I picked Mishka after looking at the other 3 males in the litter. At that point it was just what the puppy looked like. I was lucky enough to have Olivia (olott7) go visit and update me on what his personality was like. I wouldn't get a puppy from that breeder again though. Next time I am going to get a puppy from a breeder that is actively involved and much more reputable.

Thankfully it all worked out and despite some behavioral issues, his personality fits in perfect with our family. He's not off the wall all the time and is pretty mellow and lazy for a husky. Lol.

Bella was chosen because her "breeders" (Amish people) were going to euthanize her because she has a hereditary heart problem and they couldn't sell her as healthy/free of health problems. We took her.

Mechta - the breeder basically choose for me in terms of how she felt the pups were developing. I got updates daily and pictures almost weekly (if not more) since birth. Mechta came from a litter of 5 (2 Black/white, 1 Grey/white, 1 Red/white and 1 Agouti/white). I wanted a show dog but I also knew that I absolutely did not want a red dog (not because I don't like reds [because I don't] but because their coat requires more care and it was something I was not ready or prepared for in my first show dog). I was dead set on the agouti (I LOVE agouti!) from birth but I came back to earth and realized there was more important things then color. Personality had to be there - and obviously conformation for showing. By the 7 week mark I had given up on the agouti - he was just not going to be a fit for me and he went to an obedience home that are good friends of Debbie's (the breeder). The black/white girl went to a pet home, the grey/white girl was breeder pick which left me with the black/white boy and the red/white girl. I was told "no boys allowed" SO! Guess what Ceara ended up with? You got it! The one she absolutely didn't want. lol

I couldn't be more happy with her though. She is maturing FANTASTICALLY. She is proving to have fantastic drive and leader skills and she is an absolutely fantastic conversation starter since no one thinks of her as a Siberian Husky

How do I pick a puppy?....

I grab him, and squeeze him and never ever ever let him go!!!  

we adopted, fell in love with sierras face on a Craigs list ad, i had to have her. we adopted jack, we went to the rescue and met a bunch of huskies but we let sierra pick and she liked jack the best. they have been joined at the hip since.

Kennedy I adopted as an "older puppy" (a littler older then 13 months at the time). I fell in love with her picture on a facebook page called "Pet Pardons". Pet Pardons is an "app" on FB that showcases dogs who have little to no time left before being put down. The picture they had for Kennedy was when she was around 4 months old, so there wasn't an updated picture, and I actually had no idea she was that old. I fell in love with her picture when she had 2 days left. I called the shelter (I was in Ohio at a nuclear job, and the shelter was in Mississippi) the next day and told them I wanted her. They told me she was much older and she didn't look anything like her picture. I didn't care, I had fallen in love and the rest is history . She is my heart dog, and I adore her.

Sheba was a rescue as well. There was only her and her brother left out of a litter of 5, and I didn't want a boy, so I ended up with Sheba. Sheba came from a "small scale" puppy mill and I rescued her at 8 weeks. Luckily I have been able to raise/vet her the way I want to.

Luna is also a rescue. She was basically an owner surrender and started out as just a foster girl, but I fell in love and so did she; so she isn't going anywhere .

My next puppy will be a Standard Poodle puppy coming from a show breeder in Canada. I am looking for an agility, possible show prospect pup. I will probably not be seeing the puppies in person, and I definitely won't be "picking" my pup. The breeder does temperament testing and "picks" puppies for the families based on what they want out of their puppy . I love that about my breeder.

Good luck picking your puppy!

I saw photo's of the puppies first, decided I liked the look of all the males (wanted a boy).
I then traveled to view them, and let the puppy pick me.
2 of them really liked me, but one of them was already spoken for, so Digger it was.

Keyto was already an adult, a retiring breeder.. she kinda jumped in the car and decided she was going with us. Much to the breeders delight.

I am not going to meet the pup do to distance and I just got the breeders recommend and he sounds like a great puppy so I think I am going with her suggestion.

Delilah - it all started on Craigslist...turned into eventually shutting a mill down. We met her, knew right away what was going on and paid 250 to get her out of that situation. She came to me underweight, on crap food, and well the rest I don't want to talk about.

Cato - he is from Karnovanda Kennels and when we went to visit we fell in love. He was such a good boy. He was purchased as a pet and on a whim because we happened to be in the best position to have a puppy. We already had Delilah and knew what it meant to raise a Sibe so we got him.

Teddy - he is from a very important litter. He was the only male and after evals he proved to be very structurally sound and his temperament is flawless. He's actually my husbands heart dog.

I didn't get to meet Karli before we picked her up, the breeder was 7 hours away. But I had my heart set on a girl (my only real stipulation) and my hubby wanted a black and white. The breeder had three girls available, two from the first litter and one from the second that were all black and white. We had second pick, the other older girl was chosen so we had the choice between the older girl or the younger one. Me, being super impatient, decided I wanted the older girl (honestly she wasn't 8 weeks old so not old, she was just older than the other puppy.) We picked her up at 8 weeks and its been love ever since, she is my baby and I couldn't have asked for a better dog.

After having her for about an year, my hubby began to feel left out as Karli had bonded to me. So, he started looking into getting a puppy but he decided on a lab because the husky hair drives him nuts. We got to meet Evee when she was four weeks old. There were three yellow girls (hubby wanted a yellow and I wanted a female because I prefer them lol) and one had been chosen so we got to pick between the other two. Evee had a black nose and that sealed it for my hubby. She fell asleep in my arms and snuggled up to me and I knew we had to have her. And as luck would have it, she has bonded to my hubby. She is his shadow when he's home.