Selecting a show prospect is a long drawn out affair, especially if the pups have no outstanding faults at a early age. There are a few faults that can show up early that would eliminate a puppy from being considered for show, one thing would be the bite. Sometimes you can tell by 8 or 12 weeks if the bite will be overshot or undershot. Of course if the bite off a slight amount then it is possible that the bite can correct itself when the permanent teeth come in. The other thing that is sometimes obvious early and that is size. If by 12 weeks a puppy that appears to be too large or too small for show it can sometimes be eliminated from being considered for show. Of course size is not always easy to predict. I know many a show breeder that have been greatly disappointed when their show prospect ended up too small or too big.
Other things that would make a pup not suitable for show would be if they have a poor ear set, ears too big, too long in body, bad tail set, straight stifles, poor front, bad top line, improper coat type, the list goes on. Some of these faults might not be obvious until the pup is older. And, of course, like Mary said, the personality of the pup plays a very important part in if a pup has what it take to be a show dog. Some faults could be minor and the dog could still be shown. You can have a perfect yorkie with no faults but if the dog does not have that yorkie attitude then you can forget it. |