OK,
So here is my situation. I am asking about this because I want to be the most informed I can possibly be, and I hope this is the right place to ask.

So my situation is this: We have been waiting for our litter to arrive (we have first choice of male from my breeders litter). He called today to let me know the female had the litter Friday. There originally were three puppies. 2 male 1 female. One male died and now there is just one of each sex left.

My breeder is very experienced and is really keeping an eye on this litter in case there is any problems. He is very knowledgable but I dont know how to ask him these questions in case of causing offense.

The female of this litter is between 5-6 he said. He doesn't breed past this age because of to many risks to the female. This female had her last litter before this in November 09. She had his vets ok to have another on her next heat cycle. The stud used is a new one..this is his first.

The female's litter of 09 she lost one pup due to natural causes. She had six very VERY healthy puppies left. Now she had a total of 3 but one passed. Should we worry about the health of our potential puppy because of this?

We want a male that is show/field (this is a hunting dog)/competition dog. We have asked my breeder to select us a puppy that he personally would use in his breeding stock. He does everything listed with his dogs. He knows what we are looking for. He has already let us know that if we decide not to take this puppy that we can have first pick of his next litter (a new import) and the male he used for this one.

Does any have any advice on this? We are going to wait a few weeks to see how the bone structure of the male pup will be ( our breeder has amazing bloodlines and breeding stock. That is not the issue.. we want one we might someday breed ourselves). Should we even consider this puppy? Or should we just select to go to the next litter this fall?

I have no idea what to do. This so far has been research and planning.. but this wasn't something I was expect to have to make a decision about. Any advice is welcome.

Thank you.

I may not be a super experienced breeder but I do have a fair amount of experience looking at small litters.

To my knowledge there is no real advantage health wise for puppies of a bitch having a litter later or earlier in life so long as the bitch is handling the physical strain. So really the health of the puppy wouldn't be my worry so long as the heart and lungs sound fine and his confirmation is solid. Small litters happen, losing a puppy happens, and at least your potential puppy will have a littermate to learn with. That is a good thing.

The downside of having so few to choose from is that well... there are so few to choose from. So the puppy left will either be the right one or not at all which can be such a bummer when you are wanting a dog of particular parentage and the puppy's isn't quite up to what you need for your purpose. I would treat it as a possibility that this might not be the one but that it could be. Get a feel for where the temperament lies, make sure that the confirmation looks right, and make your decision based upon how the puppy looks and behaves when compared to all other puppies of similar breeding, rather than it's littermates. A great way to get a clue into this is to watch videos of temperament tests, or even better one of a prior litter from the same bitch. The breeder should be able to help you with this process but I would be ready to make that decision after the 7 week old temperament test, that way the breeder will be free to place the puppy after 8 weeks rather than waiting for you to make up your mind.

Good luck!

First of all, I do hope this works out for you the way you wish it to. But, I have a (stupid?) question, though. If you are wanting to get started in breeding, shouldn't you start with a female? You can always access top quality males/semen, but there is absolutly no guarantee that the male you (in this case, 'you' means anyone) put all that time, energy, love, training and money into, will even work out for you. Don't get me wrong, I like males, I think they're easier to work with than most females, but to start a breeding program with a male seems backwards to me.
Secondly, what kind of puppies are these and when do we get to see pictures?
:-)
Best wishes!!!!

 Quote: Lisa skinner

If you are wanting to get started in breeding, shouldn't you start with a female?

Since this is a bird hunting dog our breeder (to protect his breeding lines I am sure) puts a limited registration on the dogs. Either male or female get these until the age of two when you, if you want the limited registration lifted, get their hips OFA certified or Penhip done. This doesn't bother us at all that we are required to do this.

For the breed it is harder to find a perfect confirmation in a female instead of a male. We plan on leaving the male intact so when the time comes and we might want to breed we can get a female at that time. We currently live in an apartment so with having a female and heat cycles, not something I really want to deal with at this time. lol.

That and I don't know if I am ready to tell my little girls whats going on with a female puppy. Also since its a hunting dog and these dogs hunt both upland (phesant,grouse,woodcock) and wetland (geese and ducks) having heat cycles cuts into the hunt time because you dont want to take a female out when they are in heat.

No matter what kind of location collar you have on them if they are in heat have fun catching up to them. For us to Field Trial our dog it is against UKC rules and I believe AKC rules to have a female in heat even near the trial grounds. I don't know about other akc events but thats the rules for hunting field trials.

So no not a stupid question. Originally we were thinking Female all the way. Then we started really thinking of reasons as to why we really need a female if we aren't in the area to breed atleast for the next 4-5 years. For us it is easier to trial our dog, find a person with a female who likes our blood lines and get a first choice of pup from that litter.

Thank you so very much for all the advice. We I think were kind of panicing a bit when we got the phone call. We decided to wait a few weeks like recommended and see where this little guy goes. If not then we get first male pick out of the fall litter.

Thanks again!

Ok, well, in your case, I guess a male does make perfect sense.
I do hope everything goes well and you get to pick up your little boy soon.
Best wishes for a healthy pup/dog and many trialing successes!