James,
we evaluate the pups in terms of show potential. All of them are structurally correct in terms of showing. But not all will not only be correct enough but have the attitude for showing. We do a lot of the evaluation ourselves and that involves just watching them move, play and run with their littermates. We also do very thorough hands-on evaluations of their structure including things you don't readily see like how the shoulders lay which effects the front movement. Then, we stack each puppy in the "ring pose" and take close-ups of the heads. That's on the agenda for this week and I'll share those pics.

We also will have the opinion of a Rottweiler breeder/judge and a Rottweiler breeder/handler. Both will be here for formal evaluations on the 12th. Once we have everyone's opinions, we'll ignore them and pick the puppies by the color of their ribbons . Just kidding, once we have the opinions, we'll weigh them and make decisions about which are going into "show" homes and which into "pet" homes.

This litter is very nice and I'm sure they all could be shown. Fortunately, we have a lot of show homes to choose from including our own. We are keeping a girl for our long-term breeding program. Because we are looking for a brood bitch as well as a show girl, we're looking for size as well as structure. Both Peach and Margarita are in the running. Plummy, who is adorable, is quite a bit smaller than the others and does not have the shoulder lay back that the other two have. That only means she might have a roll behind the shoulder when she's mature -- like the #1 Rottie bitch in the country last year . It's not a fault but it's not what we breed for.

The pick boy is going to the family that owns Juneau, the mom. Another pick girl is going to the family that owns Presley, the dad. That leaves two other homes and we have 6 possible choices depending on how the pups rate. We are fortunate that our litters are in demand and both parents are very nice representatives of the breed, both are champions and both have excellent health clearances.

So, that's the process with just a little over a week to go. Linda and I still half-kid about keeping them all. They really are that nice and that much fun. But it is ONLY half-kidding!

Jim