Jim,

I don't envy you in the decision you and your wife have to make. You have a great litter and your final choice will be "splitting hairs" since the boys all show great potential.

Don't sell yourselves short. Yes, Rowdy was special and maybe his temperament was God given. But it was the love and attention given that created his human bond.

In my years of training dogs, I learned that probably the most important period of a dog's development occurs during weeks 9-16... the imprinting period. It is then that the bond (human, dog, or none) are developed according to the amount of interaction during that period. If one gives a puppy the ability to spend unlimited time with another dog, it will bond to that dog. If however, one limits the interaction insuring that the human is the primary, the dog will bond to the owner and seek the attention of humans more than a dog's. I learned this the wrong way (anecdotally) with my second dog and correctly with my following pups.

Surely the attention and human interaction you gave Rowdy early on laid the foundation for his therapy excellence. Whichever puppy you choose, the road ahead will be filled with the joys and benefits of the human-animal bond.

Good luck, Doug