Just wanted to know when most puppy buyers think the ideal time of year is to get a pup.

The survey is only 4 quick questions, and the link is below. Make sure you click "done" at the bottom of the page to enter your responses.

Click here to take survey

Zeke

I will share the results when the survey is completed

Good survey, I am curious to see the results.

Took it.

If I answer no to the first question, do I need to answer the rest??

I have only one dog but got to listening to folks and it seems it depends on your lifestyle, what you hunt, what you want to do with your dawg, and if it is a female (heat-but that is a crap-shoot)....also where you live but it seems to me it only matters for the first year...

I will take the survey now...

Get them in early spring, hunt them the first fall,,,,There,no survey needed,,,,LOL In all seriousness,it will be interesting to see what you find. Where you live,lifestyle,hunting season etc.etc.all comes into play, Everyone has preferences that fit their needs.

I am on my second one raised from a 7 week old pup so that is the extent of my experience. They were both fall pups that I brought home in November. That worked very well for me as I can hunt and not worry about dog training that first fall (just doing the walk). By the time the weather lightens up they are ready for more structured outside training, and then you have the entire summer to work wtih them. By the next hunting season, with the proper effort and dog, you can have a very nice "advanced" level hunting partner.

That said, it is fun watching the 5-6 month old dogs turned out in the wild bird field. Not all of us have the benefits of Paco living in the middle of the grouse woods :-)

When you are really ready for a pup, I don't suppose it matters when you get it. And if your time or bird resources are limited, send them up to Paco for a few weeks for some "exposure"!

Any time is a good time.

Can't really think of a "bad" time of the year to get a puppy, the only thing that would dictate that for me is other life commitments, but not the seasons, especially if it was a puppy from a breeding I really wanted.

My dogs live in the house, so I like to get them in the Spring when the weather makes housebreaking easier, and you have all Spring and Summer to do the walk and get the pups into water and all that. The can go hunting a time or two, and then be away for FF/CC when the weather's icky...works for me!

You do the math - If you want to play w/the white coats, Derby dawgs are able to compete until they reach 24 mos. (2-yrs. old).
Depending on where you live, seems like a September pup would be just right.
That being said, good luck finding the breeding/litter that meets your expectations at just the right month?
It surely shouldn't be a timing issue. You need to do your homework on picking the right litter for your next protege, after all it's a 9-12 yr. commitment.

Happy Hunting

I really like a pup born in October or November.  Comes home about Christmas.  January is a long boring month in South Dakota and Feburary isn't much better on a year like this year.  This gives me a lot of time to bond with a pup and work puppy drills in the shed.  We still do a walk every day even though there is snow on the ground.  By March when the weather starts to break they are getting to age where you can start to work them some.  If the dog is trainable I can have them through most major retriever work by the time hunting season starts in October.