Unsold Puppies
 

I was delightfully surprised when our breeder told me that any unsold puppies at 6 months (huge litter), will be donated to an organization that trains and places service dogs.

Sounds great except for wondering why at 6 months old they haven't been sold. Service dogs require a very specific temperament and drive, the leftovers aren't necessarily the best plan. I would be curious to ask the breeder what the success rate is for the puppies placed as service dogs.

They can likely be used for *some* type of service.

My golden's breeder donates one puppy out of every litter. They pick and hold the puppy and its donated at the 8 week mark.

In this particular case, it might be because the litter was unexpectedly huge. As for the success rate, I guess I'm not nearly suspicious enough.

That's the way it should be done. Evaluations, temperament testing, drive, nerves, should be evaluated vs just placing the leftovers from the litter.

I have puppy raised for two different service dog organizations (one for guide dogs, one for assistance dogs) and the assistance dog organization would take in donated dogs from various sources, often leftover puppies. I can not think of a single one that actually panned out, whereas the pups they specifically selected or bred for typically did well.

I wonder what they see in the pups that they can narrow it down to one? My golden would be a wonderful service dog. Eventually I would love to do therapy work with him...He makes the whole room light up!! I'm glad they didn't pick him:)

You can see a lot in a puppy very early on to evaluate it as a working prospect. It isn't foulproof, pups can change as they grow, but good evaluators can narrow it down pretty well.

Therapy dogs are great dogs, but they are not service dogs, so there may be a reason they didn't pick him, or they missed out on a good pick for one that showed a bit more promise perhaps :)

Meant to also add - or they had a select number of open spots for training and only needed one pup, and had to choose.