Mama Raven took care of the puppies and when they got older she really enjoyed playing with Charlie. When she had her first litter she didn’t seem to have as much fun playing with Bear. Stetson has avoided all puppies since Derby (circa 2009) and jumps up on the couch or bed to avoid them. Linus likes to play/sometimes bully the puppies. He’s the boss around the house and usually likes to tell them what they can and can’t dog. Seriously, he will get mad and give a growl and nose poke if they try to jump on the couch or bed. Raven still acts like a puppy, they bring out Linus’ youthfulness, and they bother Stetson.

Our last two litters we worked on rolling them onto their backs to get them used to being handled in different ways so if you met our litter they’d probably all pass the “flip test” with flying colors. One of the most important things I noticed is observing the litter to see what puppies meet your temperament requirements. Spend as much time as possible with the puppies you are considering adopting. Visit multiple times at various times in the day. Talk to the foster or breeder and ask them what they think about the temperament of each puppy.

As far as working on focus and high energy puppies…I like to get my high energy puppies extra exercise physically and especially mental stimulation.

Puppies are rambunctious and definitely not for everyone. We have two seniors at home, Linus (14) and Stetson (12) and we love them and don’t know what we’d do without them.

When choosing a puppy and looking for a more calm personality, do you recommend the flip challenge? When we picked my first puppy, my mom flipped our Shadow on his back and he relaxed. My mom heard that a puppy that will stay on his back will be calmer.

However, with my new puppy (well now he’s a big boy), I let cuteness and impulse overrule my mother’s advice. We did not do that with Arlo and he turned out to be more of a handful. We are still working on his focus and high energy. Any tips?

Raven doesn’t seem to mind when the puppies leave. I think by the time they are 8 weeks old she’s over them. When Raven was about 1 1/2 years old we got an 8 week old Lab puppy, Archer. We had Archer until he was 18 months and then sent him to Service Dog College. I do think Raven misses her buddy Archer.