The puppy tells you who the dog will be

What a puppy is like tells you a lot what the basic tendencies of the dog will be.  Yes, you can modify and change it through training, but the basic temperament and tendencies will always be there.  Its like a river, it wants to follow its path.  You can make it jump its bank and take a new course, but that is a lot of work!

Tycho as a puppy at about 8 weeks old.

Tycho as a puppy: Tycho arrived on a plane, in the kennel next to his litter sister Mini.  Tycho was excited about all the exciting new things going on and was trying to figure out how to kiss and play with all these new people:  luggage handlers, airport employees, crazy blond ladies, dark-haired guys...  He was really cautious around other dogs.  A friend's gentle yellow lab had to lie down and be still before Tycho could get up the courage to sneak up and sniff the end of her tail.  (Once that was accomplished, he was quite eager to play!).

Tycho as an adult:  he adored people.  His idea of a good time was meeting people and getting petted.  He was perfectly happy to go new places, to meet new people.  He liked some dogs, dogs he knew, and got uncomfortable around dogs he didn't know.  

So what about Bo and Tip?

Bo as a puppy, about 15 weeks old.

Puppy Bo: Even as a little puppy, Bo watched his breeder.  That is what he did.  She was the center of his world and his eyes were on her all the time.  He would play and gambol, with an eye on her.  If running through a tunnel made her laugh then BOOM,  he was going through that tunnel again!  And he had endless energy.

Adult Bo: Bo spends his life watching me and figuring out what I want so he can do it.  again and again and better and better.  I have managed to work Bo so hard he gets overheated, but I am not entirely sure if we have ever actually exhausted him.  He will keep going and going, and pay later.

Young Tip, about 15 months.

Puppy Tip:  OK, all I can say is his breeder's daughter actually thought he was autistic or retarded or something.  seriously.  He didn't play or interact or bumble about like the other dogs.  He would just sit there and watch.  Sort of like a vegetable.

Adult Tip:  It took a year of living and training by Bo, but Tip will now play and fetch balls.  He suffers through innumerable play attacks and mounting sessions by Bo.   Though suffers is the wrong word because it often seems like he doesn't even know Bo is latched on to his other end.  And Tip watches and thinks.  I am hoping that is what he was doing as a puppy:  watching and thinking.  Because the other option is he was just sitting there like a little fluffy white vegetable...  Like a hairy mangel-wurzel.

Having read that, it makes Tip sound like a horrible little lump.  Nothing could be further than the truth.  He is very sweet, entirely charming and truly earns his nickname "the little gentleman".  Tip truly does not wish to do things wrong, has excellent manners, and is universally loved by all that meet him.   When we take the smalls for walks, Tip charms everyone we meet, while Bo stands by me, watching me, avoiding the strangers and waiting for a cue that we will start doing something again.  Yes, Bo comes off as unfriendly because the rest of the world simply does not matter to him (only I do).  The rest of the world matters to Tip, because it is more people that can admire him...