Man is it HARD! When I picked my German Shep. MANY moons ago I was able to do it in person. I was fortunate to be friends with the breeder who KNEW GSDs and get a Co Pick. I picked the boldest M and boldest F and decided to go with the Female letting the breeder keep the breeding rights to her. It was a GOOD choice and she lived 13 years and stayed sound! Ironically I went for a visit when the pups were a few mos old and One truely ugly longhaired girl was left and I took her home with me. She and her sister both were put to sleep the same day. Healthy till the very end! Go figure. the leftover and the pick.
NOW, I just had to do the HARDEST thing ever. I was getting a Bluetick from WI to co own with a partner in WI. The litter was sold early and... at 11 days I HAD to make my pick of females so the others could get their picks in! I think in that case you might as well pick eeniemeenieminiemo! The first Female to catch my eye also caught my husband and oldest son... so we picked her. Hopefully because the litter is very well bred my co owner will be able to turn her into a good dual purpose coonhound.. we shall see.
I would MUCH prefer to pick in person. I look over the conformation from the beginning. I like a Good expression, I want a VERY good shoulder, good deep Wide chest and good strong angles to the hind end. At 11 days they aren't even standing!LOL... so it's a color game...Unless they are B and T or Redbones! LOL. I don't know enough about actual coonhunting training to know what to look for beyond soundness for their given work. Speaking of which VOICE is SO important... a GOOD houndie head, a thicker throat and neck SHOULD help to give a BIGGER voice. I wouldn't choose the one with a greyhound or Dobie type head.
I agreee the shy ones can be Difficult...although some people specialize in making those the best!
It's all a guessing game in the long run! Sometimes the ugliest strangest one as a pup ends up Awesome!
You have to like to look at your hounds...whether you like ugly, pretty. brown,black, spotted etc... can make a Personal choice difference. The Conformation should ALWAYS be as correct as possible. (and I DO NOT MEAN little itsy bitsy cat feet.... a coonhound should have nice Tight HOUND feet...LOL)
At six weeks and beyond take a Good look at your pups from EVery angle. Look for a Good sloping shoulder and strong hind end. Then choose a personality that YOU like.... The type of hound YOU will like to train. Then hope for the best!
Goodluck and HappyHunting! Post pix of the pups for US to look at too if you can!
Heather