How did you realize your dog was a keeper?

Well, Tojo was picked by the breeder beforehand since all the puppies were reserved, but I definitely knew he was the right one right when she placed him in my arms! The feeling was so strong, that I'm absolutely convinced I would've picked him if I had pick of the litter. She had a lot of puppies at the time, because two of her dogs had litters at the same time, and of all of them, I just knew Tojo was right. He's laying beside me chewing a bone right now, and I absolutely can't imagine life with a different dog. Maybe an additional dog (I wish) but none could replace Tojo. He's not the most obedient dog in the world (gotta love those shibas) but he's the best little pal I could ask for!

I seem to have a knack for picking the "one". When my parents decided we were getting a dog, we went to the pound several times and I just never found one that I liked (they left it mostly up to me) and then one time, I went, and I said, well, I don't think any of these dogs are right, but I thought I'd check one more time, so I walked past all the dogs, and suddenly saw a little pick in the very back corner kennel. It was our dog Loki's tongue. I couldn't see the rest of him because he was all black, but I walked up to him, put my hand on his head, and I just said, "This is my dog" and that was that.

Also, this isn't a dog, but I basically decided I wanted to marry my husband over night (before we were even dating) and then just sat around waiting for him to ask me to marry him, and he did about a month later and we're as happy as can be. Like I said, I just have a knack for these things.

well my husband actually got him without me, was a surprise. best surprise he's ever got me [8D]. my dog is perfect, i dont know how he knew which one was the right one, but he got it right.

She picked me! I was picking up all the puppies and holding them. I'd overlooked Penny because she was the smallest and kept getting trodden on. I noticed her when she started playing a cheeky game with the breeder, jumping on her hand and barking at her. I picked her up and she just snuggled right up. I held her for a long time, until her mum came in to give the pups a little drink. I put her down so she could have her snack and instead of running off for milk, she stopped and looked back at me for a moment. I knew then that she was mine. I sat down to tie a ribbon around her neck so no one else would pick her and she happily relaxed in my lap and let me do it. I've always been a sucker for the spirited one, and that's exactly what Penny was. She was cheeky then and she's been cheeky ever since. []

Tasha was a stray. We'd never even discussed getting a dog but one look at her happy, trusting face and we knew we could never let her down.
 
Wolfgang was tied up outside a bar in the rain and he was just too darn cute for that life so I bought him. DH didn't think a second dog was a good idea so I said we'd just foster him. It took less than two days for DH to change his mind.
 
Floyd was at his foster mom's and I was pretty sure this was going to work out before I even met him. But we took a walk with him off leash loping ahead and I called him to "Come" and he turned and ran back to me full speed with the happiest, most excited expression. I just gasped.

fear of Glenda [] LOL
actually Molly bonded w/me very quickly. I knew we were a team the first morning I woke up and saw her looking into my eyes.

When her breeder first handed her to me, and her little tail wagged a billion miles per hour.  I held the other pups, but none of them were as happy to be with me as Carley.
 
Casey was at a dog festival, and she just happened to have the same coloring and some markings as Scout, our Cocker Spaniel who was getting old (15 1/2 I believe)  And when we walked her around she was so happy and bouncy.  So she came home with us.  []
 
Although I wasn't born at the time, my grandma was Scout's breeder.  She had to go somewhere unexpectedly and left my parents to take care of the pups and find some homes for them.  When a kid picked up Scout he yelped and the whole time they were there he acted hurt.  They even offered to buy him still, but my mom refused.  As soon as they left Scout was fine.  That's how my mom knew Scout was her's.

I actually did not have a choice with Dasher, he was the only one left in the litter.  (Actually there were 2 left, the breeder was keeping one).  We decided to get Dasher 6 months after I lost my Dal, Reese.  I was not really sure on getting a JRT (probably wasn't sure about getting another dog period).  Anyway I made a deal with myself that I would get a JRT only if this particular breeder had pups and if not I would wait until she did.  She rarely breeds so I knew I was taking a chance, but I love her dogs and have known her for  9 years so I was familiar with her dogs' temperments, etc. 

So sure enough I go over see Dasher and that was pretty much it.  [] I knew I couldn't live without him!!

I chose our dog online through Petfinder. It was February 18, 2005. The weather was really cold and snowy. And the rescue was out in the boonies 65 miles from home, in an area I didn't know at all. So using Mapquest directions we found the house. Once inside there were about six dogs running around and several cats. So we said our hello's, I signed the forms, and he hopped in the back seat for a long ride home. He seemed really cute, and I knew I would love him, I just wasn't aware of how much. When we arrived home it was noisy and everyone was excited...... and he just simply walked over and sat at my feet and looked up at me looking for assurance that everything was okay. Our eyes locked and I fell in love with him right then and there. That was it. It was like someone took a bucket of love and just poured it over my head. []  He has since been named Murphy and honestly, the amount of love I feel for him just blows me away.... I adore him. We adopted him from a rescue and gave him a home and a warm place to sleep, but what he has given us in return is so much more than words can even describe. [] 

With Marlowe it was just totally meant to be. It was the perfect doggy storm. I'd finally started thinking seriously about getting a second dog, and had finally gotten DH to also think about it seriously. I'd decided on breed category (large scenthound). I was looking into bloodhound rescue but hadn't gotten so far as to actually call yet. I was absolutely sure that there wouldn't be any large hounds coming into the shelter because we are basically wall-to-wall pitbulls and other "urban" breeds. And one day, while I'm there volunteering (I don't go that much--I'm a busy gal), in walks a magnificent purebred working coonhound. If I just hadn't gone in that week, he would have been gone, I wouldn't have even ever known he was there. When I visited him while he was getting his Petfinder photos taken, and he walked over and gently hugged me, I knew he was my dog.
 
With Conrad it was a much more academic exercise. We had some specific criteria (GSD mix--which Conrad isn't but he was labeled wrong and people mistake him for that all the time still, a dog who didn't bark in his kennel or jump up on the door, a large dog) and he was one of two dogs at the pound the day we went that seemingly fulfilled those criteria. It wasn't an insta-bond with him, but we liked him plenty and made the commitment. By the time we drove the hour back to our house, though, it was love.

I've told the story 100 times. So, 101 won't hurt, at least for this thread.
 
Labor Day 2003, a friend's son and his girlfriend bought Shadow from a pet store. Sometime after, they run out of money and jobs and had to move back in with their respective families. The girlfriend was the owner of record and Shadow was living with her. Her adoptive family was going to have Shadow pts in order to be mean to her. Labor Day Weekend 2004, we are visiting our friend and the son's girlfriend is over there and needing to re-home Shadow. She had a pic of him on her cellphone. How could you not resist his face? I asked what he was. Husky/Lab. I said sure, let's see if he likes us. She left that very minute and within an hour, had brought him back with his wordly possessions. Two small bowls, suitable for a little puppy, and his leash. The papers came later. And whatever food they were feeding him (whatever would be on sale at Wal Mart. You get 3 guesses.) At that time, he was about 22 inches tall and about 50 lbs, and 1 year and 2 months. He was a bit stand-offish at first, which I later learned is a breed trait and just part of his personality. After dinner, we really got to visit with him. At one point, I had him sitting in front of me and I was talking directly to him. I was explaining how we could take care of him. I have a lot just short of a 1/4 acre with a back yard that equals about 1/8 of an acre. When I mentioned the squirrels that come in the yard, he was all over me, and proceeded to stick like velcro. I think then is when he became mine. Later, I stepped out to bring my truck around as I had to park a bit away. I was told he stayed at the door pawing and howling, like a wolf, and crying, wondering where I went. When I took him out and opened the door to the cab, he jumped right in and gave me a look like "Aren't we gone, yet?" DW was a blessing. She had a 40 minute ride home with a furry dog butt in her face. The bed has a full camper top on it but too much tools and stuff in the back for him to ride there that night.
 
As our friends put it, it would have been nigh unto impossible to leave without him, that night.
 
We actually met him when he was a little puppy, as we had seen him Thanksgiving 2003. He was a bumbling bundle of energy, then. So, Labor Day Weekend 2004, it took about 1.5 hours for him to adopt us.
 
And how could you not love that face. These are the first few pics I took of him, the next day, after bringing him home, with the cheapie digital camera.
 
 

I've lived with alot of dogs in my life, but I've only had the opportunity to choose two of them. Both times,  when I saw the "right" dog, I knew instantly, before I even got to interact with that dog. With Axl, I was at the shelter looking for anything under 20 pounds. I was 15, my parents had two dogs, but I hadn't had one of my own in a few years. I had always wanted some kind of bully breed, but my parents gave me a 20 pound weight limit so I figured that was pretty much out of the question. I went to the shelter a few times, but never really saw anything that struck me. Then, one day, I went in and saw Axl. He was sitting in the back of the kennelfacing the wall, with his head hanging. I thought he was a pit, like the many others there, but when I called him, he turned and looked and I saw his amazing bulldog face. I knew right then that he was coming with me, even if it meant sneaking him home. Turns out that wasn't necessary- I called my mom to come and look at him and she instantly fell in love too. He's turned out to be the most amazing dog I've ever met, and definitely my heart dog. He's one of those rare dogs that has never needed any training or corrections. He just does what he's supposed to. I've never even really seen him as a dog- he's more like a big brother. The few times I HAVE had to correct him, it felt strange- like I was yelling at my dad or something. It seems like he takes care of me, rather than me taking care of him.  []
 
Pepito, I didn't pick. He was a gift from my parents. I'm not a chihuahua person and honestly, I never would have gotten him. I love him, but he can be REALLY tough sometimes to get along with.  
 
Ogre I found very much by chance. My husband and I had been talking about a third dog for a while, and we saw a beautiful white American bulldog on Petfinder at a nearby shelter. When we went to look at him,the shelter was closed, with an "under quarantine" sign on the gate. A shelter worker saw us and came out, and told us that they were closed because a dog there had come down with parvo. We mentioned the bulldog to her, and she said that he had been reclaimed by his owner a couple of days before.
 
So, since we were already all geared up to get a dog, we decided to go that weekend to the shelter in Columbus, where I got Axl. They usually have some pretty cool dogs, and my family lives there so we were going to spend the weekend with them while we looked. When I got there, I immediately started scanning for bulldogs, mastiffs, pits, and staffies. I almost didn't see Ogre- he didn't fit the body type I was scanning for so at first my eyes went past him with hardly a glance. I looked back at him, to comment on the fact that "that's a REALLY big husky" and before I got the sentence out I looked at him properly and said "Wait...that's an AKITA!"
He was the most beautiful dog I'd ever seen. He grinned at me, flopped one huge paw up on the chain link of the kennel, and "awoofed" at me, and that was it. I had always loved akitas, but never considered one because I never ever thought I'd see one in a shelter, and I prefer all of my dogs to be rescues. This was on a Saturday, and we found out he wouldn't be up for adoption until Monday, and they wouldn't let us reserve him. So I had the whole weekend to worry that someone would claim him, or that we wouldn't get there early enough Monday morning and he would be adopted by someone else. We got up early Monday, and got to the shelter an hour before they opened and waited outside the door. The second they unlocked the door, I was inside filling out his paperwork.
 
 It turned out to be one of the best decisions I've ever made- Ogre has done alot to knock me off of my high horse when it comes to training and relating to dogs in general just in the 6 weeks I've had him- I have a feeling he's going to turn out to be one of the greatest teachers I'll ever have the privelege of knowing. []

I have 5, 3 of them are rescues, and all of them are here for one good reason or another.
 
We are one big happy dog family[]

all the debating (thats the positive term for our heated discussions) was done and we have been individually going to the spca to see 'who was in'
To be honest I didn't think DH was really going to go for it so I hadn't looked for a dog for about a month. I knew I wanted a young, large dog preferably a lab or lab mix.
So we were on our way to a downtown restaurant with my Mom (visiting from NY) and DH says lets stop at the spca.  I'm a little confused as I really thought he wasn't interested.  Wander around see this gorgeous pup, walk into the room and he comes to me.  I pet him and he seems bright, friendly, responsive, etc.  Tell DH to come in.  When DH walked into the room the pup went straight to him and sat in front of him looking straight at his face.  Volunteer arrives and chews us out because we aren't supposed to be in the room someone must have left it unlocked.
We ask to take him into a greeting room where he is just awesome, Mom has been around tons of dogs and is equally impressed.  He was just so friendly & alert anbd drawn to DH. 
DH hears someone else say they want to see pup - DH tells me "hurry up and say we take him and get the paperwork done!"  I'm like are you sure he said yes and hurry or they will take him.
Off I went, head reeling as this is going to be 1 big dog! (He was 38lbs and between 3-4 mos).  Then DH says can we pick him up Tuesday (its Sunday) they say no you have to take him now.  So we buy the biggest crate they have, the puppy collar they give you was already too small and home we went.
He slept in my arms in the car like whew I found my momma (its only a 10 minute drive)
DH went to walmart to buy the rest of the gear we'd need immediately

You can see how long it took to get comfy

Well, my dad made a deal with us. If he reached on of his goals, he would let us have a dog, and until he reached the goal he wouldn't eat sugar because that made him go to sleep and not get any work done. So, we thought we would never get a dog because dad wasn't really working on that goal. But one of my dad's co-workers breeds lhasa apso's and the last time he had puppies we got to see them, and of course liked them and kept asking dad if he was ever going to have any more puppies that we could go see. So about two years later they had another litter and all this time the co-worker had been working on dad to let us have a puppy (thank you co-worker!) and even said that he would let us have one of his puppies and we only have to pay for shots and the akc registation. So, my dad finally caved, but he didn't tell us. He did let us go see the puppies though, but told us under no circumstances were we to ask for a dog.  So, we went to go see the puppies and I liked Maggie, and another little girl named Lily. After we drove away he asked us which one we liked most, and we all liked Maggie and a diferent puppy, so Maggie it was. But, he didn't tell us, and my brother and I went off to camp for a week.  During that week we were talking about pets and I said how my dad would NEVER let us get a dog. Then we came home and unpacked. The dog was in my dad's office where we wern't supposed to go. So after we had unpacked dad asked us to come into his office like 'you are in trouble' and we come in to find Maggie. My brother was like "How long are we keeping her" and I just wanted to hold her. My little sister said 'forever'
Then of course we went and socilized her, but everyone else already knew her except for us, so that was a little weird. And since I was the animal person I trained her and stuff like that and have become her person more than the rest of the family.