How much did you pay for a labradoodle/golden doodle?

[Monkley]

They seem to be around £600-£700 here, that seems crazy! Is this the going rate?!

I suspect that some of the Labradoodles and Cockerpoos etc. that do end up in rescue are not described as such because it is very difficult to tell exactly what they are just on looks. The dogs available for rehoming at the Labradoodle resuce site mentioned early in this thread all look totally different from each other ! I thought I saw one out and about yesterday, but when I asked the owner what he was she said he was a rather overweight rough coated lurcher.

I would hazard a guess that the same applies for most of the dogs in rescues though. Parentage must be hard to verify.

True there are bad breeders of any breed, but is the breed you get that important, or are certain characteristics of the dog more important? It is always possible to go to a rescue and sat

Gah, stupid phone - posted too early.

I was going to say...

It is always possible to go to a rescue and say I am looking for a dog who is medium sized, doesn't shed, is good with kids (whatever your criteria are) and they can let you know if they have any dogs at the moment who meet those criteria - it can take a while of searching to find a dog that suits you, but so does finding a breeder and waiting on a breeder's waiting list.

MargratGarlik, indeed you can, and the the chances are you will fall in love with something very different! I was looking for a dachshund when I ended up with a Staffie.

I think that's the nice thing though, higgle. When we got our whippet, we went to rescue looking for a springer spaniel type, but we were pointed in the direction of whippetty, who actually is a better match for our family than a springer would ever have been. If looking for a specific breed, we'd never have thought of a sighthound.

I always feel a bit sad when people are very focussed on the exact type of dog they think they want - it almost seems that they are thinking a lot about themselves and what they will look like with it and less about the dog itself.

But surely, higgle, if I'm getting a dog it needs to fit in with my lifestyle, otherwise it will not have a happy life itself. For example, I know I will need to leave the dog alone occasionally and can only do a max of 2 walks a day so I could not have a high energy breed.

Sorry higgle, just re-read your post. Just want to be clear that in my reply I mean character traits not looks. The way my dog looks with me when I walk it had no impact at all on my dog choice.

My friend has a doodle. It is a mini poodle cross. It is fucking HUGE! Think DONKEY! And for the first 2 years of its life, it was a nutter. It destroyed her garden, leapt on anyone who went round, and she could walk it for hours and it would still be hyper.
I'm not a big Staffie fan myself, but I'd NEVER NEVER EVER have a doodle, after meeting that one!

if it is huge, it is almost certainly a standard poodle X.

just because the breeder says it is x, doesn't mean it is X...

some of them keep so little watch over their dogs they really don't know which stud mated the bitch.

Sorry, DoodleKitty - no criticism of you, I was thinking more of the type of people who post on here saying they must have a bull dog or must have a pug on the basis of some fancy or other when there are dogs like this one - a youngish, medium sized terrier cross in dire need of a home

"Minnie was found on 26th Feb. She had been abandoned with two other dogs at the park where we walk our dogs each day .My husband rang me and told me he had found three dogs abandoned at the park, two of them had been run over one was already dead. The other, injured, had been thrown over the wall into the park and lying on top of him barking like mad was Minnie. My husband moved the dead dog out of the road and we loaded the injured dog who could not walk into my car with Minnie still clinging onto him and took them both straight to our vet. Minnie was vaccinated, wormed and given a clean bill of health. Sadly the injured dog had broken his back and pelvis and had to be put to sleep. Minnie refused to leave him even when he was dead and stayed with him all the way to the pound where his body had to be kept for five days along with the body of the other dog of the three, in case as the pound called it,"someone might come to claim their property". They took a picture of Minnie to put up on the pound website and I brought her home. She was very timid and frightened for the first few days but after a while and with the help of our dogs she settled and really came out of herself. She is lively and funny and is mad for her food barking like a manic if she sees her food bowl, she loves going for walks and will "give you ten" if you ask her. She is a total lap dog and loves to cuddle up at night. She gets on well with other dogs. She is house trained and will wee on command when you ask her most time, if you tell her to be busy, she is an adorable little pet who deserved the very best, we all love her here and will miss her very much."

She is on Many Tears web site.

Ooh Magrat I think you might be near me.

I've just been looking at Monty- is that who you meant?

It's the wrong time for me to get a dog I think, despite my DCs begging (going away in October, and don't know if my mum would cope with a dog as well as my cat) but as soon as I can, I'll be round there!

NoVeggies, yes, he's the one - there was also another one at a different place, not too far away, but an adult, who's been reserved now though.

There are some very good Labradoodle breeders around who do not treat The puppies' mother "like crap", just as I'm sure every pedigree dog has not come from lovely fluffy surroundings. Good Labradoodle breeders will spend on hip scoring, elbow scoring, BVA eye testing, PRA testing, vWB testing, etc, they will travel the country to use the best studs and their puppies will be raised in a home environment with the same care, love and attention as a good pedigree breeder would give their litter. IMO it's the same as buy

silly Phone! IMO it's the same as buying from a pedigree breeder, do your homework, ask lots of questions, make sure you see the health test results.

I love cross-breeds

But I like an element of mystery.....hence have ended up with a Goldenrattingstaffiehound of mixed pedigree with low shedding, high kid-tolerance, pretty face, long legs, and a love of all canine and human life forms. Rodents beware, however.

He was supposed to be a lab cross

Not from a breeder, I hasten to add (no breeder has yet had the good sense to breed Goldies with Staffies, American Ratting Terriers and Borzoi hounds - apparently).

He came, originally, from a dustbin. Very cheap

Hmmm, I see the logic of the pro-rescue thinking, but I have to say that, for a first dog, I disagree.

I spent a lot of time researching breeds, temperaments etc before even looking at actual dogs.

I would worry that had I gone to a rescue to choose a dog, I would have been seduced by the cute little creatures and might well have ended up with a breed that was not suitable for my requirements just because I felt sorry for it/was persuaded by the rescue centre.

I do understand that a rescue can give you an idea of an individual dog's temperament and characteristics, but often a dog's personality doesn't show itself in a rescue environment and only becomes apparent once it is in a 'home' environment.

Now that I feel more confident with dog ownership, I would consider this course for any future dog. I still feel it is somewhat irresponsible for a first time owner who would (probably) lack the necessary tools to manage a challenging dog.

Definitely just going to a rescue and picking something out would not be a good idea, I agree

Though I did that (and got lucky) at Battersea, years ago.

Which is why I would strongly recommend choosing a rescue dog from foster care, not from the rescue centre's kennels. In foster, they are in a home environment and the foster 'parent' has a very very good idea of habits/tendencies/character.

Especially for first time owners, or owners with small children!

Not against reputable breeders, either - but really do think fostered rescue dogs are a great alternative.

A reputable rescue won't let you just leave with just any dog that appeals and will take quite an extensive look at what you are looking for, your lifestyle, everyone (including other pets) in the house and how a new dog would fit with them. GRWE for example, won't even let you go and meet any potential dogs unless they are convinced the dog will be a good match for you given your individual circumstances.

As Elibean said, some rescues use foster homes, so they know how the dog is in a home environment. Also, when we adopted our whippet, we spent a lot of time with him (about a month with several visits to him per week over that month) before we adopted him.

A reputable rescue will not rehome a challenging dog to a home with young children or inexperienced owners - when we were looking for our second dog, the rescue we went to would not consider us for adopting a saluki they had due to the fact that the saluki had separation anxiety and needed someone home all day (I work half-days).

On the other hand, some dogs end up in rescue in the first place because their owners wanted a puppy but didn't have the knowledge or experience to train or socialise that puppy properly and so the dog becomes unmanageable. So, in that case, a better bet would be a dog who comes into rescue due to a change in the owners circumstances, but who is already trained, used to children etc.

A reputable rescue is of course different from a dog pound - but there have been many threads about this previously.