Does anyone here own a doodle (or a poodle or a golden retriever? )

[LovelyMuffins]

I am going to see a Goldendoodle litter this week. They sound adorable and I am very excited. I have researched poodles and labradors and retrievers and the breed temperament fits our bill really well. but I don;t actually know anyone who owns one so am searching for information on here and doodle forums. I would love some 'first hand cyber advice!'

I have 3 doodles. I am asthmatic and I got doodle1 as I was advised to get a dog that didnt shed much. They are F2 from a breeder with parenatege, hip scores etc, etc.

They are wonderful family dogs. BUT, we have a lot of room and they get 2hrs a day exercise, mostly off lead. They are really bright, very big bouncy dogs who are very sociable and hate being left alone. They are as greedy as a lab and very very smart. If you dont entertain them, they will entertain themselves! I work from home and usually have one asleep at my feet most of the day.

As a word of caution, Dog 3 was rehomed to me by said breeder after she was returned to him for trashing the house of some well meaning people with 2 small kids who bought a doodle puppy, didnt give her enough exercise, then shut her in and left her for hours on end. Poor dog 3 still has seperation anxiety as a result and is only just calming down at 4yrs.

So, my advice would be, as much as I love my dogs and wouldnt be without them, dont get a doodle unless you love walking long distances and are around at home.

no problems lovely muffins! it's great you are looking into it so much. Elastamum makes a good point about the separation anxiety bit - especially when young doodles really don't like being on their own for too long. we put ours into doggy day care when he was a puppy for the days I worked to make sure he wasn't left alone for too long. now he's older he's fine with it but even then try to make sure he's not be himself a lot. I think it's a doodle thing - they are so sociable. mine will try to sit on top of me if I'm not giving him anough attention :)

I LOVE curly coated retrievers - a lady near us has 5 of them!!!

Did anyone mention rescue Labradors from Many Tears yet? They're not expensive....

I'm sorry to harp on - but the hair is a real and huge issue.

My friend camr round with her black lab the other day and when she left it looked like we had had a carpet laid...

My golden sheds not a single solitary hair.

Hullys right about Labradors, unless you are prepared to devote a substantial part of your life to hoovering and like using clothes brushes, you may want to rethink a lab.

This is a useful resource for anyone looking for a Labradoodle puppy.

Pop eeek 5??!!! Don't think I could cope with all the hair!!!! I often look after my twos mum so that's three!! It's madness!! Black curly madness!! I think 2 is plenty!! 3 would be ok if they were like now fast asleep on the rug after a good walk!!

I have a 16 month old Golden Retriever, she is wonderful member of our family and we all love her bits.
She is however the worst moulter of any dog i have ever owned by far, she has already killed one hoover, bless her:)

The more curlies the better I say horsey! Where do you live, are you near me by any chance? Which breeder did you use and how old are your curlies? I would love to track down victors siblings!

I have a doodle of sorts. Part cavalier, part poodle. I know it will incur the wrath of the Doghouse, but I love her. She's exactly what we were told to expect with the cross...no hairs on the carpet, which helps with my asthma, though I am still quite wheezy with her. No dog is hypoallergenic, despite what they say about doodles. She's a soft hearted temperament, not in need of 6 hour walks and so friendly it's driving us nuts. We are having to get her trained up to not greet everyone like they're her best friend.

I don't regret choosing an 'oodle' dog. I know there's the questions of ethics with breeding, but I think you can get that with a pedigree if you don't do your homework properly. I also understand the stance of getting a rescue dog, but for us as first time owners, dd was very keen to get a puppy and I was totally restricted to an oodle because of the asthma/allergy thing. Though I'm not completely protected from the allergy with Meggymoo I don't struggle with the itchy eyes and excessive sneezing that I tend to get even when I'm just in a room full of dogs (ie when I take her training) so a purebreed probably wouldn't have worked in this house and mongrels I would have had to be really lucky to get one that didn't trigger me.

I have a brown mutt - her Dad was a choc lab and her Mum a poodle with a little bit of bearded collie. When we went to see her he was very chilled out and DH was a bit worried she'd be a bit boring, oh how we laughed about that a few weeks later.

She has a wiry coat and sheds a bit twice a year. She is incredibly friendly and wants to be everyone's best friend. Was over friendly with other dogs at first but great now. Copes well with about 45 minds day off lead in the woods. Loves the cats who were introduced to her as kittens. One of the older cats left home whn she came after awful incidence when she got out as I had my hands full at friend door and chased her , like a greyhound and rabbit.

We had to be very firm with her when little and at one point were at two puppy classes a week. Once embarrassing session we were 20mins over the end time waiting for Plog to recall properly. Walks with her and the DC's (6 and 11 when we got her) were incredibly hard work. She tied DS up with the lead going round him and pulled DD . My neighbour cme with us once (had dogs all her life ) and was saying why you keep calling her back. She took over walk and within 10 mins had lost both Plog and the DC's, total nightmare. She also ate half the house despite us both being there all day.

She's 3 now and absolutely lovely, everyone loves her and she's helped one of DD's friends get over her fear of dogs. DH and the DC's cycle and Plog runs along with them in woods. She now potters a lot more in woods instead of running in the scrub like a mad thing to burn off her energy. She's ok with her 45 mins of wood time as she has her 'job', she's turned into a watchdog. She's trained not to bark in the garden but sits on the sofa in living room and lets us know when someone comes down the drive. We get a fair few people coming down drive (tucked away) and she considers it her job to let us know someone's coming. She's different noises for stranger, post man, other delivery person and cat/fox. We didn't set out to do this, it just happened but definitely keeps her busy. She's gone off downstairs now to look out for DD's friend who is due soon. Plus the DC's play with her in garden a fair bit.

I'm never ever having a puppy again after her, she was incredibly hard work. Love her to bits and it's been worth it but once is enough for a lifetime.

your brown mutt sounds like a handful during her puppy days! It's a bit scary....:-o

I just noticed this. We had a giant schnauzer/standard poodle cross. He is huge, absolutely nutty, and likes to chase small children/creatures. He really did not do very well with a busy house, and now lives very happily with my father. I seriously would not get a poodle x again, or any dog for that matter. My schnoodle put me off dogs for life. We couldnt walk without him trying to eat a small dog/cat/bird, or stand up on two legs. We tried classes, private training..in the end, he just needed a quieter household and a lot more work than we had time for, and is now fine unless he sees a cat..or chihuahua, and as long as the environment is very quiet.

I am feeling qutie relieved to have given up on the idea of a poodle cross as thye sound rather more manic than I could cope with! Having said that I am sure that any breed of dog in teh puppy stages will provide plenty of challenges and hair pulling moments!

you must do as you see fit, of course. My doodle (in teh interests of accuracy) sleeps for 23 out of 24 hours. AND NEVER SHEDS A SINGLE HAIR EVER.

Result.

your doodle sounds amazing Hullygully. I stil have a soft spot for doodles. I.m not really worried about moulting to be honest. That was never my main concern or motive for looking at doodles. I was looking for a bright, easily trainable dog large but not too large dog who could be my buddy during the days and who I could enjoy walking, training and hanging out with. Who would enjoy long beach walks and be a head turner too :-) I'm resuming my search and keeping all that has been said on this thread in my mind as I continue my search ..

Ha Lovely... I think if you could see my dog right now you wouldn't describe him as "manic" - but some doodles can be. It would be a case of choosing the right puppy...

My friend has a large airedale and it's a lovely dog - more relaxed but it's very antisocial with other dogs.

please do let us know what you decide! also, you could contact the doodle rescue organisation in the uk for advice too

I own a golden retriever, the breed makes a very good family pet, especially for an active family. They do like a fair bit of exercise, I walk her off leash about 1.5 hours every day. If the weather is particularly bad then we might make a shorter walk and she seems quite happy about that. There are some disadvantages to the breed though. They are young at heart dogs in personality and can have the crazy puppy personality for longer than some other breeds. My girl is just over a year old now and I don't expect her to become a calm dog until probably at least two years old. She gets super excited to be out and has LOADS of energy. Generally they are an easy breed to train though so although she is energetic she is very obedient. The other big disadvantage is that they shed a LOT. I vaccum the floors at least once every day. In wet weather with kids and dog running in and out the house I wash floors several times a day sometimes, if the weather is dry then it's not so bad. Expect hair in the house, even when you vaccum every day she only needs to brush past me and if I'm wearing black (she's cream in colour) I will have hair on me. I like a tidy clean house but I'm not overly houseproud, if you want your home to be perfectly clean and hair free then a golden I don't think is the right dog for you.

Please don't get a doodle anything, like others have said it's a mixed breed and there is no breed standard for size, temperament or health. Research your breeder very well, make sure all necessary health checks have been done for the parent dogs and make sure you know all the cost and time involved with owning a dog before you get a puppy.

Hully your doodle sounds like my old lab, well excepting that my Lab drowned us all in hair constantly.

Still waiting for someone to explain what the fuck is wrong with the offspring of two health checked adult dogs of different breeds?

Why is "pedigree" the holy grail?

It's not Hully, I'm deffo no expert but from what I know there has been a sort of trend toward cross breeding and therefore a trend toward irresponsible breeding. So you've got less guarantee of the parents being from a long line of healthy dogs for a designer mutt but you are paying pedigree prices or higher for said mutt.

So two health checked parents fine. But not so easy to come by as KC etc not involved.

I think the issue I have with it is that there's, what, 150+ breeds of dog already? All developed for a specific purpose. There doesn't seem to be anything a doodle can offer that isn't already offered by a labrador, golden or poodle. Or a curly, or a flatcoat, or a water spaniel...

Too many people jumped on the bandwagon and believed the myths that they don't shed (some do), that crossbreeds are healthier (they can suffer from the hereditary conditions of both parents) and they were marketed as such by people with £££ signs in their eyes. I know that good breeders of crossbreeds exist but, as with pedigree breeders also, they are vastly outnumbered by the numpties.

IMO there should be an emphasis on health testing all dogs intended for breeding, crossbreed or pedigree, not the current 'pedigree dogs are cruel and deformed but a crossbreed guarantees you a healthy dog' thing.

"Still waiting for someone to explain what the fuck is wrong with the offspring of two health checked adult dogs of different breeds?"

THAT'S JUST THE START!

parents = one generation.

checking five gen pedigrees is unlikely where no reliable pedigree exists.

and why is the breeder breeding? for money?

or to compete / show one of the litter?

The whole need for health testing came about because of diseases perpetuated by shallow genetic pools due to human engineering of dog breeds, and inbreeding for desired characteristics.

There is a lot of benefit in actually expanding the gene pool and allowing cross breeding.

Excellent article here time4dogs.blogspot.fr/2012/03/genetic-diversity.html