Has anyone any views on a poodle whippet cross?

[LaBelleDameSansPatience]

I am looking for a calm, gentle, trainable puppy to bring up with children and small pets. At present have a lovely border collie cross who is getting old . I have the above puppies advertised .. what do you think?
(Obviously I know puppies don't start calm .... I had a border collie puppy!)

Don't feed the pockets of BYB , either find a rescue pup or buy from a proper breeder ie who doesn't breed xbreeds.

It's a bizarre cross, I've no idea why someone would be producing them other than to cash on the "doodle" craze. They're very, very different breeds so there could be enormous variation in the pups. There should be health tests in place for the poodle (whichever size it is) and very, very few breeders who produce crosses ever bother doing them.

If you have a specific list of wants (size, exercise requirements, grooming requirements, potential traits, etc.) then I'd research breeds, find one that suits then look for a breeder who breeds dogs of the right sort of temperament you're after. If you're prepared to take a bit of a gamble I'd look for a rescue pup.

What's it called, a 'pooppet' or a 'whidle'?

Sorry, noting useful to add, just wondered what name they came up with for that cross.

That's an unusual mix, I haven't heard of that before. I would choose either one or the other breed myself. What was it about this mix that you liked and maybe we can advise.

They didn't call them anything, which I think is a point in their favour ... I hate the 'oodle' fashion at the moment, but my most lovely dogs have been cross breeds ... Probably accidental ... When I was a child we had two different pedigrees, each of which only barely survived puppyhood due to pedigree dog overbreeding issues ... Although I loved them both ... Just want a healthy, easygoing puppy ... Can't find any rescues with puppies in our area.

... And what I liked about it ... Medium size, shaggy dog look, more trainable than pure whippet but calmer than pure poodle (?) And we need a puppy to bring up with small furries ... Also available in our area at the right time ... Would like a puppy at the start of the school holidays so that all parties have time to become well acquainted before it all gets busy again.

Ok so if they're not being sold as designer x breeds presumably they are at rescue type prices ie £150 or less.

itll be however you train it to be for the most part.

I would be very wary of a whippet type dog with small furries, as they have high prey drive for these types of animal. Poodles are very intelligent and often independently minded which can mean they are very capable of being well trained but can also decide that maybe they'd rather do something else

I'm not against cross breeds, I have one myself, but don't pay over the odds for a puppy that is mixed breed on the grounds of being fashionable. Make sure the pups are healthy and being well socialised. Putting the effort into training is the most important thing in getting the dog you want.

My friend has a show line (is that what they call them? :o) whopper and he is just the most gorgeous thing

Get a collie from a rescue though, loads of them :( even pups

Lol @ whopper
I meant whippet

A poo-it?

Poodles can also be quite prey driven, I've know of people using the minis as very efficient little ratters. I wouldn't count on being crossed with a poodle doing much to reduce the whippet desire to chase small furry things!

If you do decide you want a pup from this litter make sure the poodle parent has been appropriately health tested, off the top of my head I think they should be DNA tested for PRA and von Willebrands disease. The breeder should have certification that this has been done, if they're KC registered you can also look up their health results on the KC site. If no testing has been done I wouldn't take the risk, being a cross doesn't rule out inheriting genetic problems. I've had two proper Heinz 57 mongrels (rescues), both of whom had inherited heath problems which the parents could have been tested for but nobody bothered.

it sounds like an interesting g mix, would be intelligent and fast.

but "calm, gentle and trainable"? ....not sure

most puppies are not calm.

I'm with floral on this. Either this was an accidental mating, in which case I hope they are not charging more than required to cover their basic costs, or someone extremely unethical. I would think it's highly unlikely that the poodle parent has all the appropriate health tests.

I love cross breeds and have two but would never pay money to a breeder for one. I am a sighthound enthusiast as well and I can't see the logic to this cross at all.

Your best indication of temperament will be the parents rather than the breeds. Are they available for viewing with Mum? Can you meet Dad?

Yes, Mum and Dad can both be seen ... however, doesn't sound a good mix from what you are all saying ... if the parents are the key factor in temperament, surely a rescue would be the worst risk?

I have a really gentle (always) and calm (now) collie cross, but I know of two local collies which are very aggressive with absolutely no provocation, so not sure about another at the moment.

Do I come back to labs or golden retrievers, then? Don't like them as much as cross breeds - but NOT fashion statement Poos and Oodles.

There's nothing wrong with taking a but of a gamble on a crossbreed, most of my dogs have been god knows what from rescues...assuming you could cope with either parent breed anyway, if you dislike one if them there's no point getting a cross.

The issue is more whether you're paying someone to take the puppy, I'd take an unknown mix puppy from a rescue any day over a back yard breeder's puppy - no matter how much I fancied that puppy.

My dog is a Patterdale x , he came from Battersea as a pup and has a lovely temperament , I've nothing against xbreeds at all ,I just think there are too many dogs being bred without the need to breed crossbreeds purely for financial gain .

I don't think it's a rescue v bought thing. Some rescue puppies do come from known backgrounds. Likewise many bought puppies from puppy farms or backyard breeders are purchased with no or little genuine information about the parents. So if someone is going to buy a pup off the internet without meeting parents or where no effort has gone into selecting the sire and dam, I would rank that as equally as "risky" as your average rescue pup with limited history on health and temperament. My personal preference is still a rescue puppy, even if parents unknown, plus putting work into training and socialisation, due to the ethics of encouraging all but the most careful breeding.

If I was looking for a dog and the key criteria were that it is calm, gentle, trainable, child and small furry friendly, I wouldn't be looking for a puppy at all but a young adult rescue dog that has been assessed by a reputable rescue in a foster home as meeting those criteria.

If you are set on a puppy I would advise rethinking your time scale and the limit to your area. It's usual to have to wait for and travel for a litter from a reputable breeder. If you just go for whatever is locally available at the right time, you are very likely going to be lining the pockets of someone who is not breeding in the right way (health testing, careful matching).

Well I think floral and tabulah are expressing themselves better that WafflyPear over here...

I forgot to say, do not assume a cross is going to be some lovely blend of with each one taking the edges off the other's worst elements. So if one parent is a "typical" poodle and one a "typical" whippet, pup might come out anywhere on the spectrum.

The start of the school holidays is not actually that great a time to get a puppy - you have to carry it everywhere and days out eg to the beach or a theme park are tricky if not impossible and what are you going to do with it if you go away on holiday?

My sister got her puppy at the start of the holidays for the same reasons as you and regretted it as her dc were stir crazy by about half way through the summer

Timing seems perfect to get a puppy at the v beginning of the summer holidays .... Several uninterrupted weeks of puppy care. As everyone says, it's mainly the training ... Will probably have to get a lab ... So many about therefore a great choice. Still a few weeks to go ...

X-post. We never go on holiday in the summer ... One DD 8 years old ... All summer days out dog friendly except for theme park and Dd's friends family keen to help out as they also want to get a dog. Our favourite beach full of dogs for when it is old enough ... But please all keep giving me advice; I want this to work.

You may well struggle to find a decent breeder with puppies available so quickly, most will have sold the litter well before the pups are old enough to go to their new homes. A good breeder can have an entire litter spoken for before the pups are even born.

Ideally rather than looking for a puppy you want to be looking for a breeder who is producing the type of dog you want and going on a waiting list. As spicyPear says it would be sensible to be prepared to wait longer and travel further to find the right breeder/puppy.

You should absolutely only be going to a breeder who uses dogs and bitches with all the appropriate health tests in place. This website (particularly this page) has got loads of good information regarding which tests should have been done on both parent dogs and why.

Although getting a puppy at the start of the holidays seems ideal the puppy won't be able to be put on the ground outside your own house and garden for a few weeks. You should be carrying them out and about a bit before then for socialisation but it's going to massively curtail what you can actually get out and do, especially as they also can't be left long at that age as they need to be going to toilet very frequently.

haven't RTFT but I have a poodle whippet cross (we call him a woodle). I have never come across this breed before or since. Mine is a rescue dog from France so an accidental mating before the oodle craze kicked in. All puppies with a mixed heritage will inherit different traits, and unless a long established breeding programme is in place you will have no idea what personality, size and intelligence etc they will inherit. I was very very lucky with mine as he is a spaniel sized non-shedding soppy boy, who is very gentle, intelligent and responsive, although his re-call if he sniffs out a rabbit is non-existent. I have no idea though what any of his brothers or sisters would have been like as we re-homed him as an adult.