Goldendoodle Buyer beware

[Tillypaws]

We have the most heartbreaking story to tell about our new puppy. Being a cautious person and a huge animal lover I thought I had done my research well regarding breeders of Minature Goldendoodles. I had my name down with 3 of the most highly recommended breeders . However none of these where personal recommendations. Lesson learnt.
My 2 children fell in love with her the moment they saw her as did we but it became clear within the first 48 hours that there was some thing not right with her. We took her to the vet immediately for a full health check. We had another 3 visits to the vet and 2 dog behaviour experts saw her over the next 2 days . We were desperate . We were being told by all the professionals that she was showing anti social behaviour ( fear aggression) and that we should return her immediately to the "hobby" breeder. I have never known my children cry so much. To make matters worse the breeder accused us of mistreating her . She has advertised her for sale again !! Please beware this adorable looking puppy is not well. She needs a quiet home with no children and plenty of socialising lessons. I have had rescue dogs in the past and know that this kind of behaviour is disastrous around children. We now have the most gorgeous little lady who settled in within days . My children will never forget the heart break in saying goodbye to our puppy but our new pup is helping heal the broken hearts.

[therealeasterbunny]

Pigs- Why would the breeder be laughing all the way to the bank? If they have health tested the parents of the puppies then they will have incurred exactly the same costs as someone selling pedigree puppies. It costs the same to get a goldendoodle puppy to 8 weeks as it does a golden retriever puppy, so why would they be laughing any more than any other breeder? Who says that a golden retriever is financially 'worth' more than a goldendoodle??

[overthemill]

A goldendoodle is the name given to the product of a golden retriever crossed with poodle. Miniature poodle = miniature goldendoodle.

I have a labradoodle (lab crossed with standard poodle). Second one we've had and I foster/ volunteer with labradoodle trust (a rescue). They are a gorgeous friendly spirited dog which are so liveable. I'd never have another type of dog after having labs myself. My DH had Dalmatians as a kid. Our kids love our dog and our old one.

All breeds start from a cross accidental or otherwise. You breed for certain characteristics. The kennel club condone breeding, for example, pugs which have faces so squashed that they can't breathe or have eye problems. All breeds will attract unscrupulous money grabbing breeders but you need to research and only but from someone recommended by someone you know or trust.

And two days if that's what it was isn't long enough. Puppies growl. Just like toddlers bite!

[GobblersKnob]

therealeasterbunny, yes, there are crap breeders of every breed imaginable and yes, KC endorsement means sod all, many terrible breeders are endorsed by the KC. However you cannot compare the current oodle poo craze to the creation of other dog breeds in existence. No-one is trying to create a new breed, this takes generations of careful breeding and selection to eventually get the new breed to breed true, no-one is doing this with for example the labradoodle, they are just constantly crossing labs and poodles, some are fantastic and combine the best of both breeds, some are awful and combine the worst.

There are arguments as to whether anyone should be breeding when there are so many unwanted dogs in the world, but without getting into that, NO-ONE should be breeding unless it is to improve their own line, not line their own pockets, if every puppy in the litter is sold (which is nearly always the case in 'designer dogs') then the dogs were bred for profit and the breeder is unscrupulous no matter what else they may be doing.

[LtEveDallas]

I don't agree with ANY breeding. But breeders of mongrels/crosses/designer dogs have a special place reserved for them in my hate list.

At least some of the breeders of pedigree dogs are doing it for the love of the breed, wanting the best out of the breed, the best out of the dog.

But someone purposely breeding a MUTT when there are thousands of mutts already dying in pounds and rescues is doing it for the money and nothing else.

[overthemill]

Btw my sister breeds golden retrievers. Her last puppies were sold at £950 each. She does have lovely dogs and it costs he a small fortune to bred and she just covers her costs. (Scans, vaccinations, vet bills etc)

[Ilovemydogandmydoglovesme]

If they have health tested the parents of the puppies

Exactly. Have they?

[VetNurse]

Any breeder of any designer crossbreed is only doing it for the money regardless of the parents being health tested or not. They are not being bred for a working purpose. They are being bred to meet the insane demand for a designer dog. And for the record I don't agree with a lot of pedigrees either. Pugs, bulldogs, shar peis etc are all complete disasters. If you want a crossbreed, rescue one.

[therealeasterbunny]

'Generatuons of careful breeding and selection.'

Really?! And from this they are getting breeds such as- pugs, shar peis, cavalier king charles spaniels, bulldogs, basset hounds- to name but a few who are far from healthy! And you're trying to tell me that these 'breeds' are favourable to my labradoodle?!

All breeders are as bad as each other in that no one should be breeding dogs until the rescue centres are empty. However, this is not going to happen, so the next best thing is to ensure that all breeders are breeding as safely as possible with the dogs best interests as a main priority. The actual breed of dog they are breeding is irrelevant, it is the breeder which is the concern.

I don't understand this attitude of 'my dog is worth more than yours.' My labradoodle cost £750 (yes yes I know, you are all now thinking I'm a 'mug' for paying so much money for a mongrel!), he is the direct cross of a labrador and a poodle who were both health tested and proved to be very fit and well (they were also KC registered for what it's worth...which is nothing in my opinion!), my friends labrador was £800 (reputable KC registered breeder) and didn't even make it to 6 months old before he had to be put to sleep because of severe hip dysplasia. So honestly, hers was 'worth' more than mine? Why?

[LtEveDallas]

No dog "has" to be killed for hip dysplasia. My friend is currently in the middle of the treatment (new hips) for her lurcher mutt thing, a rescue dog, a mongrel. The replacement hips will cost in the region of 8K. Its worth it for her. Your friend didnt think her dog was worth it, thats all. It has nothing to do with the breed or cost of the dog in the first place.

[therealeasterbunny]

Ilovemydog

I don't understand your question? No, not all breeders do health test the parent dogs, but that goes for pedigrees too. The KC don't (as far as I am aware) stipulate that parent dogs must be health tested.

[pigsDOfly]

I'm not saying a cross breed is 'worth' less than a pedigree Bunny, but the breeders of these dogs are presenting them as some kind of 'new breed' when in fact they are mongrels and I think the public is being taken for ride.

No there are no guarantees with any breeder that their breeding dogs have been health tested and KC registration doesn't actually mean anything, but regardless of the costs to the breeder, I don't see how they can charge the same price for a mongrel as a pedigree dog.

[therealeasterbunny]

Lteve- Do.you know that for a fact? My friend is a vet so I'm pretty sure she'd have saved the pup if she could!

So I ask again, why is a labrador 'worth' more than a labradoodle?

[LtEveDallas]

Breeders are fucknuggets, and buyers of dogs from breeders are fools.

Unless you need a specific breed of dog for a specific purpose (springers for shooters, collies for sheep farmers etc) then you can find a dog that needs a home, and will suit your home, without resorting to paying a months wages on them.

A fool and their money are soon parted.

[therealeasterbunny]

Why can't they charge the same? Providing they are breeding the dogs as responsibly as a pedigree breeder, then surely they should be able to charge the same?

So an unscrupulous labrador breeder can charge £800 for a puppy because they are KC registered, whereas a very responsible labradoodle breeder can only charge half that because....well because why?!

[LtEveDallas]

The vet my friend has used (in Bournemouth) has a 100% success rate. He's never had a hip replacement fail, and he guarantees the hips for the life of the dog. That's why he's expensive. That's why my friend went to him and I expect that's why her dog is alive and your friends dog is dead

[GobblersKnob]

It's not a question of worth, I have a pedigree dog and a crossbreed, one is not worth more to me than the other.

Just because there are many badly bred pedigree dogs with heath problems, doesn't mean it is okay to breed designer dogs. If you cross two totally different breeds you have no idea what you are going to get, personally I find it horrifying that there are specific labradoodle rescues, it just shows how many of them are being given up when they turn out to be not what their owners were looking for.

I imagine the reason nobody has been able to explain to you why breeding odd mixes of dogs for profit is wrong is because you vehemently want to believe it isn't and are not really prepared to listen to the arguments.

[therealeasterbunny]

'A fool and their money are soon parted.'

I have lost count of the amount of times I have heard this!! And it makes as much sense today as it did the first time I heard it.

[LtEveDallas]

Why did you get a Labrador Poole Cross? Why not a Labrador or a Poodle? Why not a mongrel from a pound?

Why did you specifically purchase that dog?

[GobblersKnob]

And there is no such thing as a very responsible labradoodle breeder.

[therealeasterbunny]

Well that's great for your friend, and not great for mine but still doesn't explain why it's okay for my friends dog to be financially worth so much more than mine?! Hers is dead essentially from an inherant breed issue.

[tabulahrasa]

"Really?! And from this they are getting breeds such as- pugs, shar peis, cavalier king charles spaniels, bulldogs, basset hounds- to name but a few who are far from healthy! And you're trying to tell me that these 'breeds' are favourable to my labradoodle?!"

No, not those breeds, but I don't see what makes a labradoodle preferable over a health tested well bred Labrador or poodle.

They're a similar size, bred for a similar purpose so have similar traits, have similar activity levels...and add in the fact that all if the ones I've met look just like unclipped poodles, I'd just get a poodle.

I have no actual issues with crossbreed dogs or their owners, I mean I'm not sure why they're chosen over poodles, but that's not really anything to do with me ultimately. I'm happy that people are happy with their labradoodles.

But, finding a good ethical breeder of pedigree dogs is hard, finding a good ethical breeder of crosses is near impossible and that's where the issue is. The vast majority of them don't health test, even though they share inherited illnesses so it's just as important to do the tests as if breeding poodles or Labradors. Breeders make unsubstantiated claims about hybrid vigour, hypoallergenic costs and things like that. They don't show, they don't work them, they don't breed to get a puppy for themselves...they breed for profit.

There are a few breeders who do health test and are invested in producing healthy dogs...but they are very few and far between even compared to breeders breeding pedigrees.

So yes there are bad breeders of any kind of dog , the problem is that there are more bad breeders of crosses because it attracts people doing it purely for profit.

[LtEveDallas]

Hip dysplasia isn't breed specific. It can hit any breed of dog (and more rarely, cat). Yes Labrador get it, but so do rotties, GS's, mongrels etc al. The dog isn't dead because it was a Labrador, it's dead because it needed new hips and didn't get them.

[pigsDOfly]

Well, yes they can charge whatever the market will bear I suppose. If people are willing to pay what they're asking then good luck to them if they can get it.

I don't have a lot of faith in most breeders tbh, but as I said before these cross bred dogs are frequently being presented as some sort of 'designer' breed, which they aren't and I think people are paying inflated prices for them.

[GobblersKnob]

But even if breeders of crosses are carrying out health tests and raising the puppies with care you still have to ask why have they breed the litter in the first place? Unless it is to create a puppy to improve their own line of dogs (and it isn't because there is no such thing with a cross breed), then the digs are just being used for money making.

[pigsDOfly]

Sorry my last post was in reply to Bunny.