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.

oh link fail

I own:
Beagle
Neapolitan Mastiff
Welsh Terrier
Border Terrier
Harlequin Great Dane
And i have never come across anything in my breeding circles called a "chorky" or a "goldendoodle" its outrageous

*Jonty....do you actually know anything about dogs?! Yes, you come across as rude, but also a bit hysterical! Brain damage from incompatible breeding?!

vetnurse- To me there are an awful lot of pedigree breeders who also shouldn't be breeding pedigrees, and in my opinion that is a bigger issue and has been going on far longer. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree! I feel passionate about my side of the argument too, so I guess we won't come to an agreement!

I don't agree with a lot of pedigree breeders either. Trust me I see a hell of a lot of dogs with issues caused by their breeding. But I think you are a bit of a hypocrite if you think you are not supporting bad breeding by buying a purposely bred crossbreed.

Then surely that makes everyone a hypocrite, because by that logic, no one should be buying any dogs until the breeding standards are addressed? I am supporting bad breeding just as much as someone who buys a KC registered pedigree puppy.

I totally agree that a lot of pedigree dogs shouldn't be bred. I don't think all breeding of all breeds should be stopped as a lot of old and well loved breeds would die out but it should be made that they are bred for purpose and not looks and in a controlled manner. That will probably never happen but you are very naive if you don't think that by buying a purpose bred crossbreed that you haven't contributed to the problem.

MotMot. Yes it was me with the crazy Podengo.

We still have him. He's better, but not perfect. We've worked with a behaviourist a nd he's on zylkene.

He hasn't bitten anyone in over a year and to be honest he's friendly and lovely with everyone apart from dh now. Which doesn't make sense. A strange man could come in the house, plumber , etc and he's ok with him.

Dog is better than he was with dh. Dh is no longer attacked the second he comes in the house. And I'm no longer worried that dh will be bitten like he used to be. But if dh touches me, comes close to dd or into the dining room then the dog goes beserk still, really nasty snarling. He also snarls at strange, large dogs.

Behaviourist says its fear aggression. But if dh says "cheese" dog stops snarling and trots off with dh to the fridge. Plus if me and dd aren't home the dog is fine with dh and snuggles up next to him on the sofa!

He's here to stay now. But I admit he came close to being pts.

Here he is.

I am only contributing as much as anyone who buys any puppy that is not intended for a specific purpose, pedigree or not pedigree. I agree that a lot of the crosses are ridiculous, but I do not see how crossing a labrador with a poodle can possibly be that bad if the outcome is healthy puppies which are as well looked after as mine is? Sorry, but I just think there are much bigger issues!

Viva, it sounds more like resource guarding over you, your DD and your dining room to me, when you aren't there there is nothing to guard, and when he is offered cheese he finds it more valuable than you, I could be off the mark though

I've already said it but there is no reason to breed crossbreeds except for money. If there was no demand for them then they wouldn't be bred. A decent breeder of a pedigree dog does it to improve their blood line and so not for money and those dogs would have been produced anyway. If you want a crossbreed, rescue one and that is straight away one less dog to find a home and not another litter of crossbreeds to add to the problem.

Lilcamper, resource guarding makes more sense to me.

He used to guard dd from me and bite me when we first got him. Its odd that he doesn't need to guard us from strangers though. He must think dh is more likely to take us away from him! He's an odd dog.

Maybe he thinks people that come and go have no interest in his resources, the plumber doesn't tend to hug and kiss Mum, both which are primate things to do and can be interpreted as conflict by some dogs.

Sorry...off topic.

viva my dog has the nicest nature with people but if anyone , family or other ,tries to hug / kiss me he jumps up and gets really put out about it ,in our case though he jumps up me so less protecting and more getting in on the act .

Thanks for the update viva, I'm impressed by your commitment, he sounds like a challenge! Did you ever manage to contact the breeder?

Breeder never returned my calls or emails and to be honest I gave up trying to get hold of her. I figured she obviously wasnt going to help. She'd either have washed her hands of the whole affair or maybe have taken him back. And by then I didn't want him going back to someone like her. I'd rather have given him to a rescue as I felt she'd just rehome him to some unsuspecting person. I do think that's what she did to me.

Even the northern Podengo association told me to have him pts. They reckoned I'd got a rogue one. In fairness he was awful back then. I'm glad I stuck with him, but its been a nightmare at times. There's been times when I thought I'd have to choose between the dog and dh.

I'm glad he's come on so much, it's amazing how things can change. He's lucky to have found you.

I remember your thread too viva. He is a lucky boy, kudos to you for sticking with him.

Op I'm still intrigued as to how old your puppy was?

DID NOBODY LISTEN TO MY YOU TUBE LINK
:(
It's very funny

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

...

A fool and their money are soon parted*

I've had dogs from a particular breed for 20 years now, my husband all his life. We know our family, our exercise requirements, our need for a guard dog but also a dog who will be family-minded and loving. We are very experienced with this breed, know which diseases they are vulnerable to, know to watch their weight. We know they can cope with the long car journey we have to make three times a year.

But we're fools, according to you.

Actually, we're responsible dog owners, who use our experience to make sure we don't choose a pet who'll be unsuitable for our home. I like you, LtEve and often agree with you on other posts, but you are being unreasonable here. All buyers of dogs from breeders are not fools and by making blanket statements like that you are not helping what I imagine your objective (and most dog-lovers') is: encouraging responsible ownership and better standards of breeding and dog care.

Read the rest of my posts Abra1d, and the part of my post that you missed out above, which was 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

Surely the rest of your post comes under the "specific breed of dog for a specific purpose"? So I don't see why you think I am calling you a fool?

I stand by my "Breeders are fucknuggets" because 100s of dogs are killed every single day in the UK. Until the pounds and rescues are empty, every cute new puppy that is bought into the world for cash is condemming another dog to death - dogs that have done nothing wrong except be tossed aside because they are no longer 'cute' or 'fashionable' or 'able to breed' or 'able to work'. You know in the last couple of years 100s of Chihuahuas have been killed because owners dumped them when they were no longer fashionable, and the poor buggers could barely walk - having been carried and handbagged all their miserable lives

My only disclaimer is those that breed for fear of a breed dying out - Skye Terriers (17 registered), Otterhounds (42 registered), Irish red and White Setter (82 registered) and so on. Against around 20,000 Labradors registered in 2013 - and yet with a quick google I found 3 Breed Specific Labrador Rescues. If I were to 'buy' a dog (which I wouldn't) then I would go for one of the breeds in danger (specifically an Otterhound as they are one of my favourites )

I understand people that breed working dogs for specific purposes, but I still think that they should look at the amount of these dogs in Rescues and Breed Specific Rescues. The friend I mentioned above with 4 rescued and working Springers got them from Springer Rescues as 'failed' working dogs - and yet all 4 are working fine for him, so why were they given up?

But specifically this thread was leaning towards the 'Designer Dog' breeders - who absolutely ARE fucknuggets, and whose purchasers ARE fools. There is NO NEED for a Designer 'oodle'. Poodles are lovely, Labradors are lovely, Mongrels are lovely. There is NO NEED to purchase an 'oodle' over and above any other dog - they don't "do" anything different to a thousand and one other dogs in the world - living dogs, established dogs, dogs that are about to die. There are 'oodle' dogs in Rescues NOW, there are Breed Specific 'oodle' Rescues but still fucknuggets are breeding them and fools are buying them.

Ahh, quick amendment. My friend Rescued 3 Spaniels and one Spaniel Mutt, not 4 Springers.

My dog is not a working dog, though. She is a pet. Really, a luxury. But one that we chose because love that breed's (cussed and wilful, at times) attributes, looks and personality. Her guard dog duties consist of barking at people if they come to the front door. Her bark is quite deep for a small dog and will hopefully make potential burglars think twice.

I would very much like to buy a Sealyham terrier, but do that I would have to go to a breeder who would probably live a long way from here. And we would probably be expected to breed from a bitch to keep the line going. And, to be honest, I'm too darn lazy to want to breed puppies and do it with the care and work that would be required.

I should also say that when I have looked at the dog rehousing centres nearby they are filled with Staffies and whippet-type dogs. Pages and pages of them. No disrespect, but we don't really want either of those breeds, though I know they are lovely. A friend some way away found a corgi, and he is sweet, but she said it took them months to find someone who wasn't a Staffie or whippet. I've just looked at a few now and it takes pages of scrolling down to get to a dog that isn't a Staffie.

Perhaps the rehoming charities could make their 'listings' easier to search by categorising the dogs into breeds (or types)/age/suitability for families? I know you're going to tell me that they're all run by over-worked volunteers, and I get that, I really, really do, but there is a problem, or a perception, here. I don't think people should be made to feel guilty for not wanting a Staffie, really. Potentially good dog-owners are not the problem.

Edited to add, I know some rehoming websites do allow more refined searching--for instance the Battersea Dogs Home site. And I want to reiterate that I know that smaller centres are doing a great job cleaning up after appalling owners.