Puppy doubts!

[rikakno]

We have just left our deposit on a beautiful cockerpoo puppy the breeder is absolutely spot on and we have really took our time to find a reputable breeder who cares more about the puppy's than making money!
Anyway I feel so nervous now thinking are we doing the right thing I have 3 children (9,8,4) and we have wanted to add a pet to our family since the youngest was 1.
I think it's a mixture of the unknown nervousness and knowing we won't be able to venture far know that restrictions are being lifted.
Has anyone felt the same is this a normal feeling?
Thanks xx

We are getting a puppy in a couple of months and even though I've wanted one for my entire life and we've been seriously considering it for past 18 months I am starting to feel quite anxious! My kids are 10 and 13 so should help, and I've got lots of friends with dogs/puppies.

We couldn't get a rescue as not secure enough in our garden. I would prefer an adult dog personally..

@IseeScottishhills

Excellent post! I have 6 dogs (plus 5 horses and various other smalls) and - apart from the stray who adopted us - all as puppies. Yes, they need to be prevented from killing themselves by chewing electric cables but if you have a routine from day one you will be doing yourself a big favour.

Take the puppy outside as soon as it wakes up and after every meal; make a massive fuss when it pees or poos but don't scold for any accidents in the house. Encourage it to play on it's own - cap less empty coke bottles are cheap (if noisy!) toys and don't overly baby it. Cuddles are for quiet times before sleep and dampened, frozen old tea towels are great for when they start teething.

I adopted an 18 week old from the RSPCA and don’t recognise some of the horror stories from PP. Ours is some kind of terrier /lurcher cross and has been a calm dog from the start. She slept in her crate with no problems from day 1 but did chew a lot, including the skirting boards!. She wasn’t keen on being left alone initially and would often wee on the floor. However, she is now 14 and still going strong and has been the best behaved dog. I agree that having a puppy is hard work, but mine was my first dog and I had young children at the time, but I survived.

We’ve got a cockerpoo. She’s 16 months now and adorable.

The puppy bit is really hard. Read up on it, look at the Facebook page dog trying advice and support and the happy puppy book.

The dog will need to have a place it feels safe and also the kids will need to know to leave the dog alone when it’s in it’s safe space.

It only works for us as I worked from home for the first month and dh’s parents look after her in the day. And dh now works from home full time.

It’s a huge commitment. We leave her some evenings to go out, and sometimes in the day for an hour or two.

There's a lot of poodle cross hate on MN. A lot of fury about buying a pup in lockdown too.

Apparently it's better to buy a pedigree even if your DC have allergies and leave them while you work outside the home

The only thing that can trump this is to rescue. Even if the rescue won't let you.

Good luck! Our poo cross is fabulous, brilliant with DC, never chewed anything, toilet trained in a couple of days, crate trained, happy to be left for a few hours, happy to be in the car, fabulous at recall and a gentle loving joyful little thing. Sometimes a bit bouncy and we worked on lead walking but she's eager to please and quick to learn. She's just under a year and I love the bones of her and I think the feeling is mutual

Oh just heard today am definitely getting our puppy in 3 months time!

Thanks for everyone's input @IseeScottishhills shared your post with friends you made some brilliant points!
@cheeseisthebest aw lovely what breed have you went for? xx

“Apparently it's better to buy a pedigree even if your DC have allergies”

Um you’re saying that like it’s contradictory...it’s not you know. If non shedding is actually important to someone, they need a pedigree non shedding breed.

Buying a cockapoo if you need non shedding is like really not fun gambling, you might get one that’s non shedding, you might not and you won’t know for potentially a couple of years until it’s got a full adult coat in.

I can’t imagine anything much worse than having to get rid of a dog you’ve had since a puppy and put all that work in training it if it grows up and it turns out it sheds

@IseeScottishhills

Ive always had mainly working dogs and have got puppies when my DC's were under 5 I'm struggling to remember exactly my DCs ages but I think one was three when we got a puppy; a large boisterous gun dog puppy. IMO (an this may make me unpopular on here) you can make dog ownership as complicated or as difficult as you like. Ive have always expected our dogs to integrate into our lives, obviously I don't leave them for hours or overnight but I really cannot understand people who endlessly go on about how much work a dog is or "puppy blues". Small children are more work and responsibility end of story. Im strict I treat my dogs like a dogs, I don't over indulge them and expect good behaviour at all times (everyone comments on how well behaved my dogs are), obviously they do sometimes do things they shouldn't, or make mess in the house on wet days and even occasionally chew things they shouldn't but that's animal ownership. Having said this I've also spent my life owning horses (and I used to work on dairy farms) and that really is like owning a 1/2 tonne toddler that never grows up and the amount of effort required to care for a dog fades into insignificance when compared with the amount of effort time energy and dedication required to look after a competition horse. My kids from a very early age have been outside in all weathers, wellies and waterproof suits are essential they know that owing an animal is a responsibility an accept that the negatives are out weighed by the positives. Although having recently given up horses after nearly 55 years of ownership I might now disagree with this when it comes to horses!! A dog should be part of your family but not totally rule your family life (only horses do that) don't make owning them difficult or complicated don't over think it, just go with it you and you the puppy will sometimes get things wrong, he/she will pee on the floor, chew things it shouldn't, bring mud in, ignore you when you call it, no dog is ever perfect don't make it the end of the world, you'll make errors training it, learn form them, keep going, be firm kind and consistent. There will be the odd day when one of your children is ill and you can't take the dog for a 2 hour walk or the puppy gets excited and nips one of your children and they cry such is life tomorrow is another day.

Brilliant advice. With you on the horses...definitely a lifestyle choice rather than a pet but I don't regret getting any of mine or my dog. Our dog was our first and she was a difficult puppy- very willful (hound) chewed a lot, struggled with being left, took forever to housetrain but she is the most loving, amazing, funny dog and I am really proud of us for putting the work in. Never had an issue with her biting, she was worse with DH but he always let her rough play...I never encouraged that.

MN hates cockapoos. I’m an owner of a cockapoo and a much more MN accepted dog, the labrador.

Both dogs have had their moments where I’ve wondered what the hell I've done. Every puppy of every breed gives you those moments because puppies are little shits. However, at some point the scales start to tip and they become more dog than puppy, then you start to forget the puppy days and just enjoy the dog ownership. Then you get a second

Having a moment of doubt is normal. It’s probably not the last moment of doubt you’ll have either. You might have several more moments during their puppy and teenage years. It’s does get better and one day you decide you wouldn’t be without them, despite all the standing outside in the rain or things broken by waggy tails.

Iseescottishhills that is a brilliant post thank you.

@rikakno

Thanks for everyone's input *@IseeScottishhills* shared your post with friends you made some brilliant points! *@cheeseisthebest* aw lovely what breed have you went for? xx

A shitzu

Thank you.

Brilliant post from @IseeScottishhills

MN dog board is very judgemental and really down on a lot of other dog owners

I have a 7 month old cockapoo, he's full of life and drives me bonkers some days but the kids love him they are nearly 2 , 6 and 8. Some days when he's being an arse I honestly could give him away but he quickly redeems himself and is all cute again !

What is the appeal of buying a cockapoo over a cocker or a poodle? Genuine question. It's not tje price, as they are just as expensive (if not more!) and no guarantee as to how they will turn out because it's a mix

I wouldn’t want a four year old and a pup. They are bitey little buggers. Plus take up so much time as pups.
You say breeder is good. Health checks done? Eyes etc.
This cross does seem to have issues with resource guarding. That would make me cautious.

We love our cockapoo. Never had a resource guarding issues (did have with previous red setter).

She's a bright little thing. Bitey as a puppy but really quite a calm dog. Needy though - velcro dog. But I know people with cockapoos who leave them while they are at work quite happily, who use doggy day care, or like us, use family to look after them.

My in laws walk her every day - pick her up at 11 - big long walk off lead - then lunch and snooze in front of their fire. Then they drop her off after another sniffy walk at about 4pm. She goes to sleep again at ours.

xela or a greyhound instead of a deerhound, or a staff instead of a Rottweiler? Who knows? People like what they like.

Personally I can tell a difference in the face. I prefer the look of cockerpoos to poodles.

“a greyhound instead of a deerhound, or a staff instead of a Rottweiler?

They’re completely different she didn’t ask why people don’t get a random other breed that’s nothing like them.

But people like what they like, is the point. That’s why different breeds and types exist.

This thread made me smile! I am the proud owner of a lowdown labradoodle pup which I rarely mention as MN can froth at the mouth a bit about it.

My boy is 4 1/2 months old now and by puppy standards is pretty chilled out. He was still a bitey land shark in the first few weeks, and it was a pain having to watch every twitch to catch the wees and poos. But he was pretty much house trained within a couple of weeks bar the odd accident.

I chose a labradoodle because I liked them, having met a few. I like cross breeds as they tend to (not always) be healthier than either of the parent breeds. I like the combination of Labrador and smart poodle, although it does make for a voracious appetite and the brains of a poodle which is a dodgy mix.

I have since met a couple of other labradoodles which are wired to the moon, but we got lucky and my lad is really laid back.

It doesn't matter what breed you go for, some will be chilled, some will be loopy and it is impossible to know. I do think they pick up on their owners, and like PP said, if you are relaxed and just treat them like they need to fit in, you will be fine.

*lockdown not lowdown Hah!

"because puppies are little shits"
But they're not they are dogs behaving like let me think about this ah yes I've got it; dogs. You wouldn't say that about a baby, or your elderly incontinent demented mother who is living with you both are significantly harder work we accept that this is how they are. Lower your expectations treat them like dogs, dogs are easy to look after they are fundamentally loyal to their owners, want clear boundaries and rules, exercise, food, company be it human or dog(s) and a bed which could be in a barn or in a house. they want to know what is expected of them and that what is expected of them is within their capabilites and understanding. Accept that there is no such a thing as perfectly well behaved dog who does everything on command every time, dogs horses humans are not robots regardless of training they will have hopefully have mainly good days and the occasional crap day so what? You cannot make them behave like a perfectly behaved child or treat them like babies as they are neither of these things.

I couldn't care less if people own cockerpoos or any other poo for that matter apart from the fact that I think the prices for then are extortionate but that's not my problem.
If you buy a pedigree dog from a very reputable breeder you roughly know what you're getting in terms of temperament, buy a gun dog and you're getting a loyal dog that wants to work with you that hunts maybe points and retrieves (may even all three) buy a border collie and you've got a dog bred to herd, get a grey hound and you've got a dog bred to race get a Newfoundland and it will keep rescuing form the water (which could be tedious or a bonus) but buy a cross breed you don't really know what your getting because there isn't a breed standard for them and you may not get what your hoping for. So they may shed or they may not, some seem to have very poodle type hair some don't, some look like poodles other more like spaniels and some have poodle traits other spaniel traits some a bit of both. If breeding desirable qualities in was easy then breeding a Derby winner would be a piece if piss good breeders think carefully and research their dogs strengths and weaknesses before breeding. Just because you're best friends sisters brothers friend's cockerpoo is a model of behaviour and shows no instinct to flush out pheasants or chase and kill squirrels doesn't mean yours won't. This is ok you just have to accept your buying more of an unknown and it appears paying through the nose for it.
I have always owned pedigree dogs all from puppies and all from very reputable breeders all have conformed to the breed characteristics/traits (buy the right type of dog not a squashed face deformed monster from the right breeder and this idea that they are less healthy is a myth) , we've have had no surprises and we've chosen the particular breed to fit in with our current life. If your breeder proudly shows you a picture of the parents winning international guard dog training competitions don't be surprised if it attempts to bite the post man and growls at your MIL ditto working boarder collies, if both parents are sheepdog trial champions they are unlikely to settle into an average semi in suburbia getting 1/2 an hours exercise a day.