Goldendoodle or another breed?

[kt12mum]

I'm just starting my research/prep as DH and I have agreed we can get a dog instead of a third child
My dream dog is a goldendoodle, we're planning for about 2years time so children will be 6 and 4 and I guess we can go on breeders waiting lists. I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice or experience of goldendoodles they could share or other breed suggestions.
I'd like a larger dog, but preferably not much shedding (I'm aware costs can vary as they're a crossbreed). Exercise would be 1-2 hrs a day. House is 4 bed with a decent garden and semi rural so plenty of areas for walks.
We do like to go abroad once a year for a week so what do people do for this? Potentially our in laws could have the dog but do people use kennels or just stick to UK holidays?
DH works from 3 days a week and I only work part time so our schedules work that one of us is always at home.

There is no guarantee that any poodle mix will not shed , some shed loads unless they are crossed with another non shedding dog which a golden retriever is not . If you want no hair and a big dog then get a standard poodle the plus side to which is that you will be able to find a breeder that does all the correct health / genetic testing .

Personally I would much prefer a purebred golden than adding any sort of doodle to it. They are a lovely breed in their own right and adding poodle only adds the issues poodles tend to have IMO.

Either that or get a standard poodle and don’t give it a poodle haircut, I can guarantee nobody will be able to tell whether it’s poodle or doodle but you’ll get reliable genetics.

A crossbreed may well shed.
How about a standard poodle?

I'd prefer a poodle or a golden - no need to mess with lovely breeds.

Golden Retriever ❤️

I know someone with a standard poodle, and unless she has show clipped him (hes shown at high level, inc Crufts) you wouldn't pick him out against the oodles. You'd also be able to find a breeder who had done all the right work and tests for PRA etc, and who is ethical.

4 is still very small for adding a puppy to the household though, as all puppies are bitey horrible objects. When you say your dh wfh, is that the sort of work where he can leap from the desk a million times a day to take them out to toilet/ remove them from eating the childrens toys, or does he need total quiet?

I agree with others that a crossbreed is always going to be a bit of an unknown quantity; you're not necessarily going to get the "best of both breeds" Meanwhile, poodles and goldens are both awesome as they are.
I have a large, purebred golden, and yes he sheds - a lot - but I don't find it too difficult to deal with as I have wooden floors and leather sofas. And he's literally the best dog in the world, so that makes up for it.

Holidays may be tricky. We take DDog on our UK holidays, and have driven him to France, but try to get family to look after him for most foreign holidays, but sometimes it can be tricky. Next year we may have to use a pet sitter or dog boarding service.

And a PP was right: puppies are a nightmare, take lots of time, may bite, and soil the house. May be difficult to deal with on a working day.

DH's work is very relaxed, media digital type work. I definitely don't want a retriever I want a dog with a big curly coat and like the wider heads that doodles have compared to pure poodles but as some of you say maybe with the right clipping this could be done. Will a poodles coat be curly like a goldendoodles if it's not brushed out like they do for showing?
If both are such nice breeds like everyone's saying I'm not sure why people are against a cross breed of the two?

This is a standard poodle in what they call pet clip for instance.

Thanks for that @CMOTDibbler

Poodles are a bit whappy. And goldens forever puppies (I have two). I really wouldn't want a combination of the two! If you want the doodle look you can get very similar with a poodle it's just more typical to see poodles with the standard poodle groom. If it's a poodle you're guaranteed a shed free dog too. I love my goldens but I do feel like I spend my life cleaning up hair.

No advice but this is one of my favourites - we’d consider getting a goldendoodle if we got a dog

Golden retrievers are a lovely breed for a family with a lovely nature but they do shred a lot of hair.

Have a friend with a golden doodle they are massive (it could be frightening to your children’s friends at that age) and if it runs into the back of your leg you really know about it.

She spends a fortune on having it groomed and yes it looks lovely when newly groomed on photos but for most of the year it doesn’t. She has also had trouble with it escaping and going on the rampage into a neighbours garden and attacking and eating her neighbours chicness.

The size is what appeals, goldendoodles always seem larger than either a retriever or poodle but I'm not sure how that works. Grooming costs wouldn't be an issue although I'm hoping puppy costs come down post lockdown as they're currently looking around the £3k mark!
I'm hoping we'd do a lot of obedience training but I accept I might be naive in how much we could control the dogs behaviour and if any children were scared it could be baby gated into the kitchen/utility rooms

All good things to think about though this is helpful

I’ve got a 10 month old golden doodle who is near faultless (touch wood!)

She sheds a little bit but nowhere near as much as a golden. It mainly just comes out when she is brushed (which has to be very frequently-one of the downsides)

She very chilled in the house, loves her walks and everyone and every dog she meets (sometimes too eager to say hello-this is one of her faults but we are working on it)

Every day we discuss how lucky we are to have such an amazing dog. Her siblings all seem similar with some having higher energy levels but all being very friendly and fun.

She was easy to house train, clever enough to pick up the basics but not clever enough to get into mischief-so far no counter surfing etc.
She did go through a bitey phase but that was gone by 5 months.

I’d definitely recommend

My sister has a goldendoodle. He weighs over 30kg, is extremely energetic and not easy to train. He’s a lovely dog but they wouldn’t be my choice

As always, if you want a specific breed than do spend time looking at the negative aspects of that breed and being sure you can live with it. With cross-breeds, look at the negatives of both breeds because you could genuinely get them in a single dog.

A goldendoodle could be a healthy, young-at-heart dog that doesn't shed much fur, but doesn't get many tangles, is relaxed and friendly and confident without being too over the top or needy and doesn't require too much mental work.

OR it could shed loads, have a narrow poodle head, be clingy and struggle with being left, be sensitive to noise and shouting, plus enjoy chewing everything you own, be overly protective of it's food and toys, suffer an increased risk of cancer, take forever to mature and need lots of exercise and mental stimulation for most of its life.

Crossing the breeds doesn't magically make the 'cons' go away so please consider them both and be sure you can handle a mix of the less desirable bits of poodles and goldies.

Personally, I'd pick one breed or the other because those are old breeds that have had generations to stabilise so there is less risk of nature throwing you a breeding curveball. But if you want the cross then you should be prepared for the mix to be any of the physical and behavioural characteristics of the parents, not just the bits you prefer - if you see what I mean?

That's lovely to hear @Runningforcakes can I ask which breeder you used and how long the waiting list was?

Yes thanks @SirSniffsAlot all understood re the cross breeds. Do dogs tend to inherit personality from their parents or is it complete luck of the draw?
Also @Runningforcakes how often do you brush her when you say very frequently? Are we talking every day or once every few days etc?

I use a local home boarding place for holidays. Its a lady who is licensed for 6 dogs to stay in her house but she only usually has 3 or 4 max. She also does dog walking and our dog goes out with her twice a week. He absolutely loves her and its a real treat for him when he goes to her house. She also sends regular whatsapp messages and photos so we don't worry about him while we're away.

@CMOTDibbler

This is a standard poodle in what they call pet clip for instance.

Omg. Just gorgeous!

I have a 4 year old golden doodle and he is an absolute delight. Very hyper when he was a puppy but calmed down after about a year and we did take him to puppy classes. Doesn’t shed. Does need a decent hours walk off the lead a day.
In terms of holidays, if we do UK we tend to book somewhere that takes dogs and if not we ask family members to look after him.
They are a really lovely breed and perfect for families in my opinion - we have an almost two year old and he is very good with her.

OP you need to think carefully about where you would get the pup from.
It's very likely you'll be going to a backyard breeder. Or worse.

It's the old nature vs nurture debate but yes, personality traits can (and are) inherited but not guaranteed.

For example, dogs bred to work closely with humans but at a distance from them - such as herders and gun breeds - tend to be more sensitive. This is probably a result of needing those dogs to be sensitive to verbal punishment from an owner than cannot reach them to physically punish them (most dog training has punishment in its history, sadly). So the dogs that were more sensitive tended to do the job better because they were more likely to listen to the handler. They were then selected for breeding because they were good at those jobs - and so the sensitivity continues. In a modern home, this can be expressed as a dog that struggles around noisy children, for example.

Similarly, it can help if your gun dog is pretty friendly to strange people and dogs - so that it can join a large hunt group occasionally. Friendliness to strangers is actually a baby-like behaviour that reduces dramatically as dogs age. So, in order to get that trait you need a dog that ages/matures more slowly. So when you pick very friendly dogs to breed from, you tend also to be picking dogs that mature slowly. Hence, gun breeds tend to take forever to mature.

Both poodles and goldies are gun dogs at heart, but both have different breeding pressures in their ancestry so you end up with similar, but not the same dogs. Not least, goldies used to be labs and were seperated off about the time pet ownership became more popular - so they've not specifically had much working criteria placed on them for about 100 years. Instead they've had a lot of pet criteria placed on their breeding which has resulted in their current temperament (for better and for worse).

Dogs also learn a lot from their mothers, so it's always important to look at her temperament. Things like the use of aggression (how easily she uses it and how far she takes it) can be learned in the first few weeks of life.

In short, your dog will be a combination of:

• genetic influence, both from ancestry and direct from parents
• learned influenced, both as a young puppy and after you take them home
• personal experience

All of which is why I talked about being prepared to handle the worst of the breeds - because there are no guarantees. Just elements of risk and probability.