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Original poster

Adopting a poodle-advice please

25 replies

Earthrocknroll · 31/08/2022 21:18

Hi all,

I’m after some advice please. We have the opportunity to adopt a 6 year old standard poodle (ex stud) boy.
we already have an 12 month old poodle cross (small breed) girl and though I have had dogs of various descriptions, mostly rescues, all my life they’ve all been small breeds.

As I understand it this boy has been well socialised, lives with other dogs, gets taken to the beach, parks, cafes etc and plays happily with the young children in the household. The owner tells me he ‘d been recently desexed and is still coming off that testosterone wise but is otherwise a lovely boy. She breeds therapy dogs for children with disabilities.

I guess my question is what to expect? We are going to meet him but, as I said, I’ve never had a big dog before. For those with standard poodles what can you tell me about them please?

OP posts:
wetotter · 01/09/2022 12:06

Has he ever lived in a house? Or indeed been in a house?

So first question is whether he's housetrained at all, plus whether he'd be OK with all the usual sights, sounds and smells of living in a typical home

Has he ever been off-lead on any of the outings? Does he have any recall?

Helenloveslee4eva · 01/09/2022 12:11

Well socialised stud dog that they don’t want to keep as family pet. Yeah umm. Be very wary.

Floralnomad · 01/09/2022 12:17

When you say adopt where are you actually getting him from ?

KirstenBlest · 01/09/2022 12:20

Don't touch him with a bargepole

VirtualSquid · 01/09/2022 12:24

Why is he an ex-stud at 6?

LucyLucyAppleJuice · 01/09/2022 12:24

Stud dog that's well socialised and they don't want to keep him? Smells fishy to me!

My ex breeding bitch that I've adopted had never lived in a house before, so not socialised, house trained or able to walk on a lead.

I would be suspicious as he sounds too good to be true.

forumsempronii · 01/09/2022 12:52

he owner tells me he ‘d been recently desexed and is still coming off that testosterone wise but is otherwise a lovely boy. this is a strange sentence why what behaviour is he showing "coming off the testosterone" to have to explain this......... this sentence would make me walk away

mscampbelle · 02/09/2022 09:14

Are you adopting him or buying him?

If he's a wonderful dog I would want to see evidence of that.

Breeding dogs are usually not family pets, they are business assets and aren't kept in the house, rather in kennels or outhouses.
So I would assume he would need a lot of work to become acclimatised to being a 'normal' family dog.

Has he had any training?
Has he ever been on a walk/taken into town/a cafe/in a car/a beach/seen other dogs that aren't part of the dog breeding business?

Delphigirl · 02/09/2022 09:20

I have always had standard poodles and know all the reputable breeders. It may be that he is genuinely lovely and home-reared and surplus to requirements but pps are right to urge caution. If you give me the kennel name I can tell you if it is a respected poodle breeder and might be able to tell you about the current owner. Otherwise you can look up the dog himself on champdogs and see if he really has sired KC registered litters. This won’t of itself tell you much, but if can then look to see whether the bitches he has had litters with are also from reputable breeders or if they are just unknown registered poodles which might suggest some involvement in eg puppy breeding. Again if you DM me his full name I can do some digging for you.

generally Standard poodles are the most wonderful kind loyal lovely family dogs, but it all depends on his past experiences.

Delphigirl · 02/09/2022 09:21

Puppy farms I mean not puppy breeding.
If he has no registered litters then they are not telling you the whole truth and you should walk away.

Caaarrrl · 02/09/2022 09:23

When you say 'adopt' qhat do you actually mean? Is this through a reputable rehoming charity type place? Or do you mean buy from someone?

Delphigirl · 02/09/2022 09:28

mscampbelle · 02/09/2022 09:14

Are you adopting him or buying him?

If he's a wonderful dog I would want to see evidence of that.

Breeding dogs are usually not family pets, they are business assets and aren't kept in the house, rather in kennels or outhouses.
So I would assume he would need a lot of work to become acclimatised to being a 'normal' family dog.

Has he had any training?
Has he ever been on a walk/taken into town/a cafe/in a car/a beach/seen other dogs that aren't part of the dog breeding business?

I would dispute the statement that breeding dogs aren’t usually family pets. Many top level SP breeders (not all) have all their dogs in the house as family pets. But if they are moving a dog on they are usually pretty fussy about where they are going and want eg some recommendation from another standard poodle person or someone who has owned poodles before. Again, not always. But there are a LOT of male (and female) poodles being used as breeding machines for poodle-crosses like labradoodles and springadoodles and they are kept in awful conditions.

M the fact that this dog is only 6 actually inclines me towards thinking he is legit - poodle farms will use a stud dog until much older because they don’t care. A reputable breeder may have bred or bought a “better” dog with better breed characteristics or more champion titles which means she moves this one on. But it could also be that she isn’t happy with his temperament and doesn’t want to keep that in the line, which would be more concerning for the OP.

wetotter · 02/09/2022 09:36

This one however isn't a family pet' OP says he lives with other dogs - that means kennelling. If he lived in the home as a pet, they would say so.

Delphigirl · 02/09/2022 09:41

Hmmm good point otter.
id be careful about this. “Breeding therapy dogs for children with disabilities” sounds like the sort of thing you might say if you were breeding all sorts of crappy mixes for sale to suckers at vast expense, but wanted to inspire confidence in the mug coming to look at your nervy stud dog. Difficult to disprove.

Original poster
Earthrocknroll · 02/09/2022 21:28

Thank you all.

yo answer some questions
the ‘lives with other dogs’ includes the puppies she breeds, so no, he’s not in kennels. Her dogs are kept in the family home as is usual for reputable breeders. He seems to be very much loved and cared for as far as I can tell without actually seeing him (I am going today).

I asked how many litters he’s sired and it’s 4 from memory. I’ve looked up the breeder and can’t find a bad word about them, puppies also highly spoken of, but yes, I do need to see him before I decide anything.
I actually found out about him from our family doctor who has one of the dogs and obviously knows the breeder. All I can do is go and see him, check his papers and go from there.

I have a list of questions a mile long, as I always have with any rehomed dogI’ve adopted, but please feel free to add any that might help.

OP posts:
Goawayangryman · 02/09/2022 22:40

I can't get into my head how anyone could ever re-home a dog that they've had

Goawayangryman · 02/09/2022 22:43

Argh. Living as an apparent family pet for 6 years. Albeit breeding him as well.

Coming off testosterone sounds a bit like, they had him neutered and couldn't be fagged with his entirely normal neutered behaviour. Also, 4 litters is very few for a KC reg sire. Normally they have tens of litters if they are any good and without health issues. Something doesn't add up here.

Delphigirl · 02/09/2022 23:01

Honestly if you give me the kennel name I may be able to put your mind at rest. But the recommendation and living all at home as pets sounds good. Go and see and follow your instincts. Maybe see if you can take him out for a walk on a lead.But standard poodles are really the best. They are tall but fold up very small - the curl up like lambs and are small boned so not heavy like eg labs. They are very loyal and kind and trustworthy. I’ve never had one who is a thief - I can leave roast beef on the counter and they won’t take it. Anything that hits the floor is fair game though. They are very bouncy and springy and very fast, but need a good run and then sleep for the rest of the day. They love a comfy seat on the sofa next to you, but if they wait to be invited up. They are clever and can operate lever door handles and let themselves out into the garden. They are hilarious.
need to budget a good 45-60 quid every 6-7 weeks for grooming unless you learn to do it yourself (no thanks).

Original poster
Earthrocknroll · 03/09/2022 13:24

Delphigirl · 02/09/2022 23:01

Honestly if you give me the kennel name I may be able to put your mind at rest. But the recommendation and living all at home as pets sounds good. Go and see and follow your instincts. Maybe see if you can take him out for a walk on a lead.But standard poodles are really the best. They are tall but fold up very small - the curl up like lambs and are small boned so not heavy like eg labs. They are very loyal and kind and trustworthy. I’ve never had one who is a thief - I can leave roast beef on the counter and they won’t take it. Anything that hits the floor is fair game though. They are very bouncy and springy and very fast, but need a good run and then sleep for the rest of the day. They love a comfy seat on the sofa next to you, but if they wait to be invited up. They are clever and can operate lever door handles and let themselves out into the garden. They are hilarious.
need to budget a good 45-60 quid every 6-7 weeks for grooming unless you learn to do it yourself (no thanks).

Thank you so much. We’re not in the UK though.
We met him today and have fallen in love.
He’s actually sired 10 litters, not 4 as I though. We saw him with the other dogs, took him for a walk and he spent time with my children and we’ve brought him home for a trial run. The breeder is happy to have him back if we feel he isn’t the right fit.

He’s clearly been well socialised, walks well on lead and has basic obedience training. He’s just a gentle giant, very affectionate and cuddly and tolerant of my pup. I realise we’re in the honeymoon period but so far he’s been a dream.

OP posts:
Delphigirl · 03/09/2022 18:28

That sounds really great. He sounds like a good example of the breed… I warn you once you have a standard poodle you will be spoilt for any other dog. Enjoy many happy years with him! (Well about 5… 😭)

Lonecatwithkitten · 04/09/2022 07:37

I was going to add and maybe clarify the 'coming off testosterone' comment. When an adult male dog is castrated it takes around 6 weeks for all the testosterone to fully leave his body - so if the castration is very recent this maybe what the breeder is alluding to.
Love a standard poodle boy - they adore their people and the most loving dogs.

Delphigirl · 04/09/2022 08:23

My SP boy is so attached to me that when I come home after a few nights away eg for work he literally cries when he sees me. Doleful gentle howling noises while he leaps around madly like a puppy. He’s 10. My DS1 says I am the boy poodle’s emotional support animal rather than the other way around 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Lonecatwithkitten · 04/09/2022 08:32

Delphigirl · 04/09/2022 08:23

My SP boy is so attached to me that when I come home after a few nights away eg for work he literally cries when he sees me. Doleful gentle howling noises while he leaps around madly like a puppy. He’s 10. My DS1 says I am the boy poodle’s emotional support animal rather than the other way around 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Same here. If I take a phone call he has to climb into my lap.

Delphigirl · 04/09/2022 08:39

Lonecatwithkitten · 04/09/2022 08:32

Same here. If I take a phone call he has to climb into my lap.

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💕💕

Delphigirl · 07/09/2022 11:12

How’s it going @Earthrocknroll ? Are you in love yet? Update please!

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