Serious puppy advice needed. Which breed to go for?

[puppyluvv]

So after many years of knowing we will one day get a puppy, we think in the next year we will go for it.

We have 2 primary school kids.

I work from home almost all week, would be home alone once or twice a week for 3 hours while mine and DH office days crossover.

I've always had the idea in my head that I want a golden retriever and am imagining long country walks with a lovely well behaved dog. However I now need the reality check and advice on to a puppy years and if there are perhaps other breeds more suited for us to look in to.

My husband ideally wants a dog with little malting and not overly destructive in the puppy years.

Walks would be twice a day and sometimes longer (1-2 hours) a few times a week.

Advice and thoughts welcome please.

@Citygirlrurallife - fair enough.

OP's husband doesn't want a dog that moults a lot though, so any dog like a golden is probably out anyway!

Everyone thinks ours is a cockapoo or a cavapoo and they look astonished when you tell them she’s an actual poodle. They often say, she looks like their cockapoo. I point out that their dog actually looks like a poodle.

This is a good point. When you let a poodle's fur grow out, they do look very similar to some poodle crosses, or as you rightly say - poodle crosses can look very similar to poodles!

Crosses aren't as hypoallergenic as pure bred poodles either, because they're likely to have a mix of hair from both breeds. Even less of poodle fur if they're 2nd/3rd/4th/5th etc generation.

(No dog, even a poodle, is truly hypoallergenic).

Yes the stupid poodle cuts haven’t done the breed any favours. We cut our poodle the same all over and she looks like a normal dog.

I currently have a GR and they are brilliant in so many ways. But in future I would consider either a standard poodle, show lab, or bearded collie as well.

GRs are the most mucky, disgusting dogs ever. Part of me dreams of a largely clean, non-shedding dog who needs a professional trim every 4-6 weeks.

But whoever posted above about it all being sixes and two threes is absolutely right. Although I have to deal with extreme dirt, hair and mess I never have to worry about aggression, reactivity or separation anxiety.

Dogs are like people. None are perfect and some compromise is always needed.

Be really careful of cockapoos and poodle mixes unless you really know your stuff. Aussie Labradoodles from a good breed club are not included, they are temperamentally reliable and largely healthy.

A disproportionate number (relative to absolute numbers and popularity) of cockapoos seem to have behavioural issues according to my very experienced vet. This could either be because a) they appeal to owners who for whatever reason don’t train appropriately or b) they are genetically predisposed to certain behaviours like reactivity, resource guarding and dominance behaviours. Or both. Or something else. Anecdotally, I have friends whose lives are basicslly now ruled by their cockapoos. And these aren’t short-lived dogs. I do know a couple of lovely cockapoos but they were purchased around 8-10 years ago.

Just get a reliable pedigree dog from a good breeder with temperamentally sound bitches and good scrutiny of the stud dog. Anyone running lots of health tests is serious about the health of the breed and their lines. It’s a risk getting any dog, but it’s more of a risk getting a dog where you have very limited info and the seller’s word only.

Finally.. I grew up with borders, a bichon and a schnauzer. Borders are brilliant and might work for you. Bichons I can only go off what we had -two completely different dogs, one was a terror and one was a poppet.

The Schnauzer was a gobby little bugger who drove us and the neighbours mad (but they locked their poor long-haired equally barky dachshunds in the garage all day, so…)

Shi Tzus are generally nice dogs and really affectionate, I can’t remember if anyone has suggested them above. They are never going to do 20 mile walks with you and they do shed but they are small so there is less fur to shed. Very kid friendly, very affectionate.

Not to be awkward but resource guarding is a fairly common GR issue… and non shedding breeds can be real dirt magnets, especially IME poodles or poodle crosses - the curls kind of work like a sponge.

I remember doing a walk in a wood with some friends, I took a medium coated collie, met up with 2 cockers and 2 cockapoos - getting into our cars at the end, they all looked like they’d been on completely different walks, the collie had a couple of little spots of mud, the cockers needed a bit of a rub down over their chests and legs… the cockapoos looked like walking middens 🤣 little piles of waggy mud with twigs and all sorts sticking out.

I have two miniature poodles. No shedding. Between them, having had them both from puppies one of them as puppies once tore the cover off a book I had left on the sofa. Not a single other thing destroyed/chewed etc.

It’s true, some GRs are resource guarders but it was the first question I asked of breeders and it isn’t that common in UK stock retrievers.

Hosing down a small curly coated breed is much, much easier than hosing down a medium to large double coated dog in my experience.

The undercoat on double coated dogs traps the dirt to the point my only choices are either equafleece (hated, and a pain), 10 minutes of hated power shower plus shampoo on a wriggling opinionated octopus dog and sucking up the unique wet dog smell that emanates from an improperly dried double coated super shedder. Or accepting dirt on every surface including walls, hard floors, and even the frigging fridge door.

That’s amazing. Poodles are definitely top of my list for next dog.

My experience of cockapoos is that they are lovely but known to be prone to separation anxiety and that's certainly true of the one I know best. I think the dog was about 4 by the time the owners were able to crack it and he's now OK but for the first few years their lives were dominated by it.

One of the things I like about poodles is that they never seem to get the same dirty-dog smell you get in shedding breeds.

My black standard poodle actually needed much more coat care than my white who was a total dream, even in winter. My black one loved jumping in streams & rivers so needed regular baths (but not weekly). My white one definitely got bathed when young if she came back from walks looking like she'd taken a mud bath but for muddy paws, legs, chest I'd simply rub dry her with a towel and brush the mud out later when it had properly dried. She also never smelled.

The only thing our poodle has ever chewed is a tissue, she stole from my bag. Poodles aren’t chewy, or destructive.

I did have one who was a nightmare in puppy hood for chewing. He didn't chew the actual house like I've heard of some labradors but anything movable was fair game (never people!). He grew out of it, helped by me realising he needed more stimulation than I had been giving him.

I adored him.

I have a goldendoodle, so a GR/poodle. She doesn't really moult (apart from when she lost her puppy coat) but I have to brush her every day to stop her matting. I wanted a GR but wasn't keen on the shedding. Didn't want a full poodle as wanted a more robust dog and had also heard poodles can be a bit highly strung, super intelligent and sometimes a bit prone to separation anxiety. I knew I couldn't guarantee any of this but I've been lucky and ended up with my dream dog.

She was an absolute shark till she was around 5 months, absolutely terrorised my youngest (7), shredded all his clothes and his teacher called me over to ask why his hands and arms were covered in scratches 🙈 He understood she didn't mean it though and always forgave her in seconds! All my children absolutely adore her, as she does them.

She loves her walks but if the weather is bad she's fine skipping the odd one. She's fine being left, she mostly just sleeps whilst we're out. She really is the perfect dog.

I researched a lot before I got her though and made sure her parents and grandparents were all health checked and hip/elbow scored. It's hard to find doodle breeders who do the correct tests/checks but it's especially important with a goldendoodle or labradoodle as poodles, labs and GRs are prone to hip dysplasia amongst other conditions.