The hate towards doddle owners.

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The hate against doodles,
I keep reading about Doodle owners, in a negative way on here, I'm wondering why they is so much negativity around them.

For context I have a poodle cross, who gets treated like a dog, we have used trainers, she goes hiking with us, is groomed regular. Doesn't sleep in our bed, can be left alone for a few hours no problem, and not a fussy eater, just eats dry food.
I didn't pay 1000s for her, paid the same as a cross breed. She has no health issues etc.

Yes she does have traits of both breeds, she can be hyper, and prone to barking at times. But we are aware of her breeds, both working dogs.

So am I unusual in that my doddle is treated like a dog. Or is there an unfair reputation towards doodles and owners?

I own Bernese mountain dogs, and retrievers and the berners have enough known health issues without being doodled, and there are so many female berners being used and having to be rescued from puppy farms, so it boils my piss a bit, if you want a dog you aren’t allergic and don’t want ti Hoover up after get a smaller breed, don't make this beautiful breed all weird looking.

Im yet to meet one full time Bernese owner that would mix this breed with a poodle.

On the retriever side I think that’s been around a while to doodle them so maybe we are a few generations in and they all seem fairly good dogs and well suited to mixing.

We live next to a cooker x doodle and it’s yappy thing non stop, I have a friend with 2 doodles also non stop barking and awfully trained and snappy, so my only day to day experience of small mixed doodle with cockers is yappy snappy dogs, who get away with murder!!

@LandSharksAnonymous - you are only looking at physical health. What about cretin annoying behaviour traits that are prevalent in many breeds?
Or what about genetics in general, wheras the hairy gene is also connected to overbite/ bad teeth... and so on?

@tumblingdowntherabbithole & @Whosenameisthis - nope I haven't described a Poodle. A Poodle is a hunting/ retrieving dog for going after waterfowl. The modern urban dog should have a low prey drive and their physical and mental exercise needs should be minimal.... I would also question the size and stature of a Poodle. Reputation and health issues are also a concern for many potential owners. Sadly the stigma sticks. Also, poodles can be neurotic barky little dogs. Not good traits for an urban dog.

As I said, the cookerpoo is marketed as the perfect urban dog, but that doesn't mean it is. But it could be a starting point for a new breed if selected correctly and with care.

I became aware of this after adopting my ‘rescue’ pup. I suspect the ‘rescue’ bought left over dogs from the puppy farm.

Do I have a bargain basement reject. We love him though, neuroses and all.

If I had a poodle and did all the necessary brushing down to he skin, but didn’t clip or go to the groomer, what would it look like?

@Ylvamoon you're describing the history of the poodle, not the modern day breed. Very, very few poodles are involved in retrieving and hunting work anymore - they are primarily bred as pets these days, especially the mini and toy varieties.

I walk multiple poodles and none of them would have the first clue about hunting - they are companion dogs who enjoy a nice walk, some play with a ball and a cuddle on the sofa. They are typically great with people, other dogs and cats and make excellent pets, no matter what the environment. They're also generally pretty healthy and hardy. Certainly no less healthy than a doodle.

You would need to clip or at least trim - poodles fur will just grow (and grow) unless it's cut.

A poodle ‘fro?! Wow. Realistically my next dog will be whatever the rescue has available, so I don’t know why I ask.

Greyhounds, whippets and staffies are most likely.

@Ylvamoon I have to be honest, I can't think of any 'annoying behaviour' traits in many dog breeds. Most poor behavioural traits are down to inappropriate owners not properly channeling their dogs personality and breed characteristics.
And breeding different pedigrees does not remove those characteristics, which is why so many cockerpoos have such severe SA issues.

I can't completely remember, but there was family history for both sides. Father was kc registered miniature stud poodle. I phoned the father's owner to confirm he had actually mated with the mother. Mother also had kc registered parents and was a family pet (which was why they only bred from her once). I was given copies of health records/family history for both parents. I met the whole family 3 times, including their 2 young kids who were so excited by the puppies. It was definitely a family home. We are still in touch as she likes to see photos of my dog. It would have been ridiculous lengths for a puppy farmer to have gone to. I'm happy with my due diligence and have had a beautiful dog for 8 years with no issues.

@myplace like that…

Personally I can’t see the appeal of a crossbred any kind of dog as you have no idea which traits you’ll get from dam or sire, even if those traits are ‘desirable’. I know some lovely spaniel/lab, spaniel/retriever, cocker/springer crosses but give me my predictable cocker any day. Nothing she does surprises me because she is an absolutely typical example of her breed, and when I got her I knew what to expect.

The only two ‘dogs to avoid’ round here are poodle crosses, neither of whom have had any proper training. Only one of their owners is self-aware enough to admit that and she recognises that she has failed her dog – though she could fix it, and yet still… doesn’t. She’s a lovely lady but openly admits that she got her for shallow reasons without having done any research. I don’t judge her for getting a ‘designer dog’ but I do judge her (privately) for not training her dog(s) because as a result they have a poorer quality of life, despite how much she loves them.

I don’t know what you mean by treating him like a dog?

he is a dog, surely?

what else would he be?

I mean, I have one that I jokingly tell people is a dingo… I’m pretty sure he’s not, but he looks a bit like one and I have no idea what’s actually in there.

My only criteria for the rescue was good with cats and while he’s a behavioural nightmare in other ways he is in fact good with my cat so… 🤷‍♀️😂

But, he’s not my first dog, he’s not even my first dog with behavioural issues, my children are adults, I live and walk rurally and I’m pretty antisocial.

But for a first time owner or someone with youngish children or someone who wants to walk in parks or go to garden centres with a dog… yeah, predictable is way better.

Re Short/flat muzzled dogs - perhaps you should find out the circumstances before you tut. I have a rescue pug. Not because I wanted a pug, because I was ready to rescue and she was next up.

No one has tutted at me for owning her. And if they ever ask about getting a pug I tell them not to buy a pug puppy and explain why. That there are plenty of dogs in rescue who just need a home.

I would hate to see the breed die out, as many people seem to want. But advocate for the retro pug movement in europe.

So if you just wanted to judge me with no context, you'd get pretty short shrift from me.

I just wish people would rescue. I don’t think most people need to be breeding more dogs whether crosses or pure breeds unless they have some specific working purpose for their dog. When people say that they were considered unsuitable to rescue due to young kids well maybe you should not get a dog at all in that case. Lots of nice dogs in our local rescue all the time and most are of a recognisable breed so you can to some extent know what you are getting plus if it’s a reputable rescue they will have been assessed in a centre or a foster placement.

I have often wondered why were cocker spaniels picked for crossing with poodles? They are known to resource guard and working cockers are high energy dogs that need a job and are hard to train to walk on a lead. What cocker spaniel traits are useful for an urban dog? Why not get a show cocker if you want a spaniel they are good looking and usually calmer. How does crossing one of those with a poodle improve matters? It’s the non shedding thing that people are obsessed with isn’t it? Buy a better hoover I say!

I tried. I really did.

i signed up with many rescues, local and national. Lots have a blanket “no under x age” for kids, regardless of suitability. Mine were older so that wasn’t even a factor.

i always thought rescues would look for the most suitable home. Turns out many do first come first served, so unless you are at the rescue every day, searching web pages, or filling in application forms daily then the dog is gone before you see it. Lots don’t even make it to advertising as someone walks in and grabs it, or it’s rehomed by friends of the shelter staff.

i set up a lot of meet and greets. I never got to meet a single dog. Usually I got a message that someone had walked in off the street and reserved it first. Once I was in the car with the kids half way into an hour journey to meet a dog to get a message that the foster had decided to keep it. Had to turn round and go home.

two years of that before I gave up and started contacting breeders.

Our small local rescue has a number of collies, beagles and a mini dachshund ready to rescue right now as well as some proper Heinz 57 mongrels.

That’s a shame. It wasn’t nearly as hard as that when we did it (older kids, garden, no other pets). We just got signed up with a local rescue and then we had our pick of at least 3 dogs before we got ours.

There is a reason dogs end up in rescue - collies are one of the most common - the dogs you list will not be suitable for an inexperienced owner, they will have complex issues that need, time and skill (or money) to correct them and make them suitable pets.

There is a place for well bred pups. The majority of rescue dogs are damaged, failed by humans.

Yes, agreed re poodles and gundog work. I see often on this board - 'But remember that the poodle is a gundog breed, bred to go all day!' They were once, but working lines of them now are like hen's teeth. I know literally dozens of working gundogs, including exactly half a poodle - she's half pet poodle, half working springer, and is a useful little dog but not as nuts as 100% wokring line dogs tend to be.

The problem with this myth of working poodles is that people see a poodle in a pet home having a run in the park in the morning and half an hour on-lead in the evening and think they'd like a cocker spaniel, coz that's a gundog breed too.... And they don't know what they don't know, which is that cockers come in show and working lines, and that the working lines are much more popular, and that a lot of working-line cockers are bloody hard work.

A surprising number of people have no clue that a working line golden retriever will be a different ball game from a show line one, ditto with labs and springers. I always say to people enquiring on this board about the HPR breeds like Vizslas and German pointers, please think about what you want, because while those breeds have (as yet) no really clear split between show and working lines, some lines are very much bred for work, and they are not for the fainthearted, the undecided or the very busy.

I’d never had a dog when I rescued mine. It was hard work the first year and often I thought of giving him back but I put a lot of time, effort, perseverance, thought and money in and he’s a decent family dog now. Not perfect by any means. Will never be a dog you can take to a shopping centre but he has a lot of good points and we love him.

It literally is hard work and expensive and need a lot of time and effort to own any dog. I don’t think the effort I made with my rescue dog was necessarily more than all the people I know who got puppies. I know a collie who has an issue with chasing bikes and runners, a very nervous doodle who is fear aggressive, a cocker with a huge prey drive who kills a lot of stuff, a beagle who often runs off for hours, a mini shnauzer who gets a lot of noise complaints from neighbours and a dobie who can only be walked at the dead of night he is so reactive and these were all pure bred dogs bought and owned since puppies. I really am not so sure that rescue is more of a risk than buying. At least you know and are ready for issues.

@EdithStourton I know someone that works her standard poodle in a large team of dogs picking up and it is not for the faint-hearted!

I wonder what the balance is of show to working cockers in the UK’s population of cockerpoos.

@ThePure yea definitely people can ruin puppies, and they do. But rescues have already been ruined (in general) because an easy dog doesn't end up in a shelter - a balanced well behaved dog is rehomed long before they end up on a charity rehoming site.

I rescue, and I take on the harder ones as I'm at a point in my life where I can. And I love to hear about positive rescues - I just don't think a rescue is right for everyone.

I’ve absolutely had rescues that could go in a shopping centre or garden centre and were great all round dogs.

One of the largest category of dogs you’ll see in rescues are teenagers - people get a puppy don’t train it, don’t walk it and then can’t cope with it. They take no more work than a puppy, often less tbh as they pick things up quicker.

The first year is always hard work, puppy or rescue.

I think often an adult rescue can be a much surer bet than any puppy because a good rescue will know what you’re dealing with, especially one where they live in foster homes. They’re grown already you know for sure what they’re like