Is it awful to be considering a doodle..? First time dog owner

[AmpleLilacQuail]

Hi all, I’ve been thinking about getting my first dog for a few years and I’m now in a position to do so - very exciting.

Initially I was sucked into the cockapoo/cavapoo ‘hype’ but I went off them as I was worried about potential behavioural and health issues. I then had my heart set on a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel although I know they have their own health issues!

Anyway, now the time has come to get the dog, I’m back to considering a cockapoo.. is it terrible of me? I am open to other small/medium sized dogs too, if anyone has any suggestions?

The main driver behind this is that I live rurally and it’s much easier to travel an hour or two to a cockapoo pup, as it could be a 7 hour drive (each way!) for a CKCS.. which is just too far.

I check my local SSPCA weekly and I never see any dogs that would be suitable for me as a first time dog owner.

Ohh how ethical? Fully health tested parents? Vetting prospective buyers? How many litters a year? In a bitches lifetime? 😀

@LandSharksAnonymous

well yes:

I have copied excerpts from their website below. Does this meet with your approval?

We screen eyes and grade hips and elbows of every breeding dog in our program as well as full DNA screening.

Our litters are lovingly and carefully raised in our home by our family, so our puppies are ready for your family. Our goal is to breed healthy, happy, intelligent, Australian Labradoodles with low to non-shedding coats in fleece or wool. We strive to find puppy families that will continue the love and care we have started. We expect our new families to train our pups to walk off lead, have good recall and be well socialised with other dogs. This way our pups can enjoy life to the full.

Puppies will have a full course of worming; they will have been micro-chipped; they will also be registered with WALA as pets; they will have begun their socialisation and toilet training journey; and will come with a 2 year health guarantee for inheritable conditions that are life inhibiting. Our support is ongoing and we are happy to assist where possible.

‘Every breeding dog in our programme.’

Just how many are there?? @Aurea And how many litters per dog? Because to me, that sounds like an excerpt from what I would expect to find on a puppy farm website.

Please do link the website! Really keen to see just how few breeding bitches and studs they have so we can recommend them going forwards! Sure it’s only one breeding bitch at a time, right?

@LandSharksAnonymous

They have four girls and one boy in total. Each girl will have a max of three litters.

I’m sure (if you’re genuinely interested) you can google the breeder but I’m not posting a link here so you can malign them.

I’m also signing off here as I am not appreciating your hostility.

Ignore me. I found them (assuming it’s Great Glen Australian Labradoodles).

Four breeding bitches, one of whome doesn’t even live with them - but elsewhere - and no dogs who aren’t used for breeding (ie dogs who are to old, but are kept as family pets). Puppy farm.

@Aurea my spidey instincts tingled and I was (sadly) right. And FYI, three litters a dog is way too many - two is maximum, and that’s only when carefully staggered. I’ll ‘malign’ away. Anyone who promotes a puppy farm deserves as much hostility as I can muster.

One day I will be proved wrong. One day. But not today, apparently.

For all the rescue comments. We have just rescued.

1. He was 11 weeks old (puppy)
2. We have 2 kids (5 & 7)
3. We both work, me fulltime only partly from home. DP out of home (part time)
4. He will be left alone most days for short periods

Yes, we had previously had a rescue dog but this wasn't a requirement. I was 100% honest on our application form and via a phone call to his fosterer before we made the 2 hr drive to meet him.

So you can rescue a puppy, if you work and have kids.

@cazinge that is very unusual indeed.

What is going on with the very young rescue pup when you’re at work and no-one is home??

Are you using dog daycare or family care? If so then that’s likely fine.

If not, then the rescue is a total turkey and probably cruel and exploitative. I would not like people to imagine they could rehome a very young dog whilst working out the house regularly and also having very young kids.

Probably the majority of very young puppies will learn to deal with very young children, as long as max 10-11 weeks of age (any form of powerful jawed dog can get in the bin).

@Testerical he is only left for short periods which we have been building up slowly, e.g. now at 30 mins for school run. There is family care available for any longer periods. I took the first couple of weeks off work to settle him in. None of that is unique to a recue puppy/dog as they need someone around to help them settle in to their new home.

The rescue was a Council run one not just a random individual claiming to be a rescue. We have previously adopted from Dogs Trust so I am confident the rescue were thorough in their checks of us. There were a lot of dogs in their care who will never be rehomed due to previous trauma and their temperament/behaviour and they work with a qualified behaviourist who we have access to for life.

As I said, he was in foster which was with young children so was used to them. This was from 8 - 11 weeks. He was found as a stray with a littermate so not known what he experienced before then.

I should also say to be transparent that like any puppy it is not plain sailing. He is bitey due to teething, likes to steal shoes, is digging up my garden, etc. But that is the reality of a puppy.

We adore him and wouldn't change him for the world.

Spaniel aid by any chance? They just had half a dozen puppies pop up for rehome. I think the bitch was abandoned by her owner whilst pregnant from what I remember? Sadly happens a lot!

I’ve got a pandemic cockapoo and she is the calmest, most loving dog I have ever met. She is 5 in November and has had no health issues (fingers crossed). Spend some time with the mum dog and the litter before you decide. Good luck!

@LandSharksAnonymous no, but that is sad 😞

This was just him & his brother (no Mum) and they were barely weaned 😭. So lucky they were found quickly. Recue assume unsold pups.

But surely a long drive like that for any puppy, or indeed for any age of dog that is joining a new family, just isn't fair? When we took our rescue - 10 month old gorgeous adolescent - dog home, she trembled the whole way even though I was gently stroking her, and that was only about a 25 minute journey.

@cazinge dumping a dog is awful, but two that young…words fail me! Glad he found a good home though ❤

An adolescent rescue is a world away from a young puppy that has been caringly home reared. A single experience of travelling with a nervous rehome isn't really representative of the experience for most puppy buyers.

Our current puppy was from a breeder 5 hours away, but the journey home was 7 hours due to stationery traffic on the motorway. She was in a travel crate in the back of a car with a blanket and a non tip bowl of water and she was fine.
You talk to them as you travel, you make regular stops to check on them
Our previous pup had a 9 hour journey that involved a ferry crossing. Again crated and no issues.
If you have a numerically small breed or want a dog from a particular breeder, you have to be willing to travel. None of our puppies have been local and none of them was stressed or traumatised by the journey home. After about the first 30 or 40 minutes of travel they generally fall asleep. Current pup last summer only woke up 5 minutes from home, almost as if she knew.
We've never regretted travelling to get the right pup.

This with bells on. A well bought up puppy, who is confident, will have no issues in a long journey and will most likely just sleep. Particularly if they have met the buyer several times.

And being willing to travel for a puppy shows, in my view, the buyer has carefully considered what they want from a puppy rather than going for the mode accessible and available litter.

Indeed. The first visit to our current girl was when the litter was 5 weeks old, to meet pups, mum and older sister, so we knew exactly what we were getting. We'd already given references (from our vet and the breeder of a previous pup), and we were offered lifelong support for the current puppy, from her breeder and the owner of the sire. Somehow I don't think this pup will be going back though 😊

This is what people don't understand about the difference between a committed, caring, ethical breeder and a backstreet/puppy farm breeder commercially selling. Time and time again on this board we see horror stories, but it doesn't have to be like that. Do your research, know what you are getting and be willing to travel for the right dog x

Yes that was my thought too, it’s just not fair on a puppy to be in an unknown environment for that long. I used to have to drive from the south of England to the highlands and it is hellish - one day my driving time was 14 hours. I would never have made any of my previous cats do a long car journey unless it was absolutely necessary. So I think the absolute max I’d want to drive is 5 hours which basically gets me to the borders.

It shocked me that that poster is obviously a breeder and thinks it’s admirable to drive 8 hours with a new puppy.

I don’t see an issue at all with driving long distance for the perfect pup. My mum once drove all the way to Belgium for the most beautiful cocker we ever had. If you want the best example of the breed you might have to. If your breed is difficult to get then that’s legit. Also, I don’t believed in picking up at 8 weeks it’s too young. 10 weeks minimum, 12 a good shout.

I presume you refer to @LandSharksAnonymous and not me, but as we've both said the same I will also reply.

I am not a breeder @AmpleLilacQuail, I am just a dog owner and most of our dogs have come from breeders that were 5, 6 or more hours from us. Two came from outside the UK mainland.

We would not be able to get the dog we want unless we were willing to travel.
For numerically small or rare dog breeds, driving long distances to view or collect a puppy is very much the norm. A littermate of our current puppy had a 10 hour journey home. For ours it was just under 7.

If done correctly, with planning and thought, it does not cause any stress to the puppy whatsoever. All of our pups have slept on the drive home and been very calm and happy on arrival, exploring their new garden. No stress. No trauma. No drama. Puppies that have been correctly reared and adequately socialised by the breeder do not need to be wrapped in cotton wool and treated like a baby. They can perfectly well withstand a 7 or 8 hour car trip without being traumatised.

Yeah, I do.

Because it means the buyer has chosen a litter that is right for them. Unlike you who have said in your opening post you are considering a 'breed' based off convenience rather than it's suitability to you.

I'd rather a buyer driving 8 hours, who has put the time energy and resource into finding the right puppy for them from a good breeder than someone like you who has gone for convenience any day tbh.

A well-rounded pup can handle hours of travel very easily. Anyone who says otherwise has, I am afraid, been buying puppies from pretty crap breeders. A good breeder will have gotten a puppy used to reasonably long car journeys before they're even ready to leave...

Do not get a border terrier! They are absolutely gorgeous and such characters but unfortunately a lot of them have got a disease called SPIKES, ‘a neurological condition characterized by seizure-like episodes of muscle spasms, cramping, and abnormal posturing, particularly in the hind limbs.’

I know a beautiful little boy who has unfortunately got this condition and has to eat an extremely strict diet. If he picks up a crumb of bread off of the floor then it will send him into an episode. He is from one of the best bred pedigree lines.

It’s each to their own though. Maybe if I’d had dogs before it would be easier for me to get my head around, but for now it’s a no from me.

But people with that experience are telling you it’s absolutely normal, and you’re still choosing to purposefully go for a cockerpoo because it’s more convenient, even though all of the research and people’s personal experience is screaming no!

But you are taking that puppy into an unknown environment for life. So why does the length of the car journey matter?

Look at all the rescues who are being brought in from abroad. They often travel for days to get to their new homes.