doodles doodles.

[Anonymous]

tell me about your doodle! I am looking for a dog (young or puppy) and I am curious about doodles. They seem to be everywhere - is there really something to them? I have had rescues before - large lab/shepherds. Are doodles all they claim to be - smart, friendly, trainable? How often/how much do you spend on grooming. I'm not interested in a mini. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Smart, energetic, and most people don't train them enough. You should think of them as a lab that needs grooming but (might) shed less.

[Anonymous]

A lot of them are neurotic af. This is a high-energy mix that will need a lot of training from a competent handler.

[Anonymous]

I have a rescue toy poodle who turned out to be a doodle when we did a dna test -- she's 75% poodle and 25% bichon/maltese. She's perfect.

That said, please don't buy a doodle. The amount of suffering my dog experienced in the puppy mill she was rescued from is horrific. There are few if any reputable doodle breeders. The short of it is that dog breeding is very expensive to do if you are caring properly for the dogs, and so those doing it for the right reasons don't make much money; they are breeding for the love of the breed standard. There is no breed standard for doodles, they are essentially mutts, and there is huge money to be made, so the dogs are treated terribly. Don't be a part of that.

If you must buy a dog rather than rescue, look at actual poodles, or goldens, or whatever.

[Anonymous]

If you've had labs and shepherds (especially rescues), surely you would know those are the top of the pyramid in goodest and smartest boys. Why change? I would love either or a mix right now.

[Anonymous]

The grooming is pretty intense to do properly (full brushing to the skin every day to prevent mats) which is why so many are shaved.

The issue with doodles is that no high quality breeder is going to sell their poodle (or the other half of the mix) to a person who wants to create doodles. That means you are starting with lower quality breeding stock to begin with. Likely no health testing was done on the prior generation, almost certainly no health testing was done on the current generation. I would not buy one for that reason (and I'm not anti-purchasing a healthy dog! I own 1 rescue and 2 purchased dogs)

But if you're going to rescue anyway, the health reality is the same for nearly any dog in a shelter or rescue, so that doesn't really differentiate.

I tell all my clients who want to rescue that they should choose a specific dog, not a specific breed or mix. The standardization isn't there in non-responsibly bred dogs, so just because you're adopting a ______ doesn't mean it will behave like ______.

[Anonymous]

I have a rescue which DNA tests 85%poodle and 15% australian shepherd. He is awesome. Happy, friendly, super smart and easy to train. The only downside was that the previous owners had not acclimated him to grooming and it has taken almost a year to get him to behave for the groomer.

[Anonymous]

Most of the dogs at our local dog park are doodles of one kind or another, and they generally are very nice dogs. That said, every single owner complains about the grooming. It's very expensive, and they seem to bounce from groomer to groomer trying to find someone they like that isn't $150 or more per groom. And in general the professional grooming isn't enough by itself, you also have to brush them several times a week or they mat terribly.

As a PP said, I would also be concerned about the breeding situation, since most of these are puppy mill dogs.

[Anonymous]

Lab Rescue has a Facebook page. They get doubles that need new homes now and again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The grooming is pretty intense to do properly (full brushing to the skin every day to prevent mats) which is why so many are shaved.

The issue with doodles is that no high quality breeder is going to sell their poodle (or the other half of the mix) to a person who wants to create doodles. That means you are starting with lower quality breeding stock to begin with. Likely no health testing was done on the prior generation, almost certainly no health testing was done on the current generation. I would not buy one for that reason (and I'm not anti-purchasing a healthy dog! I own 1 rescue and 2 purchased dogs)

But if you're going to rescue anyway, the health reality is the same for nearly any dog in a shelter or rescue, so that doesn't really differentiate.

I tell all my clients who want to rescue that they should choose a specific dog, not a specific breed or mix. The standardization isn't there in non-responsibly bred dogs, so just because you're adopting a ______ doesn't mean it will behave like ______.

I never brush my dog and she has no mats.

[Anonymous]

I find labradoodles to be annoying and very jumpy. Maybe that’s the owners who don’t train them. Plus everyone said the breeder told me he would be medium size but he’s 90 lbs. they also seem very stupid. Mini Aussie doodles seem good as do havanese and cockapoo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:tell me about your doodle! I am looking for a dog (young or puppy) and I am curious about doodles. They seem to be everywhere - is there really something to them? I have had rescues before - large lab/shepherds. Are doodles all they claim to be - smart, friendly, trainable? How often/how much do you spend on grooming. I'm not interested in a mini. Thanks!

They are not particularly smart. Some are friendly, some are anxious, twitchy, and kinda absent, mentally speaking. It's hard to say because they aren't bred from the best quality parents of either breed, and even if they were, behavioral genetics aren't directly transferred as neatly as we'd like. Trainability is the same; they may or may not be easy to train, depending on what breed you "doodled" with and what the poodle parent was like. Poodles in general are smart enough, but kinda aloof and not the warmest or friendliest of dogs. Again, generally speaking.

Grooming is a major PITA and requires daily upkeep and likely regular trips to a professional for trimming, especially if you don't keep up with the daily work.

If you must have a doodle, please adopt one of the many in breed rescues. They're easy to find, and the world really doesn't need any more of them. Giving an existing doodle a home is the only way to ethically come by one; all your other options are going to be mills or backyard breeders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the dogs at our local dog park are doodles of one kind or another, and they generally are very nice dogs. That said, every single owner complains about the grooming. It's very expensive, and they seem to bounce from groomer to groomer trying to find someone they like that isn't $150 or more per groom. And in general the professional grooming isn't enough by itself, you also have to brush them several times a week or they mat terribly.

As a PP said, I would also be concerned about the breeding situation, since most of these are puppy mill dogs.

I mean, there's a whole story right there, for anyone who knows how to read it.

[Anonymous]

Doodles are the worst dogs ever. The ones I've seen in our neighbourhood are the ugliest, dumbest dogs that have no training. They bark, jump, and pull on walks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The grooming is pretty intense to do properly (full brushing to the skin every day to prevent mats) which is why so many are shaved.

The issue with doodles is that no high quality breeder is going to sell their poodle (or the other half of the mix) to a person who wants to create doodles. That means you are starting with lower quality breeding stock to begin with. Likely no health testing was done on the prior generation, almost certainly no health testing was done on the current generation. I would not buy one for that reason (and I'm not anti-purchasing a healthy dog! I own 1 rescue and 2 purchased dogs)

But if you're going to rescue anyway, the health reality is the same for nearly any dog in a shelter or rescue, so that doesn't really differentiate.

I tell all my clients who want to rescue that they should choose a specific dog, not a specific breed or mix. The standardization isn't there in non-responsibly bred dogs, so just because you're adopting a ______ doesn't mean it will behave like ______.

I never brush my dog and she has no mats.

The hair on doodles can vary greatly. You can end up with a dog that does not need frequent brushing, or you can end up with one that does. We keep my toy poodle in a very short clip because she hates being brushed; but that means paying the groomer $100 every 6 weeks.