Doodle Dog Buying Advice / Health Issues

Lifes_Grand_Plan

Hi folks,

After many, many hours of research, thinking and planning, I think I've finally decided I'm ready to get a dog to be part of the family. My wife and kids have wanted one for ages but they don't think of the logistics like I do so I've always said no up to now.

Anyway we're looking at something like a Labradoodle or a Cockerpoo but I've been reading about hip dysplasia so now worried about  that. If anyone on here has any experience with Doodles, can you advise how what, if anything, I can do to avoid or minimise the risk of getting a dog that might develop this.

And if anyone has any general advice about buying either of the above or any similar dogs I could consider that'd be greatly appreciated too.

TIA

Brie

I'll give the easy response - have you considered a rescue?  Likely there are dedicated Doodle rescue spots or somewhere like Dog's Trust might have one that someone has had to surrender.  If it's older than a puppy then it's possible that any problems are already obvious so you'll know what you're actually getting.

Lifes_Grand_Plan

Brie said:

I'll give the easy response - have you considered a rescue?  Likely there are dedicated Doodle rescue spots or somewhere like Dog's Trust might have one that someone has had to surrender.  If it's older than a puppy then it's possible that any problems are already obvious so you'll know what you're actually getting.

Yes I've tried rescues. Most rescues - certainly the ones I've tried - won't home many dogs with a family that has children under 11 / 12 or around that age. So lots of rescue's i've looked at don't have the type of dog i'm looking for and the one that I found that did, the above applies.

Brie

Glad you've tried - so many don't even consider it unfortunately.  Hopefully someone else might be able to help with your questions.

elsien

Do your research about breeders to make sure you avoid puppy farms and ask the breeder about the hip scores of the puppies parents. You are looking for a lower score, on or below the median for the breed.

https://www.bva.co.uk/canine-health-schemes/hip-scheme/

Yarrows

Neither labradoodles or cockerpoos are breeds, they're crossbreeds between different breeds of dogs.

You'd be wanting to see the results of the health testing recommended for each breed carried out on the sire and dam eg hip scoring and genetic tests for known issues seen in the breed that should be bred out (and obviously to check that the results are good enough to have bred from the dogs). If either or both of the parents are themselves crossbreeds then both sets of health testing should be carried out if they're different for the different breeds.

The problem with wanting a crossbreed is finding an ethical breeder. One of the criteria for breeding dogs ethically is that the breeder has an ethical reason for breeding, and for picking this specific pair of dogs. Eg the original labradoodles were bred for a specific working purpose. (Not all labradoodles are fit for that original purpose but I believe at least one of that litter was.)

Purebreds should be bred to better the breed - theoretically that's what shows are meant to test for but obviously for some breeds it's gone awry and unhealthy traits are being rewarded. Crossbreeds can be bred to perform a particular function needing the traits of 2 breeds (or the traits of the parents) that the breeder hasn't been able to find in existing breeds or other dogs.

Ethical breeders will commit to taking dogs of their breeding back for any reason at any age, because they're responsible for that dog existing. They would also require buyers to commit to taking their dog back to the breeder rather than getting rid of it in any other way (re-selling, passing to rescue etc) - there would often be an agreement about a full/partial refund depending on how early the problem arose and whether it was related to something the breeder or the buyer did wrong. Though I've certainly seen good breeders say they gave a refund they didn't think was fair just to get a dog back safe rather than not knowing what happened to it.

Ethical breeders would give the dam (they'd usually not own the sire themselves, because the chances of happening to own the best sire for the dam are pretty low) and the puppies the best possible care eg following recommended vaccination and worming regimes, attending the birth and calling a vet in if required and knowing when to do so or having an experienced mentor to help, starting to socialise the young puppies ready for their new homes and introduce them to relevant experiences, etc etc 

But most people breeding poodle crosses probably don't have a good reason for breeding, and may not be interested in spending money on the recommended testing and care. Non-ethical breeders may also not be ethical in their dealings with buyers.

Hip problems in doodles are presumably a result of many doodle breeders not paying for hip scoring and/or not acting on the results by not breeding from a dog with poor hips.

TL;DR There's a lot of financial and practical commitment to breeding dogs and it might be hard, though probably not impossible, to find in breeders of a crossbreed. If you wrote a list of all the criteria you want in a dog, would an established breed meet them? That might improve your chances of finding an ethical breeder who would hip score and test for hereditary conditions (and do all the other things right).

I've had the heart ache of losing an ethically-bred dog to a degenerative genetic condition which there isn't a test for yet. The idea of not testing for the conditions we can test for and risking avoidable suffering is terrible.

sheramber

Why did you decide on a doodle?

Lifes_Grand_Plan

sheramber said:

Why did you decide on a doodle?

My brother's family, and a good friend's family both have doodle's and we love them and they seem like they'd be a really good fit with us.

Emmia

Lifes_Grand_Plan said:

sheramber said:

Why did you decide on a doodle?

My brother's family, and a good friend's family both have doodle's and we love them and they seem like they'd be a really good fit with us.

The thing is, that doodles are fashionable so the risks of unethical breeding and problems arising from that are likely to be higher.

sheramber

Lifes_Grand_Plan said:

sheramber said:

Why did you decide on a doodle?

My brother's family, and a good friend's family both have doodle's and we love them and they seem like they'd be a really good fit with us.

Where did thye get thier dogs from? That could be your starting point.

Pollycat

sheramber said:

Lifes_Grand_Plan said:

sheramber said:

Why did you decide on a doodle?

My brother's family, and a good friend's family both have doodle's and we love them and they seem like they'd be a really good fit with us.

Where did thye get thier dogs from? That could be your starting point.

That should be the starting point.