Doodle Dog Buying Advice / Health Issues

Pollycat

Lifes_Grand_Plan said:

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.

And rescue centres wonder why they are overwhelmed with dogs and cats. 🤔 🤬

25 years ago, we lost our beloved 15 year old cat.
RSPCA wanted us to take 2 kittens as we were both at work.
Cats Protection flatly refused to allow us to adopt a kitten as we were both at work.
We ended up with a farm kitten (semi feral) who after having him for 36 hours was seriously ill with cat flu and pneumonia.
Vet said he was only 5 weeks old and couldn't/wouldn't say if he'd survive.
We had wet towels sprinkled with olbas oil on the radiators and OH came home from work at lunchtime to check on him.
Within 5 days of having him, he'd cost us more than £100.
25 years ago!
Would/could a family with someone at home all day have done that?
Afforded that?
Neither RSPCA or CP gave us a chance.
We, however, gave a kitten a chance and he turned out to be the most unique cat we've ever had.
He is a legend in the area, even though he's been gone some time.

sheramber

Each  rescue has their own rules, usually based on experience and staffing. Those run by volunteers do not have the staffing resources that those with paid staff do. 

Many won’t rehome to flats, homes with children under a certain age, working families. This is usually because previous rehoming in these circumstances has failed for some reason

My neighbour adopted a puppy from a local rescue. Both parents worked and the pup was shut in the garage all day. As a result it whined and barked  until their next door neighbour spoke them. They then rehomed him to somebody else. .

Is it a wonder why rescue says no to working families.?  
 

Strays come in with no background as to whether they are suitable for children, have separation anxiety or other problems. 

Even hand ins can be unknown quantities. Owners are not always truthful.

My current rescue was a hand in at 7 years old ‘because he didn’t get on with the dog next door. ‘

He had several hang ups but ignores the dog next door completely and is friendly and very tolerant of other dogs. 

At the end of the day finding a suitable home for an animal is most important. 

Pollycat

sheramber said:

Each  rescue has their own rules, usually based on experience and staffing. Those run by volunteers do not have the staffing resources that those with paid staff do. 

Many won’t rehome to flats, homes with children under a certain age, working families. This is usually because previous rehoming in these circumstances has failed for some reason

My neighbour adopted a puppy from a local rescue. Both parents worked and the pup was shut in the garage all day. As a result it whined and barked  until their next door neighbour spoke them. They then rehomed him to somebody else. .

Is it a wonder why rescue says no to working families.?  
 

Strays come in with no background as to whether they are suitable for children, have separation anxiety or other problems. 

Even hand ins can be unknown quantities. Owners are not always truthful.

My current rescue was a hand in at 7 years old ‘because he didn’t get on with the dog next door. ‘

He had several hang ups but ignores the dog next door completely and is friendly and very tolerant of other dogs. 

At the end of the day finding a suitable home for an animal is most important. 

Pity some rescues don't get that.

Hope the OP finds the right dog.

Over and out.

strawb_shortcake

Lots of local people to me have foreign rescue dogs, I'm always told the local dog rescues won't re-home to working families but the bar is much lower for foreign rescues...

sheramber

strawb_shortcake said:

Lots of local people to me have foreign rescue dogs, I'm always told the local dog rescues won't re-home to working families but the bar is much lower for foreign rescues...

Some rescue do and some don't.

My son's family havre recently rehomed a young dog so it is possible

The rescue I have used let me have a pup , against there normal rules, because I   had a background of competing with my  dogs .  The pup was in foster and had proved to happily settle down when left. 

The foster mother identified that hewas not suitable for a pet home. He needed a home where he would use his brain. She was right.

My husband walked the dogs before work, he came hime at lunchtime and I worked flexi hours , so by going in early I was able to finish work early. 

The dogs were only left for  3-4 hours at a stretch. 

Evenings were and weekends were spent with the dogs.

That rescue have no blanket rules. Both dog and potential adopter are assessed. I rehomed my current dog at 76 years old. 

Dogs Trust refused  a neighbour  who was in his 70's but Whippet Rescue were happy to consider him and rehomed to him.

You just need to find the right rescue.

MayDogsandCoffee

Have you had dogs before, what lifestyle are you offering a dog?  Many of the doodle and cockapoo types have behaviour issues, resource guarding and such.  It's putting two high drive/energy clever breeds together and expecting them to be couch potatoes.  They will need to have clear hip, eye and heart tests.  You will have to either learn to groom or have a budget to have them clipped on a regular basis too - they need brushing from day one (not first groom), they are not low maintenance or low allergy. 

SensibleSarah

TBh I'd steer clear of any kind of doodle for many of the reasons mentioned - huge number of badly bred dogs floating around because they are in fashion, lots of doodles are very challenging dogs behaviourally because of the mix and there is as much chance of them getting the 'worst' traits of each breed in them as the 'best'. Healthwise they can be a total unknown because they usually haven't been bred ethically, going back several generations.

Personally, I only adopt rescues but I have a very good local rescue who know me well (currently have 3 cats and 2 dogs from them and used to foster kittens for them too). I have engineered my life so that it's well suited to dogs because its a priority for me but most small local rescues will take every adopter on a case by case basis when it comes to things like age of kids etc - it will depend on the specific dog and the specific adopter as to whether they think its a good match. Many rescues won't rehome dogs with an unknown background to families with kids under a certain age - which is absolutely fair enough in my opinion. Why would you want risk your kids? They won't rehome puppies to homes where they would be left alone for 8+ hours a day, 5+ days a week, but that's just common sense IMO.

I absoluely wouldn't advise the OP to go down the foreign rescue route. These dogs often arrive completely traumatised, with no idea how to live in a house or a 'normal' life and its a huge risk to bring one into a family with young kids - especially straight off the transport bus. I've seen dogs completely change personality after just the trauma of the 3-4 days journey while caged in a van and being taken away from everything they know. One of my current dogs is originally from Romania and was brought over here as a pup. He was adopted into an experienced family, but it still broke down because he developed quite a lot of breed traits when he entered the teenage phase (he has livestock guardian breeds in him) and it became impossible for the family to safely manage him around their kids, visitors and their other resident dogs - so he got put up for rehoming. He'll never be 'normal' - and this was a pup who had the best of everything (including lots of training) from 4 months of age. Not saying that foreign rescues don't deserve a chance too - of course they do - but definitely not straight from a shelter abroad to a van and then into busy households with young kids. 

If the OP is set on buying from a breeder then put a lot of thought into what breed traits will match your family and lifestyle - research all breeds for negtaive traits as well as good ones so that you're prepared - then research the heck out of any breeder before buying. Most good breeders won't even breed a litter until they have a fully vetted waiting list of people - and their vetting can be a lot more thorough than many rescues because they want their pups to have the right homes for life. So you might have to wait 6 months or longer for pup to be born and ready. 

Whalie

My dog is a re-home.  People offered her back to the breeder who was a friend of my niece who knew I was looking for a dog and she fitted the bill!  She is a mix breed which I think is good as they are less likely to suffer from in-breeding and illness that go with a pure breed.  So making it known you are looking can produce results!   I too tried rescue centres on line.  My next step would of been to visit them in person and discuss what I was looking for as many of the restrictions on line are not set in concrete if you are a good match for a dog they have.

jonnydeppiwish!

We have a Bedipoo - amazing temperament and still relatively small. He barks at the occasional dog walking past the house but is amazing around kids

sheramber

My son’s mini labradoodle - a rescue- is charged on Duracell batteries. 

From she opens her eyes  she is a bundle of energy.

She barks at every  noise and her bark is a Labrador bark rather than a mini poodle bark.

Her personality is far bigger than her mini poodle size.