Advice for a novice

[Paula]

Hi Everyone,

Sparky, my black miniature schnauzer of 15 years passed away in August and my fiancé and I would like to add a labradoodle to our family in 2016. Growing up I always had dachshunds and then decided on a schnauzer as a family pet. Sparky was an awesome dog, I miss him.

I like to do a lot of research before making a commitment because my pets are always forever and temperament is so important to me. What advice would you give me since I have never owned a labradoodle. My fiancé has had labs and loves the breed and I really like what I have been discovering about labradoodles. I'm also not sure how to determine which breeder is the best. We live in CT.

Thank you.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think that talking to other guardian homes would be very helpful, but not those who are guardians for this particular breeder, because you're not going to get open and honest information; nobody is going to risk making the breeder mad at this point, when the dog is not yet truly "theirs", even if they are unhappy. 

We do have a group here for guardian families. It's not very active, but it would give you a place to start. 

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/guardianfamilies?groupUrl=guardia...

[Paula]

I just wanted to let everyone know that after much research I chose a Cavoodle! We named our ruby cavoodle, Bella and she is lovely just like her name. After doing all of the research we decided that we wanted a smaller dog than a labradoodle or goldendoodle and I really love the temperament of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel mixed with the poodle temperament. She loves everyone, is very smart, only barks occassionaly and my cat Lucky enjoys wrestling with her.  We are enjoying training her and she is 6 months old now. I still miss Sparky a lot but I'm so glad I took my time to find Bella!