Doodle time?

[Lisa D]

Hi All
I am a newby poster, sometime lurker of the site! I would love to get a doodle but want to make sure that the timing is right (we have a nearly 3 year old son). I got some great advice from DRC but was wondering yesterday (as I cleaned the cats' litter boxes :) ).....how much time per day do you spend on your doodle? Grooming, walking, playing, feeding....I looked at the Grooming group on this site and was surprised at the time commitment needed....so just wondering how much time you folks are spending?

Thanks, Lisa

[Noble Vestal Labradoodles]

I have more than 1 dog

1 hour walk in the morning, everyone walks with me at the same time.
20-40 minutes a week to brush coat, clean ears, trim nails (per dog); longer some weeks if I skipped the prior week
1 hour training, every day!

These are the times that I set aside where I actually cant multitask. I do multitask while grooming (talk on the phone or watch TV)

[Kendra K. Rhoton]

Since getting our doodle a little over 5 months ago... we have determined that most of our free time now goes to him. He has become our top priority. This is how most days at our house goes.

6:00am - feed Remington out to bathroom
6:15-12ish - Remington spends this time lounging around, playing with toys, going to pee and #2, and sleeping more... at 12 he is fed again.
12ish-4:30 - Remington sleeps, plays with toys, and lounges around... while taking some pee and #2 breaks.
4:30- 6:00 - We take Remington on an hour long walk usually then it is to the ball diamonds to play fetch with his ball this last another 30 minutes or so.
7:00-8:00 - Remington is fed dinner and taken outside again. After dinner we brush him out... he gets brushed every night and toenails dremeled every couple of days around this time...
8:00-10:00 - Remington plays with his toys inside...
10:00 - is bedtime!

Grooming does take a lot of time, for example last night we gave Remington a bath and it took over and hour to get him bathed and dried somewhat. But we only do that once a month usually and time goes faster when he is cut shorter. My DH does spend a great deal of time brushing him and working on his toenails.

However, even though it is a lot of time and energy... would I trade it?... heck no! He is worth it all. We didn't know if we were really ready for a dog or not or if we had to time... but you make the time for it... you know? Good luck!

[Adina P]

Initially I think having a dog (doodle or not) is a big time investment. Lots of vet visits, potty training (if a puppy), managing the household, crate training, getting dog used to grooming (which means grooming more than necessary), DAILY training along with weekly classes.

But once you get over the initial investment and depending on your coat needs...the necessary time shrinks dramatically. Right now I'm trying to walk dogs twice a day (rotating which dogs get to go as I have three) for 20-30 min each. This is PLENTY for them, but not for younger or more energetic dogs. In fact if I only walk them 3 times a week they don't seem to be a bother (as far as being naughty due to lack of exercise). However, for HEALTH they probably need to be walked or exercised daily just like we humans need to be active daily for health.

My doodles are really low maintenance as far as grooming. I never have to brush Thule (she doesn't mat and sheds LOTS) and only do so once in a while just to clean her up a bit. Rosco also rarely mats and I don't have to brush him much except for bonding time and because it's nice to get some dead hair off of him (he sheds).

My dogs adjust to my schedule pretty well and they enjoy just hanging out with us wherever we are and no matter what we're doing around the house. Feeding is fast...put food down...dogs eat! No time commitment for me there. Playing varies as does walking...again they are past the high energy stage and happy to just be companions and get love through the day. But we probably toss the ball in the yard daily for a bit.

Training I don't do much anymore with my youngest because I did the majority early on and he's as trained as I have time to train. I might rehearse some things with him now and then or fine tune something as needed, but he's as good as he'll be unless I decided to train NEW things, which is unlikely. My 4 year old needs more training and we are working on it bits at a time... But initially I spent months working my youngest .. short periods as a young pup and after 6 months we spent probably an hour a day 5 days per week in training for several more months. It paid off. I think it's MUCH better to invest a lot of effort in training early on...get it over with and then enjoy the trained dog than to sprinkle it out over the dog's life and never actually have the satisfaction of a well behaved dog except when he/she is too old to be naughty =)

It just depends on 1) the dog's needs and 2) your preferences. Some enjoy doing taking LOTS of classes for tricks, agility, competing, etc...so they will need more time. Others like me want the companionship and company of our dogs and don't need tons of activities.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Peri is a mini goldendoodle (almost 6 months). She gets a 15 minute walk in the morning, 15-30 minute walk at lunch, and a longer one when we get home from work (up to 1 hour if it is nice). We play fetch at night and work on training for 10 minute spurts probably 4-5x per day. Also, we take her to doggy daycare once or twice per week for socialization (and exercise!). We are about to start a 2nd round of obedience for her that is 8 weeks long and is an hour every Monday night.
It is a big committment when they are puppies. Believe me. But things are calming for us and she is so amazing. We don't do much grooming yet because she is still a puppy and her doodle coat hasn't fully come in. She doesn't mat yet, so brushing her 1x per day takes about 5 minutes and that is it. She doesn't shed either.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Having raise two children, a multitude of neighbor kids, girl scouts, soccer teams, and students, and quite a few dogs - One of the smartest things I ever did was to get an older (3) dog when we had our first baby. Puppies and young children take an enormous amount of time. You can never ever ever leave them unsupervised. That means that you must keep them separate unless your eyes are on them.

Lots of successful puppy and young child raisers will now respond that they did it, it is not that bad, etc. To which I respond "good for you". You are obviously an experienced dog raiser, child raiser or both, or live under a lucky star, have a very mellow puppy, and/or a very mellow child.

The easier, nearly quaranteed way of having a happy home with both a three year old and a dog. Get an older dog. With a little diligence you can find a doodle who is "retiring from service" (breeding) and is looking for a forever home. Or a doodle with no flaws, just needs a new home. A 3 year old or older dog and you child and your child's friends will become best friends with little trauma. You and your family will never regret it.

Whe

[Maria & Sammy]

Hey Lisa. Do not be dismayed by the time commitment. We spend so much time on our doodles because we love them so. Depending on your choice they are mostly non-shedding and very easy to care for. They do great with kids, are extremely smart and adjust quickly to a routine.

My goldendoodle is 2.5 years old and the best dog I've ever owned. He is groomed about every 5 weeks, more so in the summer to keep his coat short due to the heat. Mine is fleece-coated so he does not matt easy and dries very fast.

Pick a doodle, you'll never regret the choice. Even my cat likes our doodle.

Maria & Sam

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Yes, I should have added that I don't have kids...I am like Jane and my dogs are my "kids". I intentionally got Peri before my husband and I have kids for that exact reason: I want a trained dog that is not a puppy and is a part of the family before having kids. We are probably still 3 years out from a baby and it will be nice to have a "big brother and sister" (ha) that are well-behaved and already integral parts of the family. I might consider adopting an older pup if you are unsure of the time commitment. But I don't have kids, so I am not totally sure!

[Melissa & Porter]

I agree that there is more time needed in the beginning if you get a puppy...potty and furniture chewing...etc.

I am glad that I waited until my youngest was able to hang out in the house for 1-3 minutes while I took Porter to the back yard to see if he needed to pee/poop. When he was a puppy, I literally took him outside every 1.5 hrs for a couple months unless he was in his crate and I was sleeping or out of the house. I would not have liked to bundled a little kid up to go outside every time I did OR worry that he was playing with knives and jumping off the dining room table...the way 18 mos olds tend to :-)

My youngest was about 3.5 yrs, has a conservative personality and 5 and 7 yr old siblings to monitor him.

Now, I wake up before everyone, make three warmed up choc milks for my kids, line them up in front of the TV, and then go meet a doggie group at 6:30 am--we jog there and back. My husband and the kids are awake by the time I return at 7:10. Porter plays in the back yard with my neighbor's dog almost everyday for at least an hour. I brush him 2x a week for a total of 30 min. I pet him and talk to him and hang out with him on and off all day since I work from home and am a stay-at-home mom.

The informal off-leash play group and my neighbor's dog are crucial to Porter's well-being and behavior. We did 16 weeks of dog training 1 hr per week with about 15 min of practice a day. He is not perfect but he has not horrible issues either.

[Karen & Lucy]

My feeling on this is, I think I spend just about as much time with and taking care of Lucy as I did my girls when they were small. So, having a little one and a puppy is going to be a challenge. AND, doodles do require alot of grooming time. I don't know if you work or not or what other responibilities that you may have, take all of this into consideration. I don't want to discourage you because everyone deserves to have a great doodle in your's and your families life, BUT they, or any dog is, a big commitment.

[Lisa D]

thank you very much all, that's great!

I think i will continue to lurk and admire your doodles for a while!

Lisa

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

Hi Lisa!! I had the same reservations about a dog as you have. I have 2 daughters that are 7 and 10 and even though they said they would help I knew that wouldn't be anything I could count on :-) We got our Goldendoodle, Hunter, in April when she was 8 weeks old. I must say she has been absolute JOY! Houstraining was a the most time consuming part and just making sure she was taken outside. I took her out and walked her about every 1/2 hour to 45 min until I could figure out what her "pattern" seemed to be. I kept her blocked off in our kitchen (when she wasn't in her crate at night) and she hardley ever had an accident. After she started asking to go out I increased her area to the kitchen and dining room and she did great. Even then I was still taking her out about every hour to two hours just in case. We did get an invisible fence when she turned 6 months old and really it has worked out wonderfully (other than the collar being defective but it wasn't Hunter's fault). So she just kind of goes in and out at her leisure now. She sleeps all night in her crate and is out the rest of the time. I keep her fur trimmed shorter so I don't have to groom her, occasionally I run a brush through her but it really is never needed since its short and doesn't matt or anything. I bath her about once ever 2 weeks or so, when she smells "doggy" LOL She has not been nearly as time consuming as I thought and she is soooo smart and easy going. We did go to one session of obediance and she learned the "basics" - sit, stay, lay and come. Beyond that I really didn't do any other training with her. MUCH EASIER THAN I EVER IMAGINED!! I put her food in her bowl in the morning and the evening (I don't free feed - she would eat nonstop!) and fresh water a few times a day.