Encounter with Angry Woman who HATES Goldendoodle

[Discussing Labradoodles & Goldendoodles]

I apologize in advance for awful writing but I am enraged with what happened to me yesterday. I thought to share it and to see if other people have encountered any similar situations and what they did to deal with it.  

I am writing this to share a very strange experience with a very hateful woman I've had yesterday at the dog beach-Dunes Park at New Smyrna in FL.  What kind of person walks up to a stranger and starts a rampage about their dog's breed? I have a 5-month-old Goldendoodle puppy named Lucky, a pug, and a pomeranian. The pug and the pomeranian love the beach and so we thought it would be a nice way to introduce our puppy to the beach.

So here is EXACTLY what happened: I was minding my own business and playing in the ocean with my Pug and Pomeranian and trying to get my Goldendoodle to come into the water.  Along came this middle aged woman with a brown Husky. She asks if we had a Goldendoodle because he was really wet so it was hard to tell what he was.  I was having a hard time getting Lucky to come into the water because he was a little bit scared.   She says "Oh your dog probably doesn't have webbed feet and if he doesn't he won't like the water." She then commands me to look at his foot to look and he does have webbed feet.  And YES he has webbed feet!! Then she proceeds to tell me that Goldendoodles are not a breed. What I have is a mutt and with mutts they are very unpredictable. I said that he is an F1b Goldendoodle with 75% Poodle and 25% Golden Retriever and both breeds have webbed feet.  Then she says "people can call them whatever they want but at the end of the day your dog just isn't a breed and what you have is a mutt." I am pretty pissed at this point and wanted to leave but I let her finish because I didn't want to be rude. 

She goes on to tell me how unlike my dog, her dog is a SHOW dog from a well known Husky breeder with predictable traits.  Goldendoodles are not recognized by the AKC and they should NEVER be but that might change with the young generation.  She complains how the young generation is not well mannered (I'm in my late 20s btw). The young entitled generation, aka my generation, doesn't want to work (yes a common complaint against millennials *eye roll*).  We want a dog that doesn't shed and have that retriever sporty dog personality, but in the end, we don't have a breed.  People are trying to get Goldendoodles recognized by the AKC and trying to change traditions. Your generation is lazy and that's why you end up with mutts.

Why go up to a complete stranger and antagonize them when they are trying to have a nice day at the beach?  She finally tells me that she is a vet tech but proceeds on the tirade about mutts.  At that point, I finally got fed up and told her that what she said was offensive. I get no apologies and she becomes indignant. I told her to please leave.  She doesn't leave and sits 10 ft away from us and so I thought we should go.  As I get up to leave she tries to continue to yell at me she says "Opinions are like a******* and everyone has one."  

I've rescued all my dogs with the exception of the Goldendoodle, I felt kind of bad about that but this is plain cruel. I've also fostered of "mutts" from rescues but have NEVER received anything close to this kind of treatment!!  Have any of you dealt with this?  Thankfully I don't like in a small beach town and most of my neighbors love Lucky.  

What kind of psycho has this kind of serious discrimination against Goldendoodles? Why pick on a complete stranger? What should I do to prevent this from happening again?  I still want to go back to that beach because I am not going to let one person ruin a place I like. 

[33bn7f8evnuyd]

LOL that actually happened to me too.  When I first got Lucky we socialized him by bringing him to dog-friendly . restaurants. We sit outside in the patio area and people come by wanting to know what he is but then they tell us their life story.  I don't mind because most people would give wonderful comments and praises Lucky. 

[33bn7f8evnuyd]

Yes!

[debbie stevenson]

that is terrible! and btw, mixes can now get recognized at AKC events and compete. you register your dog with akc canine partners. I just registered Daisy she has an AKC number. I belong to a Dog club here where we go for training and they really encourage it. I agree with Karen. Don't engage in convo with people like that.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I don't really understand the need to be associated with the AKC ... why is it a bad thing that the Doodles aren't recognized by the AKC ... If I wanted a dog that looked just like everyone else's dog then I would get a purebred dog ... however, I like the uniqueness of the doodles (like a box of chocolates you never know what you are going to get).  I hope they are never recognized by the AKC.  Yes, the AKC is now allowing them to compete at some of their events but that doesn't mean they accept them it just means they need money (IMO).

[Adina P]

Mixes are accepted for participation in competitions and events, not recognized as a 'breed' or type beyond "mix." I like that they can participate, but any recognition beyond that I'm not interested in.  So there is no danger of a mixed breed dog being recognized by the AKC like other breeds.  Especially since nobody is really working toward that.  The AKC doesn't just decide to recognize a breed, the breeds "representatives" or some breed group has to work toward certain criteria.  I am pretty sure nobody in the doodle breeding world (of GDs or LDs) is going that direction.

[debbie stevenson]

And yes that is what I meant it's just fun for them to participate in agility and other events. I'm not interested in anything else

[Heidi Nelson]

Frankly, I am happy that they are not considered a breed in AKC.  I see what some of my friends go through picking out their purebred dogs so that they show in conformation correctly and having certain requirements put on them by the breeder and I think "never have to worry about that with my mutt!"  There's also some breeds that have damaging traits being bred into them due to conformation but that's a whole other can of worms!

[33bn7f8evnuyd]

Yep!  It is called the AKC PAL program. AKC people told me that.  I have Lucky taking an official AKC class for Canine Good Citizen.  AKC people are really nice to him so clearly anti-doodle sentiment is not shared by all. 

[Nikki Stump]

So, I haven't replied to anything in forEVER on this site. I still have Simon and he is almost 10 now, and still his gooby self. I have encountered this kind of hate. I usually head them off by identifying him as a standard poodle/golden retriever, called a goldendoodle. Usually people then don't bother.

Another thing that happens is, I clip his face like a schnauzer because I think schnauzer eyebrows are handsome. Because Simon is black, he is ALWAYS mistaken for a giant schnauzer first. I then explain no, he's a goldendoodle, the eyebrows are just the hair cut du jour. That's when I get most of the snide comments. I think those ones are the snooty breedists who are then suffering from a bruised ego because they thought a hybrid was a purebred and were wrong.

I also had one guy who was dead set and convinced be was a Portuguese Water Dog and thought I was deluding myself that he was a goldendoodle. That was a strange one. Even though these are memorable, they don't make up the majority of our encounters, not even a small sliver really. Mostly, everybody loves Simon for the gooby muppet he is.

[Anita Lee]

Sorry this happened to you! I think part of life is getting crap from other people, whether deserved or not. Because people like to judge and unfortunately often share their unwanted opinions without a thought as to politeness, rude behavior happens to people without goldendoodles or other "designer" breeds, too. Hiking with our friends, we've had people very blatently move away from their Rhodesian - while this isn't as annoying as pretending to chat you up just to be judgey, the point is people can be no less prejudiced with dogs than with fellow human beings.

It has nothing to do with you. It has nothing to do with your dog. And it shouldn't take away from the joy you get from being with your dog. If I were you and I encountered this woman again, I would just avoid acknowledging her or engaging again in any way. What more could she have to say anyway?

[Heidi Nelson]

When someone asks, I usually take into account where I am and why they may be asking.  I show my goldendoodle at AKC venues--rally, obedience and agility.  I always make sure that when asked there, I reply that she is an All-American or mix breed.  By doing so, I feel that I am respecting those who have purebreds have as well.  I have received snarky comments at first (in fact just had one yesterday) but I just let them go. There are issues with purebred dogs as well. At the end of the day,  I'm the one who lives with them and will go home with the best dog :)

[Jennifer Todd]

I too have heard this "mutt" buisness before also....I wonder if it is that people with registered animals feel the need to justify spending large sums of money on their "registered" dogs by "breed shaming" others. I got my doodle, he happens to be a Pyredoodle (standard poodle and Great Pyrenees mix), for next to no cost as he needed a home. I know some people do ask outrageous money for unregistered dogs but many people want a mixed breed for many different reasons, ie low shedding, temperment, allergies etc. Noone should be "breed shaming" others for their choice in pets. I know a friend with a pitbull mix and she HATES to tell people what kind of dog he is when they ask because she has been harassed over and over. Another friend has a K9 working dog and she has been given a hard time with that also having been called crazy and irresponsible for owning such a "dangerous" animal. People should just mind their own buisness and keep the negativity to themselves but alas in today's society, "if you have nothing nice to say, dont say anything at all" is no longer. People feel it is their "right" to shame others and be disrespectful for no reason other than that they disagree with another persons choices. So very wrong....