Help Please - Looking to Adopt / Re-Home a Young Adult Doodle

[Michael]

Newbie and 2nd time poster here.   Hope this is the appropriate place to post this request.

My adult daughter who helped raise our ALD is moving into her own home soon and would like to adopt a young adult, doodle dog.  She is a CICU nurse and cannot adopt a puppy.  We have made 35+ inquiries to LD/GD breeders and combed the rescue sites/classifieds/CL with no success. We have found that breeders typically only have puppies for sale or they want an outrageous price for an adult or we find dogs with health/emotional problems. Yes, I know there is a cost to everything and she is not looking for a quality dog for nothing.  She has a reasonable budget for the right doodle.  Surely someone has an adult dog that is healthy that needs to be re-homed due to family factors (relocation, children, compatibility with another pet, allergies, etc.) or a doodle breeder with a dog that is leaving the breeding program.

I am confident my daughter will be an excellent dog owner having lived with three dogs her entire life. She works three days per week and has secured a close friend to care for the dog on her work days.  She will be moving to her new home with a fenced yard on September 1 so she cannot adopt until then. She lives in Dallas area and would drive 100-200+ miles for the right doodle. Her “wish list” for a doodle:

• #1 LD or #2 GD
• multi-gen, low shedding
• age 1-5 years old; may consider an older puppy (8+ months) that is potty/crate trained
• male preferred
• medium to small standard (35-55 pounds)
• chocolate/brown, red, apricot, caramel
• wavy fleece coat
• healthy and no major behavioral/emotional vices

Your input is much appreciated. Thank you so much doodle community.

Michael

[Amy and Annabelle]

Sadly a lot of re-homed or rescue dogs are going to come with behavior and health issues. I adopted a 18 month Golden Retriever a long time ago. He had been abused and was afraid of men and was scared to death of storms. It took a lot of love and patience the first 6 months or so. But he learned to trust and love my husband. He loved kids. Never got over is storm fear though. He was a wonderful dog. But if she really wants a specific dog, with no issues, that's not a puppy, it may take a very long time, if you find it at all. It would probably be a stroke of good luck to find one. I know, I looked at rescue sites first for several months. I finally gave up and got a puppy from a breeder. Good luck.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Many reputable rescues will not adopt a dog to a first time dog owner - no matter that they grew up with dogs - they were ultimately not financially, medically or care-wise responsible, you were.  That does not mean she would not be a great dog owner, just that many rescue dogs,  like Amy said, come with 'baggage' which an experienced dog owner would have 'tricks' to deal with. 

For a first dog, she probably needs to lower her  requirements because a mult-gen, low shedding, 1-5 year old, preferably male, small standard, specific colored dog, that is guaranteed healthy - that is NOT going to come along unless the stars align just right. :-}  I have two rescues, both are great dogs, both have baggage. I have a dog I raised from a puppy - he has no baggage, but he has personality flaws.  I suggest that she look for a rescue dog by temperament rather than being a narrow type of dog - eliminate breeds or breed mixes that specifically she is not interested in by looks or basic temperament, but be more open to a variety of dogs.

I suggest that she not even begin her search until she is moved and settled, then look for local rescue groups or private shelters that do some health work and behavior testing.  That being said there is a doodle rescue in Texas in the Dallas area that might be one to contact (she'd have to check out if she meets their adopter requirements):  http://www.doodlerockrescue.org/

BTW - rescues rarely come with a health history, are often from puppy mills, so healthy would be a relative term for right now is healthy. Re-home dogs listed on Craig's List are rarely as advertised - owners are not going to tell you what the dog's flaws are.  I am experienced in rescue and my re-home dog has lots of 'bad habits,' fears, etc. that were NOT shared with me - and I picked him up from the relinquishing owners!

PS I drove one way 250+ miles for my purchased puppy, 10 miles for my shelter rescue and 100 miles for my re-homed rescue.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with Amy & Nancy- your daughter needs to widen her requirements on breed mix, color (black and white are the most common colors of doodles in rescue), maybe size, and be prepared to deal with some issues.

Multi-gen, low shedding, wavy fleece coat, 35-55 lbs, housetrained, under 5 years old, no health or behavioral issues, chocolate brown, red, apricot or caramel....in rescue or being rehomed. Not likely. 
If DRC had a dog like this in the program, we would get 250 applications for him in the first 24 hours after he was listed. Your daughter would not qualify to adopt him, because reputable private rescues do require previous dog ownership with vet records in her own name to show how she has cared for past dogs.
Most reputable doodle breeders have their dogs in guardian homes, so that when they retire, they have a home where they have lived from puppyhood. Breeding dogs from non-reputable breeders have health and behavior issues that even experienced dog owners are often not equipped to deal with. 

Some years back, I wrote this article for the DRC website. It may be worth your daughter's time to read and think about it:
http://doodlerescueinc.ning.com/forum/topics/certified-preowned-doo...

As Amy says, it may take a very long time, if she finds this dog at all, and qualifies to adopt him. :)

[Amy and Annabelle]

Great article...even if the last part, makes me cry.

[Michael]

Thank you Amy, Nancy and Karen for your feedback. Much appreciated!

Even before my post, my daughter had all but ruled out a rescue dog. She does understand it comes with no warranty and she has limited experience working with a dog that has major vices.

And yes, we both understand you don't just log onto your Amazon Prime account and order a young adult dog. That said, we are a bit more optimistic . She found two suitable re-home options that meet 80%+ of her "wish list" but they could not wait 3 months for an adoption.   

We will keep searching. If we come up empty maybe dad will train an ALD puppy for her! :). 

Happy doodling!

Michael

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Good luck in the search. Many times, actively looking yet being patient- the right dog  shows up- many times not quite what you expected, but the just-right-for-you dog. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yes!

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Just a thought.  When my daughter first went out on her own, I trained her first puppy for her while she was at work and she picked her up on the way home.  This worked extremely well.  Now to return the favor she dog sits my two when we travel, either in her house or mine.  Don't give up on the Dad idea.  Even a perfect adult dog will need some help adjusting from Dad when daughter is working!