How did you decide on a doodle?

[jenn D]

I was wondering how allof you guys decided on getting a doodle. How long have you had doodle(s) and how many do you have?

I've had beagles my whole life and wanted a dog that was more people oriented and was more geared toward training/working with humans. Plus I don't care for lots of shedding. That lead us to a short list which was then narrowed to Labradoodles. We have a 10 month old and will be getting a second in January.

How about you guys?

Jenn

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I was camping and saw a minidoodle and fell in love.  I had two dogs already and I still fell in love and both my dh and I HAD to have one.  I now have two doodles - one is a rescue - as well as  our English Springer Spaniel.  My doodles are now five.

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

We accidently fell in love with doodles.  Meg was just a rescue that happened to be one and we really did not know much about them, just fell I love with her face and drove across the state to get her.  Good thing we already were in love with her, she is a Gold Medal Shedder!  We have learned to live with it and love every doodle thing about her.

[Charlotte and Bo]

When my last dog passed away I knew I could not be without a dog for very long.  My brother and his family have a great golden doodle named Holly so I put doodles on my list.  I was looking for a dog from a shelter or a rescue group so I hit the internet.  I had put in an application for a lab at one rescue but it turns out he had already been adopted.  While searching the rescue groups I came across the DRC site.  I put in an application for a doodle named Stanley.  This time I was successful!  I changed his name to Bo and I have to say he may be the sweetest dog I have ever had.  He does have some issues but slowly but surely they have eased.  So I guess you could say I didn't really decide to get a doodle, but I'm glad I ended up with one.

[Lynda Kamrath]

I got started with doodles when our shepherd died leaving a standard poodle who was devastated to be alone.  I decided to get a Welsh Terrier and bought a puppy who was not even born yet (met the breeder and saw her kennels).  The puppy was born and died at three weeks old, leaving me back at square one.  My BIL said to check out labradoodles because I liked large dogs and labrador retrievers were everyone's favorites.  So I did.  Went on line and found three litters who were ready to go.  I selected the dog I wanted (from photos) and had the breeder send him.  A few days later I picked him up at the airport.  I know that is not the recommended way to go, but it worked for me.  Four years later, I got our second doodle (a golden) to replace the poodle, and three years later, our third doodle (an ALD) as a replacement for the first doodle who died of liver failure.  I think we will always have two dogs because they are such good friends and good company for each other.  Also, the training is best left to the dogs.  It is so easy to train a puppy when he has an older dog to follow down the dog run.  I got my first doodle in 2003, so I have had doodles now for 10 years.

[Amy & Albee]

The first time I saw a doodle was in a picture with Tiger Woods and his family. My husband and I are big golfers (and this was before the whole Tiger Woods fiasco) and I thought the dog was just the cutest!

My husband and I have been together for 5 years, and we're coming up on our first year anniversary. We're both dog people - I had an Irish Setter during my childhood and he had a couple of dogs too. It was just a waiting game for us. Bouncing from city to city, apartment to apartment.. we had to wait for the right time. But after finding DK, I was so sure that our little pup would be a doodle. I loved their intelligence, the possibility of low shedding, and their size. I also had my fair share of run-ins with doodles during my weekly Farmers Market trips and each of the dogs was as sweet as could be.

Our little guy is only 8.5 weeks old and we're enjoying every day of his craziness! Anxiously awaiting our house to be built (November) so our little family can get settled in and Albee can have his own backyard!

[Lisa]

My older daughter collects dog toys for the spca in lieu of people toys for her birthday. While we were checking out the dogs at the shelter after dropping off the toys, I mentioned that we were looking for a hypoallergenic dog. One of the employees said that she thought they had a labradoodle in the back that arrived not long ago, but hadn't made it out on the main floor yet, because they were not finished with his last heart worm screening. We met the dog and hit it off immediately! They put him on hold for us until he completed his medical screening, which ended up being the next day. Harry is my first pet dog. My husband grew up with standard poodles. He came well-trained and is the perfect fit for our active family! He is actually half retriever half standard poodle according to his papers, so I guess that makes him a golden doodle instead of a labradoodle! Prior to his adoption, I started reading the Dog Whisperer's guide. I cannot help but continue to make comparisons to human gentle parenting. I thought it would be very different, but so far, it isn't much different. Yay!