In Western NC looking for a reputable breeder OR rescue puppy

[Monica Reid]

  We prefer a puppy or under 1 year old, female.. any recommendations?

[Ginny Nightingale]

Love that--wish my mother said that! I was neglected and the house was spotless!!

[Adina P]

Yeah I know I read things in a similar vein all the time.  My kids won't allow me to neglect them, even when I'd like to ;-) -- so not to worry about my house being too clean.  I say a clean house has kids who are good at playing alone =)  Some kids are like that. Mine rarely are like that.

[Adina P]

Not that doodles are bad with kids, hate kids, or have some kind of predisposition against children.  That's not what Karen's trying to say.  The thing with most doodles is that they are rambuctious, high energy dogs, bouncy, like to jump and may be nippy as puppies and they can knock down a child, or scare them and tear their clothes with puppy nipping.  That kind of thing.  They also LOOK like teddy bears and are liable to be treated as such by kids which most dogs don't like.  So just keep that in mind. 

I have 2 doodles and have had another that past away.  All of them have been fine with kids, as in tolerant.  But my youngest, smaller, super hyper one regularly knocks down my almost-toddler and walks around with her mouth half open and then rams into you so her teeth can really hurt your hands as they dangle.  She's not really 'mouthing' or nipping, but she likes to touch you with her snout and since she moves fast...and her mouth is half open, teeth sometimes clang against your hand. ouch.  She also likes to circle you at high speed carrying a giant stick, bone, or other rough object that could hurt as it brushes against you...or a kid's head.  I usually have to take such things away if she's near the kids.  It's a lot of management of both.

My oldest doodle is 6 and he's super mellow, but his first year of life he treated me like a chew toy.  Left bruises, broke skin, acted like he was going to eat me...scaring me several times.  He's an awesome dog, but it took A LOT of time and patience to train him -- I didn't have kids then.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Perfect. Well put.  I think it is also hard on families to train. They have a lot of expectations but great dogs are taught, not bought.

You once told me, " Everyday is a training day"  I always work on something.  No, I'm not a training nut, but I do have to work with my 3.5 year old dog each day. 

Families find it very hard to find all this time to train a dog.  Without training, the dog, and the poor families face a lot of heartache.

But, as a young Mom, I wanted dogs too.  And I could and did make it work!   WORK was the key in that last sentence. But certainly, life with our family dog was worth it.

I cried a lot in the beginning though. Egh

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Plus, NO dog is born "good with kids". That takes training, plus early socialization, lots of supervision, and good temperaments in the parents. Kids who are good with dogs help, too.