My Non Perfect Doodles

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Appealing, adorable, non shedding, easy to train, great with kids and other dogs etc etc etc.  I love perusing the various doodle websites and am a sucker for cute videos of sweet doodle babies.  This feeds the same need in me that has me oooing and aaahing over adorable baby pictures.  But I often leave these sites with a heavy heart. How realistic are these claims?  How much is sales hype? How much is this selling a dream?  For non shedding read copious and frequent grooming and if you can't/won't do it yourself then insert very expensive frequent trips to groomer.  You get the picture.  A quick glance through some of the groups here will do any prospective buyer the world of good.  Good Breeders/Bad Breeders?  Giardia, parasites, genetic illnesses, injuries, vet insurance the list goes on and on.....

So for those of you who love puppies here is a little snippet of my day.  I got up at 6 am to bring Boris out for morning pee and poop. It's freezing cold here by the way and he spends 15 minutes finding the perfect spot while I shiver.   Back to bed we go and Riley and Boris are now on the bed and I can't find any place to put my feet. At 8am we all get up and it's breakfast time.  Boris goes out to poop and comes back in with poop trailing all over his behind.  I am in a terrible rush but spend half an hour cleaning poop off him so I miss breakfast.  This involves using my fingers to remove poop as the shampoo is doing little to shift it.  During the day my partner comes home to feed and let the boys out.  I collect them at 3pm and drive them 40 minutes to day care so they can run off some of that energy while I do some work.  At some point during the day I collect the worm meds and order dog food  ($140 gone like a flash out of my account.)  I get home and we spend ten minutes doing some much needed training as Boris is learning bad habits from his brother and is jumping up.  I am going away for three days on business on Wednesday and this has necessitated lots of planning so the boys remain well cared for and get plenty of exercise in my absence.

My boys are easy, they get on with everybody and are total love bugs BUT they are hard hard work.  Our lives revolve around their needs.  Every thing we do or plan takes them into account.  For websites to be realistic they need to ask hard questions.  It's one thing buying the 'perfect' puppy.  It's quite another achieving that expectation.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Aw, thanks, Doris, I love you too and I will always be there for you!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Ditto!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Mmwah to you too, kid.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's the perfect example, a new dog in the DRC program. How did this 16 month old non-shedding goldendoodle lose his home and end up in rescue? Isn't this the perfect, great-with-kids family teddy bear dog that everyone wants?

Why would his family give him up? This is why:

Cooper is a beautiful, sweet, friendly, loving and affectionate puppy who really just needs the right home and family. Originally purchased from a breeder at eight weeks of age, Cooper has been living in a busy, often chaotic household with multiple young children who have unfortunately had carte blanche to interact with Cooper any way they choose. A sensitive boy who so wants to please, Cooper's mishandling by the kids combined with the constant coming and going of neighborhood children, family friends and strangers has left poor Cooper feeling confused and stressed. Because he has been given the wrong signals from his family, Cooper has become reactive towards young children and uneasy and anxious whenever they are in his space.

Sadly, Cooper's situation is not new to us here at DRC. So many doodles end up in rescue or in shelters because of issues with young children that are a direct result of "mishandling" by humans. Fortunately, Cooper's heartbroken family have come to the realization that their household dynamic is just too much for poor Cooper and they have asked DRC for assistance with finding him a new "furever" home and family.

Cooper's family explains: "Cooper is really the ideal dog. He is sweet, friendly, sensitive, loving, attentive and wants to please. He listens well. He is energetic but not hyper and he is very well trained. Unfortunately, he has a low tolerance threshold when it comes to the noisy, boisterous antics of young children. He is wonderful with all adults and teenagers and has never exhibited ANY aggression with adults. But he has growled and nipped at our kids and neighborhood kids on a few occasions and usually it's when the kids are running around the house playing and screaming with their friends.  Regrettably, we allowed ourselves to be talked into sending Cooper away to North Carolina for a 6 week training program by a not so great trainer. We know now that was not the right thing to do for Cooper. He did come back to us completely trained, but as soon as the kid activity and noise levels increase he becomes anxious.

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/24782054

Now, I would really love, and I mean I'm drooling for it, for some breeder to come in here and tell us again how these are perfect family dogs who are great with kids, and how all kids should have one.

[Doris, Knox & Flash]

Cooper --here's to you finding a "perfect" furever now!! You're a beautiful boy and deserve to be loved! Can't your family just rehome a few of their children and then send the few that are left off for 6 weeks to be trained on how to treat you?? Sound exactly like the story I heard when I received Shiner in early August. Don't worry, that perfect family made up of imperfect people will find a place for you in their hearts and will never let you go!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL, Doris, I love the idea of sending the kids off to be trained!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And can you believe this? Another new doodle in the DRC program:

MEET YOGI! A handsome 3 year old miniature Goldendoodle boy ready for a new home and loving family of his very own. He is 35-40 lbs. and he has a soft, mixed wool/ fleece light to non-shedding coat that will require grooming every 6-8 weeks. Yogi is a medium sized doodle.

Yogi was surrendered to DRC by a breeder. Originally purchased as an 8 week old puppy by first time dog owners, he was returned to his breeder because he was having issues with the family's multiple young children. Not having had any dog experience, the family, specifically the kids, had been interacting with Yogi in an inappropriate manner since he was a pup and consequently, Yogi became reactive and developed certain coping behaviors with kids that are inappropriate. Although he may be a smaller doodle, Yogi's personality is anything BUT small. He is comical, snuggly and just as sweet as can be. But he does have a "terrier-like", pushy, bossy "little dog" personality and by all rights, should NEVER have been placed into an inexperienced, first time dog home with young children. Unfortunately, Yogi was placed with just such a family. And he not only received mixed signals from his owners as to who exactly was in charge, he was subjected to the constant noise, activity and basic chaos of a 4 child household. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out exactly how and why a pup like Yogi developed certain inappropriate behaviors with children.

[F, Calla & Luca]

What a cutie.

[Colleen, Jake & Baxter]

This dog was "set-up" to fail from the get go and my heart is just broken for him. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And every time somebody puts "the perfect family dog" stuff out there, whether it's a breeder's website or just a gushing owner, they are setting up another doodle to fail.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

This looks so much like my Stuart that it breaks my heart.  Dogs and young children are not a good mix unless you are an educated dog owner AND educated parent.

[Donna K & Quincy]

Is there a law against false advertising? This would be a perfect example of why there should be. I can understand the nipping at young children, I've met quite a few that I'd like to take a nip out of too.