Prospective Owner looking for advice

[Kristin & Hudson]

My husband and I have decided that it's time for a dog.  Our first thought was to rescue one from a shelter but we're limited to what we can have because of our allergies. We also want to make sure we own a dog that fits our active lifestyle.  We have a friend with a Golden and we absolutely love the dog - but allergy flair ups really prevent us from owning one.  So we're thinking that a goldendoodle would be the best dog for us.  Unfortunately we don't know of anyone who owns one so we've never had the opportunity to meet one.  Of course we understand that there is no true hypo-allergenic animal (except for maybe a hairless cat - but....).  So my question is, do any of you know of a breeder in the New Jersey area that would allow us to visit a doodle or two to see if our allergies stay in check?  I've read that most don't allow this but we don't live on a farm or have kids or have any other animals so I would think we're not going to carry any diseases. 

It may turn out that a doodle isn't for us.  But from all the research we've done, the intuition of the golden and the intelligence of the poodle would make for the perfect fit.

Any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions would be extremely helpful.  Thank you so much for your time.

[Melissa]

There are also Doodle rescue organizations out there as well which I am sure people on here will post about!  :)  Good luck! 

[Kristin & Hudson]

Thanks Melissa!  We are looking into those as well.

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

Hi Kristin

 

There is a large group of Jersey doodles and the doodle rescue is very active in your area, you may want to check in the group to see if someone is close to you and you could connect.  If you consider rescue that is an excellent option too and I would highly recommend you talk to Adrianne through  http://doodlerescuecollectiveinc.org/, she is in Jersey and has 2 doods and would be a great resource, she is on DK too!  Good Luck!!!!!

 

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/jerseydoodles

[Kristin & Hudson]

Thanks Suzann.  I remember looking at that site but will revisit it and will look up Adrianne.  Great suggestion!!

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Here I am!!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Most of the doodles I know are labradoodles but Marianne *OZZY & ZOEY, has a goldendoodle, Ozzy. Marianne lives near you and Ozzy a big, handsome mush of a guy. Maybe you could meet him.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Rescue is not a good option for people who have dog allergies. We absolutely cannot take a chance on palcing a dog in a home where there is any chance that the dog will have to go through another loss because of allergies. Many doodles are rehomed because of allergies in the first place. Even the ones who don't shed can cause severe allergic reactions...like Jane's Murphy, who is an ALD and was rehomed at the age of only 11 weeks because he affected his owner's allergies so badly.

Kristin, the thing is that goldendoodles are mixed breed dogs, and they do not breed "true"; they are all different. Even visitng a breeder would not help, because you might get a puppy who did affect your allergies even if their parents didn't. And puppies go through coat changes; a puppy who didn't shed or affect your allergies while young might start to make you miserable after his coat changes at a year old. We can't recommend breeders here in the forum anyway, it is against the DK rules, but please do some research on this. Mixed breed dogs are not a perfect combination of the two parent breeds; the genes don't divide evenly that way, it isn't like mixing paint. If it were, every child would be a perfect blend of both parents. But in reality, there are lots of kidas who are exactly like their mother and nothing like their father, and vice versa. It's the same with dogs. I'm not sure what you mean by the "intuition" of a golden and the intelligence of a poodle, but there's every likelihood that a goldendoodle could get the poodle's intuition and the golden's intelligence...which wouldn't be a bad combination, but you get my point. Or be just like one or the other.

My suggestion to anyone who is in your situation is that you consider a purebred standard poodle. You have a much better chance of not having your allergies affected by them, and they are wonderful pets.

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

Karen, so maybe not a rescue but just curious would it depend on how severe a person's allergies are?  If they considered a 2nd gen with more poodle, like Rosey, my stepson has allergies but not to Rosey or Bandit.  Kristin is taking the right approach to at least do some education on the breed... don't ya think??

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I definitely think it is smart to ask these questions before getting a dog, and Krisitn is definitely doing her homework. It's also up to us to respond to her sincere quesitions with honest answers.

When you see what these very sensitive dogs go through when they lose a home, adoption has to be a "no matter what" proposition, and to be very honest, there are way more people looking to adopt than there are dogs available. If given a choice between two equally good homes, one where there is a chance of allergies causing a problem and one where there isn't, which would you choose for this dog who is depending on you to make sure he never has to go through this again?

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

Well yes given your scenarios obviously the choice is clear. I just wanted to understand that not all potential adopters were turned away because of allergy issues, and given an allergy case it would be validated before a "trial run".  Doodles are commercialized as hypo allergenic so I think it's good all parties do research...

[Ron Carnes]

Our breeder had a request from a buyer. Their son had allergies and she sent some fur clipping from a pup they were interested in. He was in elementary school and took it to school for a number of day's. I am not sure if that's an accurate way to check.

[F, Calla & Luca]

True, they do. Before my two doodles I had my son's standard poodle here and he was a gem.