Puppy or retired breeder with kids at home: Looking for experience stories and breeder referrals

[Julie]

Hi Everyone,

Hello from SoCal. I'm new to the group and have spent already hours reading through the wonderful posts and discussions. I love this group!

So, I am a stay-at-home mom with two boys, 15 months and 5.5 years. My older son suffers from anxiety and delayed development of emotional regulation. This is partially due to him having to have open heart surgery when he was just 2.5 months old, plus anxiety just seems to run in our genes. He's all good and healthy now, but we have been working with his teachers and counselor to help give him tools to cope with his anxiety. It has been recommended to us that a family dog that has the temperament of a therapy dog may be a wonderful addition for us and our son. If we get a doodle it would be at the end of 2016 at the earliest, but my boys would still be on the young side for a new dog in our house. 

I have prior ownership experience with medium and large dogs, so I know how crazy puppies can be. I'm not sure if a puppy is the way to go for us (but I still love them so much I may still do it).  I would love to hear experience from people who have adopted a puppy vs. a retired breeder into a house with children - want to hear the good and bad stories. If you want to tell me about your specific breeder please PM me, I'm looking at breeders in Cal, OR and Washington. 

Thanks so much!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Standard Poodle from a top-notch breeder; use the AKC website search for breed clubs in your area to get referrals. 

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

Ah, yes, I guess I'm right on track!  :-)

[Ginny Nightingale]

Or a Moyen poodle--between a standard and a mini--another possibility--great family dogs, no shed and less allergy potential.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The "moyen" is not a recognized Poodle size in this country. There are only three sizes: toys are under 10", miniatures are 10-15", and standards are everything above 15". To say that there is something "between" a miniature and a standard makes no sense under the breed standard for sizes, as it would presume that the minimum height for standards is more than 15", and it is not.  There are no reputable poodle breeders producing "moyens" in this country. 

[M Kol]

Our puppy was 5-6 months old. She was super, super calm, almost too calm.  Our children hug her non-stop and lie down with her, she is good with them. My youngest carries her all over the place and plays dress-up with her.  She is a mini, and about 30 pounds, extremely gentle.  But we also had her pre-trained a intensely for a couple of weeks by a professional trainer 24/7, followed-up with training twice daily ourselves and visit one-on-one training with the trainer. We also took two additional classroom setting courses with our dog over several months, one course before and one after the 24/7 training.  I would not have been able to quite predict her temperament without visiting her in-person and having her interact with the children. Also seeing the temperament of her parents one-on-one with the children and having them interact with the children was helpful.  However, our children were not as young as yours. 

[Jessica, Loki and Moose]

Hi there! I have two doodles, 1yr 9months and 9months and can attest to their personalities being widely varied. My older dog has been calm and mellow since birth and even as a puppy was chill were as my 9month old has been a spaz since day one and doesn't show any signs of leaving the puppy madness yet. That being said, there are benefits to both. Loki, my older dog passed his therapy dog exam just shy of a 1 1/2 years and passed with flying colors but not with out a ton of work. We have had to work with a Trainer and I have had to put in hours upon hours a week working with him. He is a very shy and calm dog naturally but a lot of that is anxiety driven so there was lots of work to be done to ensure he became a great calm dog and not a anxious and fearful dog. Thankfully he is great and he still has fear issues, but most of them are solved by little things we've picked up on the way. Moose on the other hand is such a spaz but Mr. Social at heart and I think once he gets over the puppy energy he too will make a great therapy dog but it will take a bit longer to get there, unless the puppy madness decided to leave in the near future lol!

As far as allergies go, I can tell you Loki is what I would consider a "non shedding" dog, he will only lose a small bit of hair into a brush and I do have friends and family who still have allergy issues with him. Some of them who have mild allergies maybe aren't as bothered but they also don't live with him, so I don't know if it would be worse if they were constantly around him. Moose is shedding like a beast right now and starting to lose his puppy coat so I'm not sure what coat type he will end up with but his fur has always been a slight bit straighter than Loki's so I would assume he will be a shedder his whole life.

I hope this helps! I really don't mean to be a Debbie-downer but I would feel bad if I didn't mention my experiences. Good luck with your choice! :)

[Julie]

Thank you for this!

[Wynnie & Jim]

Julie, Friend me as I have suggestions. Wynnie and Jim.

[ann marie smith]

Julie, I sent you a friend request