Standard, Medium or Mini?

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

I had placed this as a blog post but at the suggestion of Ann and support of Adina I am pasting it into a discussion, here it is:

Recently a group of breeders have had an ongoing discussion of what size the emphasis of our programs are. It has been a great conversation and we have enjoyed a glimpse at why we all choose to develop specific directions.

We would love to hear from doodle owners ~ what kind of doodle owner are you? Did you begin your search with a knowledge of what size dood you wanted and narrow the possibilities from there? Or maybe you had one ideal in mind but went another way? Maybe color, sex, generation or availability infuenced it greater than size?
We all make choices with specific criteria after health and temperament, which we will just assume is at the top of all of our lists ~ was size one of your highest priorities, or was it further down?

We are looking forward to this being equally enlightening as our previous discussion and thank you for letting your voice be heard = )

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

At 10 months, Ned weighs 27 pounds and might be 17" at the withers ( if we can figure out exactly where those are) measured by a tape measure (not cloth). By definition that makes him a medium. Once I have someone help me measure him better, I may have to change my web page!
As to what we were looking for - aside from health of course:
Requirement #1: Size We needed a smaller dog for our lifestyle. 35 pounds or less.
Requirement #2: Non-shedding In our ignorance we thought all doodles were non-shedding.
Requirement #3: Doodle Look We didn't really understand the difference between F1, F1b, F2 and ALD. We loved the look as we perceived it.
Requirement #4: Color I really wanted a dark red because that was part of what I fell in love with when I saw my first doodle. I have wanted to name a dog Ruby for over 10 years. I guess that will keep for my next doodle.
Future Requirement: An easier care coat.

[Cynthia, Elvis & Pink]

I began with the breed (Goldendoodle) - I'd met one and fallen in love. I wanted a standard because I like the look. In doing my research, I looked at a LOT of breeder sites. Things that were important (besides size) were look of past litters, FI, health guarantees,exposure to kids and cats, and location. I also wanted a non-black one as I have 3 black cats and was looking for a change :-) - although now, I want a black or brown one, if we ever get a second dood.

Elvis is at least 27" tall (he's hard to measure accurately but he's the tallest one we've ever met) but only weighs 66 lbs at 1.5 years old.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Why is it that the dogs are always bigger than predicted?

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

Well not always ~ I have a couple from my last 'standard' litter that have matured to 'medium' in size, yet siblings who are significantly larger and every bit standard. No one can ever predict with complete accuracy when it comes to genetics right? Ever see a child who towers over both parents? Start trying to figure those recessives and sometimes you get a surprise ya know? This does seem to happen most in first gens but we have also experienced it in multigens. Our first came from 50 lb parents and none in the litter exceeded 50-60lbs, except our Malachi who is a whopping 85 lbs and 29" tall at the shoulder! The closest to accurate prediction that I have seen is the old double the weight at 16 weeks and add 5-10lbs for mature weight. In most instances I have observed this has been pretty right on.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

The doubling wth weight thing would make Ned a 45 pounder and I am pretty sure that isn't going to happen. Not that it actually matters, A general weight is helpful when you are picking your dog, but ...... Our 60 pound lab mix was predicted to be 30-35 pounds because the mother was an Australian Shepherd and the dad unknown (we figured it out with the groomer and vet).

[Leslie and Halas]

I started researching doodles about 2 or 3 years before I got one. I've always liked big dogs, so I figured I'd get a standard. At the time of my initial research, I wasn't really seeing much about minis anyway. The problem was, I live in a condo. I have plenty of indoor space for a large dog, but the condo association prefers that our dogs be under 35 lbs. I continued my research, thinking I'd have to move before I could get a doodle. I found a breeder in my area, so I started e-mailing her. She was going to start to breed minis. At first, I didn't think I wanted a mini, but I finally decided that a move was several years away, and I couldn't wait that long for a doodle. I knew that minis can still sometimes end up as large as one of the parents, but then the perfect combo came along. The breeder used a small miniature poodle stud (about 9 lbs), and the golden retriever mommy was on the small side for a golden (about 45 lbs I think). My chances of having my doodle stay under 35 lbs looked pretty good. (If he had grown larger, I would have just moved). I started more research and asked a lot of questions. The only way I thought I would be happy with a mini was if it had the temperament of a large dog, and if it had the same proportions as the standards, just on a smaller scale. The mini poodle daddy is a really mellow guy, and a lot of the other minis I could find photos of looked proportionately similar to the standards. I also always assumed I'd get a cream colored doodle. But, based on the parents (apricot poodle, very red golden retriever), my puppy was going to be more on the red side. I ended up first on the list for the litter, so I got to pick from 6 beautiful puppies. And it's all worked out perfectly. I thought I'd get a cream colored standard, and ended up with a red mini. I couldn't be happier. Halas is exactly what I was hoping a mini would be. He's pretty tall, but he has a very thin build. He's not yippy, and his personality is just what I was hoping for. His coat is beautiful, and it's fluffiness makes him seem larger than he really is, which makes him feel like a bigger dog. He weighs in at 24 lbs now (17 months old), but most people think he's much heavier than that. I guess size was a priority for me, but only because of my condo association. But it's worked out great. I always say that Halas is big enough to really hug, but small enough to carry. Sorry for the long post. I didn't realize how long my story was!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Halas is perfect, in every way. :-)

[Leslie and Halas]

Awwww, thanks. Perfect puppy is outside laying on the snow/ice right now. It's 4 degrees out, and he asked to go outside just to lay down. Yet when I take him out later to go potty, he'll keep lifting up his feet like it's too cold to stand outside and go potty. Silly doodle.

[Lori]

Size was important to me. I write like I'm some long-term Doodle owner, we've had him for 11 days and he's only 9 1/2 wks old! On the other hand, my internal wranglings with respect to size are pretty fresh in my memory! Our guy, Leo, is an F1B Goldendoodle. His mother is an F1 Goldendoodle and his father is a miniature poodle (17 inches and 25 lbs). We went into this with the mindset that I wanted Standard (big!) Goldendoodle. We had 4th pick in the litter. There was a large puppy that based upon photos, I really wanted. We met the pups the day before we were to make our selection. Once we met the big guy, I started having second thoughts as he was kind of on the wild side. We have two small dogs already (a Shih Tzu and a Pekingnese) and I din't want the big dog running them ragged. We'd already selected his name, and we didn't have what we thought was a great girl-dog name. As luck would have it, our second choice was a female. Later that evening, I remembered a bit of advice given to me by my uncle, who shows his Weimeraner. He said to avoid any puppy that seemed to hold back and not join in the romp, which was exactly what the female we were considering had done. I suggested to my daughter that we consider another male - who is now our Leo. He was the second largest pup in the litter and definitely not shy, but also not quite the trouble-maker that the big dog appeared to be. We decided to stick to our initial decision and go for the big dog. We arrived at our scheduled appointment only to see the dog we'd planned on getting walking out the door with the family ahead of us! So we got Leo, and he has proven to be an excellent choice. This is a long winded way of saying that size does matter, but so does temperament and availability. Leo is the quintessential puppy - happy, totally awkward in his body and sliding all over the hardwood floors, and has been such a wonderful addition to our household!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Size is negotiable but coat type?????

[Liane Thakur]

As we got ours from a rescue, we decided ahead of time not to worry too much about size or shape. I had already had a large lab in the past, so wasn't surprised when I ended up with an 80lb beast. Not sure how tall he is but he's LONG...and tall...but hardly an ounce of fat on him. I love having such a big lug of a dog!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

We wanted a medium ALD that was either cream or apricot. We had always had large dogs (Golden, Lab, Dalmatian, and Irish Setter). While we loved them all, and they gave us great joy over the many years they lived, they never were interested in "lapsitting". This time I knew I wanted a puppy that was small enough to fit on my lap, but still a "real dog". We're thinking our Guinness will be a very small medium. At six months he's 14" and 14 pounds. So, he's a little smaller than we thought he would be, but still perfect. The non-shedding factor was also important to us, and he has not disappointed in that area. I have not found a single dog hair (and can even wear black). Lastly, we wanted a smart, even tempered dog. He certainly is that....really mellow but always fun and happy. Content to be with just us or also happy in the chaos when all the grandkids are here. Bottom line, we have our perfect dog! And the bonus is that he's apricot cream.