What are the top things we need to educate about?

[Adina P]

Hi DK friends!

DK started an Instagram account just over a week ago and I'm trying to intersperse bits of education between photos. So far we've shared info on:

-- finding a rescue
-- choosing a responsible breeder
-- why doodles are not "hypoallergenic"

Now we can break each of these down into smaller bits of info and CONTINUE to educate on specifics, but wondering what you think are top priority OTHER topics worth doing education on via social media?  Some ideas I have are on poodle facts/history and retriever facts/hx for the sake of education on the parent breeds...but what else?

What should other doodle owners and potential doodle owners know?  What do you want to shout from the mountain tops?

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

Big or small all pets needs to be trained.   Bad behavior shouldn't be tolerated.  People look harshly at larger dogs but tiny terrors are usually worse.  I have some neighbors who allow their dogs & puppies just to roam in our yards.  I never allow my dogs to walk in someone else's yard not mention go potty.  Pets need to learn boundaries. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

People call their spouses "Baby" or "Babe." It is, as Rosalyn mentioned, a term of endearment. I don't think in that context it's meant to be synonymous with "infant", lol. 

As the author I quoted above says, "No one really cares if you call your dog your baby. It's treating them like one that causes issues." :)

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Oh yeah I know.  There are definitely people who treat their dogs as children (and not the well-disciplined, well-mannered kind).  

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

I don't think it's anything wrong with the term of endearment.  I think the term is mostly used to differentiate between a child and a pet. I wouldn't refer to my child any longer as my baby(they are too old for that) nor do I refer to my Khloe (my pet) as my baby. I agree that our pets are our companions or friends . They need to be trained and taught proper behaviors.  Some people focus all of their love and affection to their pets that is why they call them their 'baby".    In my case I never allowed bad behaviors in my children and I tried to teach them correctly.  I also never allowed bad behaviors in our pets.  Puppy or doggie cuteness isn't a free ticket for bad behavior. Also  I feel there are animal traits that we should not try to humanize.   A dog is meant to be dog not a child.

[Stacy]

I consider my dogs my kids. They're the only kids I'm going to have, but I know they're dogs and I do know there is a difference between them and human infants and treat them accordingly. 

My comment on these 4 things is that this still sounds an awful lot to me like how a parent raises a responsible human being. I think there are people out there who think the world should bend to their child instead of teaching their child how to function in the world - and the same goes for dogs. I think the  world would be a better place if everyone tried to follow these directives.

[Rosalyn Ancrum]

I agree Stacy.  People should teach their children also.  Bad behavior can't be excused due to cuteness for children nor pets. I think it's just a term of endearment.  There are many cruel people in the world who abuse and mistreat their pets so if someone treats their pet as a "baby" its better than that.  I had a class a few years ago and during my research , I learned that families do tend to treat pets as members of their family.  This is why pet products are a multi-million dollar business.

[Leslie J]

I agree that many doodles don’t need room to run.  We sold our house in Los Angeles and moved into a condo with no yard for a few years.  Cocoa lived there with no problem whatsoever. We walked her a couple of times a day and she happily slept the remaining 22 hours each day.  Now we live in the country with nearly seven acres and she still prefers to rest most of the day. She just likes to know where her people are!

[Adina P]

Yup, same here.  Unless they are chasing squirrels, my dogs don't just spend the day "running" around the yard.  I mean when they were younger and played together they did.  But any individual dog didn't run laps or anything ;-)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I will say that when JD was young and relatively healthy, I would have found it nearly impossible to exercise him sufficiently if I hadn't had a fenced yard. He didn;t run laps, but he sure wanted and needed to retrieve. Leash walks were also simply not enough to keep him happy and healthy. And he was NOT a hyper dog, just a big retriever mix, lol. 

Once he was reliable off leash, though, we could do our tennis ball retrieving in parks that allowed dogs. So even with those doodles who DO need room to run, you can manage that without a fenced yard, as long as you are willing to put in the time training them.

See....it all comes back to training, lol. 

[Andrea, Belle and Honey]

I totally agree with all you are saying, but I think it is, unfortunately, necessary to clarify that a dog is never finished being "trained." I have never been able to stop doing training exercises with the 2 small terriers, yellow lab, and minidoodle Belle, with whom I have been privileged to share the past 35 years. Continued training of the terriers was essential to prevent the onset of the dreaded "small dog syndrome."  Even the lab, Ellie, who was impeccably trained by service dog professionals to assist my daughter, required consistent reinforcement of her training. After I had to leave her with friends for 6 weeks while my daughter was hospitalized, I could see a definite difference in Ellie's behavior, and had to increase the frequency and intensity of our training exercises for weeks before we could resume our regular training schedule. Moreover, anyone who remembers my posts during my doodle's early years knows that, while Belle was always highly entertaining, she did not start out as the affectionate, mellow, well-behaved doodle she is now. Of course, the many hours we have spent, and, to a somewhat lesser degree, continue to spend, training provides a solid basis for the loving bond we enjoy.  So there is a happy thought about training work!

[Stacy]

I think this is such an important point. Thank you for bringing it up. There are so many things that need to become lifetime habits - eating right, working out, training the dog. We feel like we should "finish" and once we get to the end point everything can go back to the way it was before, and then when the results don't last we're all surprised.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There is no "finished" with dog training, and that's such a difficult concept for many people to grasp. 

I always compare it to household tasks. People think of training a dog like painting a room; once you're done, you're done. Now the room is blue. But it's really more like keep your house clean and tidy; straightening, putting things away, washing & wiping things. Continuous upkeep. :)