Mini or Standard?

[Stephanie Sullivan]

So I have been doing a TON of research to decide what kind of dog to get for our family. After much research I have decided on a goldendoodle. However, I cannot decide on whether to get a standard or a mini. My issue is this: The mini's are so much more money! We live in a house with a fenced in yard, but it is not huge. It would be nice to get a standard for less money, but I can' figure out if paying the extra for the mini would be worth it? I know size is not able to be determined with certainty and I don't want to spend a lot more money and still get a dog the size of a standard. Our family is fairly active and we walk a lot so exercise is not an issue. But like I said, our house is not huge. Any one have any thoughts, advice or experience in this?

Thanks,

Stephanie

[Diane Haid]

 

I wanted a doodle, but didn't have a lot of money to spend to get the perfect breeder puppy.  I found Harry  on CL and after talking with the owners daughter, I knew he would be good for us.  We bought him sight unseen.  He was 6mos and had never been outside.  Harry is a med goldendoodle and he is the best friend for my hubby and me.  I always had the toy poodles, the last passed away last summer, and I wasn't  going to get another dog until I found out about the doodles and I just knew they were for us.  No matter what you decide, med or standard, you will love him or her.  Go luck....

 

 

[Donna Bay & Buzz]

My bay is a medium size standard. She is now 55 lbs and i think a perfect size. She doesnt take up much room...just 1 couch cushion :). I think the females are typically a bit smaller but may not always be true.

[Stephanie Sullivan]

We ended up choosing a standard. We found a wonderful breeder who only breeds standards. We decided to just go for it. Deep down, we wanted a big dog. We figured, we will probably have this dog longer than we live in this house. So decision is made and we will be getting our puppy to be around March! Yay!

[Karen Cox]

Our first doodle was a standard goldendoodle, the breeder told us that she would be around 45 lbs.  She passed 45 lbs at around 4 mos!  She is 4 yrs old now and she's around 70 lbs and....she still has tons of energy.  We love her dearly and wouldn't change a thing, but she's really much bigger than we imagined.  We are now searching for another doodle and we have decided to get a mini that is expected to be between 25-30 lbs.  I think that, with the doodle energy, a mini will be easier for us to handle in a smaller package!  I recommend a mini/medium doodle.  :-)

[Nancye50]

I followed a mini breeder on facebook & watched her blog for months before we found Baxter.  I thought a mini sounded so small (hers run 25-35lbs) but now that Baxter is 30 lbs at 4 months, I realize...not small.  A mini would have been a better fit size-wise for us but I'm secretly excited to see how big he gets.  The breeder I was following was $1500 per puppy, are the ones you're looking at a lot more?

[Stephanie Sullivan]

We decided to go with the standard. We realized we wanted a big dog. We found the breeder we wanted and now we are waiting! We requested a female because they tend to be smaller. We shall see. Our friends have the same layout as our house with a chocolate lab and it has worked out fine for them.

[Briggs]

congrats! we got a standard too just a month and half ago and are super happy (so far! :)) like you, we did a lot of research. our briggs is on the small side, from what i have seen here (15lbs at 3 months), so thinking he might only be 55-60lbs, but we are okay with that. of course we will see cause he is growing every day! i bet you are counting down the days, so fun!

[Stephanie Sullivan]

That is so exciting! I cannot wait until we get ours. It will be a while though. The puppies are not even conceived yet! She is planning on breeding them next month. So my hope is they get preggers right away!! If they do, puppies should be ready to go home in March sometime. I really hope it works out that way because I might go crazy waiting much longer!! We love our breeder though. So it will be worth the wait!