Temperaments of standards over the miniature

[fergie11]

Ok, I've been told that the temperament of a standard poodle is much calmer and the smaller they get (for sake of a better word) the more "wild" they are. Consequently that being true in the doodle too. Am I wrong about this? I wanted a smaller dog but not a "wild" one so I did fnd a breeder whose standards are on the very small side (for a standard anyway). Yes, I'm very happy - but I think I'm lucky to have Fergie from what I see about the size of many of the standard doodle (She's only 45 lbs.). I think other people would like to hear a discussion about this. Especially people in the wannabe a doodle owner group who are looking for a puppy. Thanks.

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

Boomer is a large standard GD - 70 lbs. - he is very mellow.

Mariner is Boomer's biological younger brother he is 50 lbs and is not as mellow as Boomer, but Mariner has medical problems (fractured skull at 7 weeks, visual problems and on Phenobarb to control seizure activity). Even with all this he is pretty mellow.

Shayna is 45 lbs. her father was a 16 lb poodle and her mother was a 40 lb F1 GD. She is musch more active than the others but I would still classify her as mellow.

I think lot of the temperment depends upon how they are bred and how they are raised. You can have mellow small dogs or hyper large dogs.

[2widfg8okrqg5]

Just curious, what happened to Mariner, I've seen alot about his progress... He's adorable and I'm so glad that things are looking up for him!!

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

When Mariner was 7 weeks old (still with the breeder Bill & Betty), he was playing with his father, Duncan, in the yard. Although no one saw the accident it is believed that Mariner and Duncan ran into each other head first. Mariner fractured his skull. This injury caused Mariner to lose his sight along with losing the ability to do many things. The breeders gave him excellent vet care and after about a week of doggy ICU they were able to bring him home. He had to re-learn how to eat, pee, etc. . And he had lost his sight. He was also put on Phenobarb for seizures.

We adopted him when it became obvious to Bill & Betty that they could not keep him and care for him for the long term. Mariner is a biological brother to Boomer, so we were following his story on Annsdoodlechat.com . We have had Mariner about a year now. One of the toughest things to teach him was to go up and down steps. Because he did not see them he had to completely trust us to tell him that the steps were there. We would say "step-up" and "step-down." He has gradually regained significant sight and we have eliminated the seizures with the proper dose of Phenobarb.

He still has visual difficulties but you would not know this if you were with him. He has done a great job of compensating. There are some behaviours that we see that he has used to compensate for his visual difficulties. When he is outside and is coming in he will go to specific places on the front lawn and then walk in from there, he will not come in using a direct path. His biggest difficulty is getting on and off the couch or bed. We beleive that this may be due to a problem with depth perception. He sometimes has a "mis-step" when coming up the 2 steps to our front porch.

At this time the only things that we do differently for him are, his medicine and helping him on and off the couch and bed. He is trained on our electric fence ( as are our other 2). He was very easy to train and his collar is set to make sound only, we do not use the shock part of it for him.

[2widfg8okrqg5]

What a neat story - Mariner is very lucky to have you! Thank you for sharing... GO MARINER!!!!!

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

"wannabe doodle group?" What's this?

Doodles or poodles can have a different temperment even within litters. I have a large doodle who is hyper and I have had mini poodles who were mellow. I have had several std poodles who had diffferent temperments and I have known people with littermates with opposite personalities. Just like with people, you can't judge a book by it's cover or size.

[Oliver]

http://doodlekisses.com/group/wannabedoodleowners

it's a group for people who are still thinking about getting a doodle.

[fergie11]

Sorry lynn - i corrected the words in that last sentence. That was a little confusing. Its wannabe a doodle owner group. Good thing I'm not really in that. What I am in is the wannabe a second doodle owner so I can be in that group too

[Oliver]

I could be completely wrong (and I tend to agree with the above two posters as well), but I think in general, mini-poodles tend to be more hyper than standard poodles.

[2hl9mp3c2fuam]

I think for the most part larger dogs are less hyper...however there are much larger dogs than doodles...what I mean is for example an English Mastiff can get up to 200 lbs...I doubt you will find a hyper one that is 200 lbs. Doodles can be large, but I think for the most part they are under 100lbs...so you probably can't "guarantee" that if you get a large doodle it won't be hyper. I have what considered a LARGE, but she is probably not going to get any bigger than 50lbs...I think she is actually around 45lbs. My puppy that is just about 17 weeks is probably less hyper than she is. So I guess what I am trying to say is that you just don't know. Breeders however seem to know the temperament of their litters ...etc.... so you probably better off looking into that instead of just size....

[Jackie]

I've never had a standard doodle. I have a mini but I had a golden retriever years ago. My golden was much more hyper than my mini doodle. I think it's in the breeding and raising of the pup that helps determine the temperment of a dog.

[Val MacQueen]

I also don't have a standard Doodle but I do have a mini doodle, a Cavoodle, he weighs around 30lbs and stands about 15 " and has the most beautiful nature does what he told most of the time but does have a little rebelious streak especially at clipping and bath time. He gets on with other Dogs but prefers people, we were taking him to visit a Nursing home were my Mother in Law lived til she passed away this year, and he did the rounds of all the people there. He is usually not a barker most of the time and is deffinitely not Hyper we did not hear him actually bark til he was nearly a year old, he will make a fuss if he sees a cat or other dog in his front yard. I don't think I could handle a large dog now as I have some difficulty after surgery and a spinal injury has caused some weakness so the small dog suits me fine.

[2hqvciajyb51y]

I can't imagine a dog any mellower or with a better temperament than my TWO small medium (25-30 lb) ALD's. So I would have to guess that it has more to do with bloodlines and the quality of the breeding program, than size, particularly when it comes to doodles.
They are playful, affectionate and extremely intelligent, but if they were any mellower they'd be throw rugs. :)