How did you choose your dog? Or was it the dog who chose you? Are you happy with your choice?

[Camus]

I wonder how you guys chose your doodle? Did you have a chance to see and choose from several puppies or dogs observing them when playing and interacting with them? What were the signs that indicated you that that one was yours? Or did you just choose one by picture and couldn't see any personality in him yet? Did the breeder guide you? Are you happy with your choice? 

What is your opinion about PAT or Volhard test and other similar tests?

Choosing a puppy is as difficult as choosing a wife, isn't it? Or do I complicate things too much?

[Bonnie and Kona]

I love, love, love this story! Thank you so much for sharing it here.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

oh I love stories like these!

 

I grew up with cats, and already had 2, DH grew up with dogs and we had discussed getting a dog at some point. Well, the time came when we were both at home alot, and decided now would be a good time to get a puppy. I remembered my Mum telling me years ago about labradoodles, I can still vision the picture she showed me of an apricot teddy bear!

 

So I started researching doodles and decided I wanted an Australian Labradoodle, because I wanted the predictability that comes with them. I then started looking for puppies that were reasonably close. I saw an ad in the paper - called, and the woman didnt know anything - i asked what generation it was (turned out to be an F1 but she didnt even know what that), she didnt know what type of coat it would have (hair, wool, fleece - she didnt know the difference), so i started looking into what made a good breeder. I found a great breeder (who is here on DK). She lived about 8 hours drive away and had puppies, with a few spaces still available. We were without a car at the time, so we couldnt drive up there. So she chose for us. DH wanted a girl, and neither of us wanted a white/cream dog (dirt) so that just left the chocolates (which DH really wanted, though I wanted an apricot). I think one couple were driving there to choose, the breeder was going to match the personalities of the others to match what the owners wanted.  We got updates on photos of all the puppies every week or so, every time I pointed out the expression in one of the puppies eyes - so soulful, but each time I though a different one (which changed every time) was the cutest. We found out a week before, that we got the one with the soulful eyes!

 

We got the perfect puppy.  I did a test on her for curiosity (cant remember what it was called). Cooper will go out hiking all day and be full of energy, or she will be happy to laze around at home.  Shes bouncy and crazy outside, but totally calm inside. She loves all people and all dogs and cats, she isnt interested in chasing animals, but will play fetch for hours. Super intelligent, she learns ticks sooooo fast (though cannot hold a stay for more that 50 seconds without a reminder!). Sometimes too intelligent, she can open most treat dispensing toys, eats all the treats at once, then finds some mischief She rarely barks and is just perfect for us in all ways!

 

We hope to get a second dog in a few years, and we will use the same breeder. Only this time we will go there with Cooper, but will still ask the breeder for her recommendations! 

[Camus]

Sounds like a perfect dog! I like her color, the one your husband wanted.

[Adina P]

I didn't mention how we chose Boca so I thought I'd add the story =)

 

Last year we lost two dogs within the first half of the year.  Our Thule (labradoodle) busted through a broken slat in our fence and was hit by a car early in the year.  Then in late spring/early summer, our border collie, Cass' bone cancer just got to the point of no return and we had to put her down.  So for a while we were down to one dog.  While I thought Rosco was fine as an only dog, I got antsy and started getting puppy fever and Clark though Rosco needed a friend to keep him young keep him from becoming lazy.  Plus we knew were probably always going to be a 2 dog family + we knew we'd be adding another child soon + we didn't want to wait until Rosco was elderly = we had to really consider adding that second doodle SOON.  My main concern at the time was that my daughter was only 7-8 months old and I was SUPER nervous about the idea of all the work a puppy required.  The nipping.  The house-training.  The chewing...OH MY!  How could I manage when I already felt overwhelmed at times with being a new mommy?

 

I visited a breeder around this time, MOSTLY for fun because I didn't want a puppy from that particular litter.  I was kind of hoping for a black or chocolate and she only had apricots/reds.  They were 5 weeks old at that time.  Luckily despite puppy cuteness, I'm pretty strong and resolute and not THAT emotionally driven when making a big decision like getting a puppy.  I had to be logically convinced it would be okay and cuteness on its own wouldn't do that.   But it got me thinking and talking to my hubby and grappling with the overall decision.  I posted here on DK for help in the decision and got tons of feedback...INCLUDING a response from someone in doodle rescue reminding me of the cute, BLACK, 12 week old pup they had in Texas that they had available (I'm in WA state).  I was a bit hesitant at first, but looks-wise she was EXACTLY what I wanted.  So I communicated with DRC about her, then talked on the phone with her foster mom.  From everything I was told she sounded excellent!  I was most concerned about temperament at that point because with a soon-to-be crawling baby in the house I did NOT want any major issues.  But everything checked out great and the timing was right, her age was right for quick house training and things just fell into place! I always prefer more mellow pups, but Clark wanted one with more energy than Rosco because he felt Rosco needed that.  Boca definitely has more energy than he does!

 

With some volunteer drivers and a short plane ride, Boca joined our family last year on July 19 when she was about 16 weeks old.  And she really was an IDEAL puppy!  NO nipping, NO toy stealing (okay...a tiny bit of that, but nothing major), NO accidents (except once when I ignored her bell ringing).  Since then she's gotten a bit more ornery at times, but still a good dog and has taken to training quite well.  So no PAT or Volhard test, but she was at an age when one could assess her based on her foster mom's description and she passed all my questions.

[Camus]

Camus got distracted only once when I was testing him, he left me and went to my husband and licked his hands. :) I can say that although we think we chose him, in reality it's he who chose us.

[Jess and Pippin]

As Sam's health deteriorated, my DH and I knew that we would like to bring another dog into our home.  I was always interested in doodles, but thought they were too big for us (we live in a townhouse).  I was surfing the web, and came across a breeder who breeds minis and mediums.  She had 3 puppies from a recent litter that were not spoken for.  The kids and I fell for Pippin's picture and her description of his personality and temperament.  I had several conversations with her on the phone and via email and determined that he was "the one".  We didn't meet him until the day we picked him up. He was almost 12 weeks old.  He came right up to us and the rest is history.  We had a 5 hour trip via car and ferry.  He whimpered a couple of times and travelled like a pro.  When we got home, he came right in, inspected everything and made himself right at home.  He is a joyful, funny character, who loves to cuddle and has not yet met a person or dog that he doesn't get along with.

 

[Camus]

I guess he is very funny. He must be with such a funny name. It makes me smile.

[Dori & Rua]

I was looking for a small Labradoodle.  Saw an add in the paper from a breeder 2-3/4 hours away for Goldendoodles.  Went to their website, liked the look of the puppies and contacted him.  He told me he recently had a litter of Miniature Goldendoodles and sent me a picture of a previous litter (same father but different mother) and said he would work on getting pictures posted.  The puppies were adorable...I was hooked.  Then, he posted the puppies...OMD, there were all so cute and somewhat red.  I wanted a curly girl, because like someone else said, I didn't want to run into anything wet while giving tummy rubs and I wanted middle of the road.  Too make a long story short since I have to go to work, the dog I originally picked from looks (red and curly) was taken.  So, I was thinking of waiting for the next litter, since the remaining 2 girls weren't curly.  I thought, what the heck, they are only 2-3/4 hours ago so we went to visit.  He brought out the three girls...curly red was a handful, the dark red was curious after overcoming shyness, the blondie was shy.  Dark red was it!  I just loved her and she is now 11 months old and the love and light of my life.

[Camus]

Thanks for sharing your story. She is beautiful. I like "Rua's stats" and the list of events. She is a great traveler.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Well, Chloe found me! As for Myla I found her on Petfinder and HAD to get her-I cried (literally) until DH said to put a deposit on her (last of the litter ended up being a runt with and underbite but I love my crazy baby) To tell you the truth if I had to choose I don't know that I could.

[Richard Crowe]

Holly is the first dog that I did not choose.  Her breeder, Heather Goines, of Cheyenne Valley Labradoodles and Goldendoodles, chose Holly for us.  At first I was quite apprehensive over not having input in choosing a dog from the litter but, we trusted Heather and our trust was well rewarded!

 

We could not be happier with Holly.  She is a darling girl and all that we could ever had expected in a dog!

 

 

[Heather & Jake]

Our journey to Jake was a long one.  It started off when I moved to Connecticut and couldn’t find a job so started working at a pet store in the puppy department.  Now this pet store kept the puppies in big clean rooms all together based on size/age/temperament in a litter like environment, the vet came every week, and fed a quality food.  I knew their puppies came from “puppy mills,” but they were from ones that did keep up higher standards and not the horrible ones you hear stories about.  I worked at that store for 9 months before I landed a “real job,” and obviously became very picky about knowing what exactly I wanted in a puppy and what to look for.  The whole time I was there, there was only ONE puppy that ever stole my heart and I wanted to take home.  He was a Chocolate F1B Labradoodle whom I named Reggie.  He was there for 6 weeks as I was the only person he responded to, he ignored everyone else.  I wanted him soooo bad and was trying to work things out with my landlord because he was going to be over the size limit full grown, but I was moving soon and wouldn’t be there when he was too big.   One day as I came into work my coworker stopped me, Reggie was being sold.  Needless to say I balled my eyes out and went and said goodbye… he went to the best possible family if it couldn’t be me.  A very nice older couple who was retired and Reggie would never be alone; I knew they would take great care of him.  The renamed him Coco, but every weekend they brought him in to say “hi” which was great.

After Reggie was gone, my favorite breed has always been Australian Shepherds, and I knew I really wanted to work with a breeder where I could go out and see the parents, kennels, etc.  We found a great breeder and picked out a little guy at 2.5 weeks based on pictures (I had my heart set on a red merle male).  At 5 weeks we visited and fell in love.  I named him Reggie too, because he had the exact same great temperament.  At 7 weeks the breeder did the Volhards temperament test and it came up exactly as I wanted and we prepared to take out little guy home.  Then bad news struck, Reggie was sick and had to be rushed to the vet.  He kept getting sick on and off for the next few weeks until he finally passed away at 11 weeks.  We thought it was an infection because after fluids and antibiotics he would get better and be fine, then a few days after the antibiotics ended, he got sick again.  Turned out he had a very, very slight liver shunt.  We were all destroyed, but our breeder was fantastic the way she did all she could to help him and us.  She offered us back out deposit, but we chose to have her keep it and get the first pick of the next litters.

Well, there were a few litters and never another pup like Reggie.  We kept going to visit but the temperaments were just not what we wanted, so we waited.  Months later I was bored at my office job and looked at the old pet store’s website for available puppies and saw Jake, the F1 Aussiedoodle.  IMMEDIATELY I felt he was going to be “the one.”  We went that very night to meet him.  He was a red merle male, just like I wanted, but when I saw his chart he was also the half brother (same father) of Reggie #1, with the exact same temperament as both the Reggies’!  I couldn’t be happier but I was still very apprehensive.  We debated over the next few days, since he was a pet store puppy and I knew he had giardia.  I was worried about this but he was everything else we wanted and more (the non-shedding!).  I went back every day for 5 days straight, sometimes twice a day.  During this time all of his brothers and sisters were sold who had more spunky personalities, and my “calm” little guy was left.  One the last night I came to visit, still debating, another family was looking at him.  They loved him but needed to sleep on it.  You betcha, 5 minutes after they left I was signing the papers.  Seeing someone else almost taking him away and remembering how I felt after my first Reggie was sold, I knew right then and there that even though he wasn’t from a breeder, he was my dog.  He does have digestion issues which we are still trying to figure out but six months later, we have never looked back and couldn’t be happier.  I will never buy from a pet store again but after seeing/living both sides of it, I feel that it’s really just if the dog is the right one for you regardless of its background, you will know it.