Put it to me straight: Is a puppy from a breeder my only option?

[Kelly Henley]

My husband and I both grew up with dogs, but we are currently looking for our first dog as a couple.  We have 3 boys, 10, 7, and 1.  Is there any way for us to get a doodle?  We would be happy to adopt one, but the age restrictions always preclude us.  Is the only way to get one via a breeder?  We don't especially desire the "puppy" experience.  Also, my husband has puppy sticker shock.  Thoughts?

[Shannon and Finn]

It depends on how long you are willing to wait to get a new family dog and how willing you are to do a lot of searching and emailing and phone interviews.  For us, I tried very hard to rescue a dog and considered being a guardian family as well.  The right rescue was hard to find despite a lot of looking and shelter visits and guardian responsibilities for driving were just too much for us to take on.  Our biggest issue was that many of the rescue dogs had "baggage" that made bringing them into a home with children a poor fit, we also couldn't emotionally handle a dog in poor health.  We were very intent on low shedding and less chance of allergic reaction from my brother in law and son's good friend with severe allergies as well as dog size for car traveling reasons.  Ultimately I called A LOT of breeders and did a lot of visits and was able to find the right fit.  My husband thought I was going insane, but it takes some work to find a new family member!

I would recommend contacting your poodle rescue group and giving them your full story, (we also have a prison therapy program that has doodles for adoption) and letting them know you are looking as well as contacting a lot of breeders about their options.  There were a number of puppies we found that for whatever reason weren't taken at the last minute but were ready to go to a home and you might be able to get a lower price.  I actually came across this in several instances since we were last minute shoppers (i.e. not on a waiting list for a specific breeding) and flexible on the poodle mix type and color.  We had a few local breeders who were willing to work with us but it was based on a lot of interviewing and discussion and relationship building between us. Occasionally I saw retired breeding dogs for sale as well, 2-5 year old dogs.  Ultimately we got Finn at 11 weeks old and he was fixed and had several rounds of shots under his belt as well as emotional maturity so that is something we considered in the price.  He slept through the night and was a snap to potty train!  Good luck on your search!

[Kelly Henley]

Thank you!  We are in a similar boat, so your advice is very helpful. My husband DOES think I am going insane, so it's reassuring to know that it's a normal part of the process.  I don't especially want to wait a long time because I teach one day per week during the school year and no one is home, so summer is really the best time  for us to add a new dog to the family.  And, of course, waiting until our youngest is over 5 would cause my oldest to almost miss out entirely on growing up with a dog.  I grew up with AKC Great Danes, but we have never tried to find a dog before, and I had no idea it would be this difficult!

 

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

Many breeders have older puppies and even retired breeding dogs available, so that is one way to avoid the puppy stage.

As for the cost - break it down and it doesnt seem too bad. Same goes for food - the expensive bag of high quality food often works out cheaper per meal compared to grocery store food that the dog needs to eat more of

$2500 divided by lets say 12 years = $208 a year. Which is just $17 a month

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Kelly -- I would also encourage you to read through a lot of posts in the Puppy Madness Group with regards to Toddler and Doodles.  There is probably at least one discussion a month on DK with regards to issues with Puppies biting or knocking down the little ones and people wanting to rehome their Doodles because of it.  They had no idea how time consuming it is to have a dog and kids.  Doodles require lots of grooming (both brushing and haircuts), they require lots of exercise, both walks and outdoor exercise or they are going to chew up your house.  They are a dog that wants to be with people, they don't want to be left at home alone.  Take a good long hard look at your daily schedule, not only now, but what is it going to be like as the kids get a little older.  Are you going to be a Taxi, running to football, baseball, soccer, 4H, music, etc. etc.  Many many times the dog gets left out when all of this activity starts.  Also, if your husband is having sticker shock over the cost, is he going to be able to deal with it when the puppy eats a sock and there is a $2000 surgery to deal with.  You will find discussion after discussion on here about all of these things.  I'm just asking you to research what you are getting into as hard as you are researching how to find the puppy! 

[Kelly Henley]

Thanks, Lucy and Sophies Mom.  We have considered the things you mentioned in your post, and we have been researching and mentally preparing for several months.  My question would be, is there a better dog for a family?  Should families with children never get a dog?  Should people with dogs never have children?  It seems like a lot of people say that, but it's hard to wrap my brain around that idea, having always been around dogs as a kid.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Kelly, I posted below while you were posting this. It's silly for anyone to say that people with children should never get dogs, and equally silly for people with dogs never to have kids. I do think having the dog before the kids is a lot easier. And I know I am going to get a lot of flack for saying this, but i do think there are better breeds for young families who have never had their own dogs before. In doodles, you have the extremely high energy and exercise requirements of the sporting breeds with the extremely high maintenance requirements of the poodles. The working breeds (Great Danes are in this group) can be a better choice for many families. But when you think about breeds, remember that temperament varies from one dog to the next, and is not a consistent thing within a breed. All Golden Retrievers do not have good temperaments; all Labs are not great with kids. Unfortunately, many if not most doodle breeders are breeding for looks and not for temperament. So you really need to do your homework when looking for a breeder, and that means visiting them and meeting the parents, or at least the mother. You must have a dog who has been well socialized from an early age, and that doesn't happen a lot with puppies who are bred strictly for profit, like doodles, because in order to make a profit, the breeders often have too many dogs to give the puppies the kind of time socializing requires.

If you haven't already done so, please read Adina's article What to look for in a Breeder.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

The only other breed that I can speak to would be a Toy Poodle.  That was our first dog as a married couple.  After she got out of the puppy phase, it was almost like not having a dog.  She just didn't require the same amount of time and attention that our doodles do.  She went to the groomers because it was much cheaper to groom a toy poodle than it is 2 large doodles.  She was home alone all day while we both worked and she had no problems with that.  She traveled with us when we traveled or stayed in boarding.  I think that the point you need to keep in mind is that when you and your husband both had dogs before they were family dogs, you were one of the kids.  They weren't necessarily all your responsibility either for their care or financially.  And even if you were responsible for maybe walking them or feeding them, you weren't trying to do it while caring for 3 kids and a husband and working part-time.  I'm not trying to talk you out of getting a dog or even saying you shouldn't, please don't think that was my intent.  There are many people on here who have wonderful doodles and little children and they manage just fine.  I just wanted to be sure that you were thinking through up front exactly what you were getting into.  I've said on here many times that if I had children and worked even part-time, my whole doodle experience would have been completely different.  We are a two person, retired (early retirement) household that never had any children.  So, we now have all the time in the world to take care of our Doodles.

[Kelly Henley]

Thank you.  I don't think either of us (DH and myself) have any illusions about who will be responsible for the dog! 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think this is the best advice anyone could give you. There is a reason that most rescues won't adopt to a home with young children, and many of the reasons are stated above. "Not enough time" and problems with dog:child interactions are by far the biggest reasons dogs are rehomed, along with financial difficulties.

Do you have time to walk and exercise a dog for at least an hour a day, regardless of weather conditions? Sporting breeds have the highest exercise requirements of any dogs.  A fenced yard would be a must, as you cannot leave a sick one-year old alone to go out every two hours to walk a puppy who is being housebroken. How will you make time for training? Do you have someone who can watch your youngest child while you go to classes or work with a trainer and practice with the puppy on a daily basis? Will you be able to keep all children's clothing, toys and food out of the puppy's reach all the time? 

Costs are a factor, too. Even for a healthy dog, your annual costs for good quality food, grooming, training, parasite preventatives, equipment, insurance, and routine vet care can exceed the purchase price of most puppies from breeders. It would be very difficult to maintain a standard sized doodle for less than $1500/year, and that doesn't include the one-time purchases for a puppy, or training costs. So you need to ask yourself, do I have an extra 2 hours a day and $200 extra dollars a month to care for a puppy?

It can certainly be done, but it requires a lot of commitment, so as Sheri says, please research and think it through carefully.

 

 

 

[Adina P]

How do you get to $1500 a year?  Is that with paying for training, paying for grooming, and paying daycare and the initial 'starting' costs of doggy supplies?  Food is our only constant monthly expense and it isn't that much.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

$1500 is only $125/month. If you added up food, treats & chews, grooming, HW & flea & tick preventatives, insurance, and regular vet visits for a year and divided it by 12, I'll bet you get more than $125. Of course if you do your own grooming, there's a savings there. But that's not including training, daycare, or inital equipment.  

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

I spend about $125/month on food and treats alone. This doesn't even scratch the surface. There's $89 in vet insurance for my three, the cost of training, random vet bills, toys, $200 every 3 months for grooming (i'm learning to do this on my own), heart worm and flea and tick meds, start up costs that include brushes and nail clippers, crates, toys, etc. money wasted on toys that got destroyed in 2 minutes, bones that turned out to be bad for them and had to be trashed, carpet cleaning, poo bags at $9.99 a pack, expensive durable tennis balls that get lost or stolen at the dog park,...

Winston and Sophie's vet bills have been enormous. A simple ear infection will run me almost $200, Sophie's annual vet check including vaccinations, fecal and urine sample that resulted in a few extra meds: $600 buckeroos. 

For the first 6 months of Sophie's life I spent $200/month on the dog walker.

I've done 5 obedience classes with Sophie (two puppy, beginner, advanced and recall) at, on average, $120 a class and she still needs work. I estimate a ball park figure for my first year of pet ownerships was close to $20,000 when I add everything in, including the cost of the puppy. Of course that's on the high side because a)I'm insane, and b)I adopted a special-needs dog, but seriously, if someone had given me this reality check a little over a year ago I might have waited a little longer, or done a bit more research to avoid costly mistakes. The only reason I can survive is by having no social life and and not being able to shop for myself. I haven't bought a new pair of shoes in over a year, unless you count the $200 durable warm winter boots that I bought to get me through cold snowy winter walks and hours playing in the dog park....

Then of course, there's the house I just bought so that they can have a backyard.

I just have to keep repeating to myself "I Love my Doodles", "I Love my doodles", "I love my doodles". This is what I'll be saying when they carry me away in a straight jacket.