Looking to adopt a tween to adult doodle

[Kim Starbuck]

Hi! I am interested in adopting a tween to adult age doodle. Does anyone know of any dogs that are looking for homes? Are there message boards for adopting older doodles?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

Thanks! Kim

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I suggest that you contact IDOG or DRC for rescues; use the How to Find a Good Breeder article (at the top under Help) to link to reputable breeders and contact them about retiring breeding dogs. Also check PetFinder and shelters withing driving distance.

[Kim Starbuck]

Great thank you very much!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Hi Kim.

There are two nationwide not-for-profit rescue groups for doodles, the Doodle Rescue Collective, and IDOG. Both have been around a long time and do a great job of matching homeless doodles with forever families. The adoption requirements are fairly tough, and include previous dog experience (this means having owned a dog as an adult, with vet records in your own name), no young children in the home, and usually, a securely fenced yard. You must also be within driving distance of the dog's foster location. The demand for doodles in rescue is happily much greater than the number of dogs available, so the competition is fairly stiff.

In addition, there are often doodles available for adoption with other shelters and rescues throughout the U.S. The DRC keeps updated listings of these, arranged by geographic area: ttp://doodlerescue.org/group/doodlesinneedinnorthamerica 

Public shelters often have few if any adoption requirements; the private rescues are stricter.

Many people list doodles on Craig's List. Be very careful with these. over the years, we have found that most people are not completely honest about the reasons they are rehoming a doodle. There are health issues and behavioral problems which are often not disclosed. When you think about why anyone would spend thousands of dollars for a doodle puppy and then give them away a year or two later, you can see this. That doesn't mean that the dog can't make someone a great pet, but you are safer going through a legitimate rescue which has vetted and evaluated the dogs in foster homes before placing them for adoption. You also have the safety of knowing that if you cannot keep the dog for any reason, the rescue will find him another home, although we hope that never happens.

Keep in mind that rehomed dogs often come with baggage. It is very traumatic and difficult for most dogs to lose their homes, and there is always an adjustment period. Also, be very sure that you are committed to the dog no matter what before adopting, as it is very very difficult for any dog to go through multiple rehomings, and this can lead to behavioral problems.

Good luck in your search.  

 

 

[Kim Starbuck]

Thank you very much for this information -- this is very helpful!!

[Ginny Nightingale]

Karen covered it all so well!! Only thing i would add is that sometimes breeders retire a pup before breeding him or her due to health test results--it can be a perfectly healthy dog who will have a normal life, but carries a gene (only one, so not sick) that the breeder does not want in their line. Most breeders have pups in guardian homes now though--they are family pets and just get spayed or neutered if the health tests don't go well and stay with their family. However, it might be possible to find a pet this way. Someone in my area just did--they got a 1 &1/2 year old minilabradoodle--cute, but needed some socializing since she was not in a guardian home with a family for all her life. She is doing well now.

[Kim Starbuck]

Thank you very much for this information -- this is very helpful!!

[Ginny Nightingale]

Oh, just saw that Nancy mentioned this already...

[Kimberly Risley]

Yes also there are other private dog rescues that specialize in poodle mixes. Also petfinder.com is a good source. You have to type in "poodle" but will come across different poodle mixes.

We ended going through a breeder and now waiting for our pup. We were looking for a puppy, so I little harder to find one through a rescue. But with wanting an adult dog you will have a much easier time.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The link I provided above to the DRC regional listings are the Petfinder listings, already screened by DRC volunteers. There are other breeds which doodles are frequently listed as in Petinder, so we have experienced people doing the searching and providing the links to doodles who are availlable through other private rescues and shelters, as i mentioned.

[Kim Starbuck]

Thank you very much for this information -- this is very helpful!!