Need reassurance on getting a doodle

[Jess & Stewart]

As many of you know, my wait to get a goldendoodle has been long, I've been on a litter list with my breeder for 2 years now, but I have the perfect apt (hardwoods, deck) 5 minutes from work, a park and will be welcoming my mini F1B GD home mid November.

A friend of mine has a standard F2 GD. I've talked to him, he's given me the good, bad, ugly honestly & said I'm perfectly capable of handling a GD. My family however is dead set on dissuading me from getting this breed of dog. My aunt said my friend told her that needs to do "really run & work the dog before his wife comes home so it's energy level is down" and basically told me to reconsider, ask if I could get my money back & find a nice small dog (chiahuahua). I told my friend this & he said its the furthest from the truth, he's just a big love & is still a puppy. He said his wife isn't crazy about the dog's playful energy so he tires him out before she gets home.

My brothers & sisters (3 total) all have 2 dogs each (they never lived with my stepdad who was "allergic") and told me I should realize I'll need to walk it twice a day, feed it twice a day (DUH!) and they don't know why I have always wanted a dog, but yet they have them. They think I'm afraid of their dogs (lab, boxer & pit mixes) some which are still neutered & not that well behaved. I'm 4'9 & have mild sensory issues (loud unexpected noises & sudden movements make me jump & I'm just jittery) A loud sneeze in a quiet room will make me jump slightly. So imagine a 70 lb unneutered boxer who doesnt get much attention, around me, who gives him love = he's in my face & pawing my legs, lap constantly. It's one of the reasons I'm starting with a puppy, so I'll train & be used to it.

Now I'm second guessing myself since I'm doing it alone & my family who have fenced yards & dogs that I could socialize with arent supportive.. For instance, I got up at 7:30 this morning & realized that's the time I'll need to be AT WORK when I have a pup in order to take a long lunch & come home early. Im a little spoiled living 5 minutes from work! I'm also potty training in winter, possibly snow and it'll be dark by 5. I've read a ton, Ian Dunbar, Cesar Milan & will be crate training, bell training, going outside day 1, introducing to sights sounds, touch, city living, people, men, kids etc. I thought I was ready & really prepared but I'm second guessing how hard it will be.

Reassurance is welcome!

[Miss Ellie]

Sounds to me like you are ready for a dog and have done a lot of reading & researching.  It is ultimately your decision and you are the only one who knows if you are truly ready for such a responsibility.  They do require a lot of work & attention, but having said that they are worth every moment.  The joy, love, companionship, loyalty & love they bring far outweighs all the training & puppy issues.

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

There are doodles with high energy and doodles with low energy, just like there are nice chihuahuas and nippy chihuahuas. The decision is entirely yours. Every puppy will be a lot of work and will require constant attention and training. Your breeder should be able to match you up with the puppy with the right temperament for you. It's not about the breed. Puppies are a lot of work to start with, but if you are ready and committed (and it sure sounds like you are), your puppy will grow up to be a wonderful companion for you.

[Jennifer and Jack]

Hi, I am sorry you are having such a hard time with making a decision. I feel for you really wanting one.. Dogs are so amazing, so loyal and great companions.... (WITH A BUTT load of work)

No one will be able to say for sure what your puppies needs will be once they are older but you can be pretty sure that a puppy is a handful.. they are like newborn babies and they need a lot of training. If you have sensory issues.. you need to think about how you will handle the stages of puppy hood..including the puppy jumping up on you and nipping you, latching their teeth on to your clothes, biting your hands and barking really loud.    Jack my sweet precious Toy GD was only 4 pounds when I got him at eight weeks old and he was a crazy man.. running playing, jumping, nipping.. He required a lot of work, a lot of training and he still will jump all over you when you first come into my house.

I can't tell you if you are ready or not, only you can.. but a puppy needs all those things you listed.... tons and tons of socialization .. tons of exposure to new situations.  You have to be expect the worst case scenario this way you are prepared and if it is better then you will be surprised.

If a loud noise in a quiet room makes you jumpy, how will you feel if you have to listen to a puppy scream in a crate... One of ours never did that but my little guy did for about an hour and it gradually got less.... You can't take them out when they are crying or they learn crying gets them out...

Dogs are amazing and Jack is the best thing that ever happen to me... No two doodles are exactly alike. My 17 pound guy.. still on most days needs a good mile or two walk... He prefers two..... especially in cooler weather and he is little.... 

Also, have you considered daycare for your puppy? Staying in crate all day with only little breaks is boring for a puppy though having a dog walker come in or you come home ever few hours is fine.. I brought Jack to daycare and he played and socialized with the other dogs all day with periods of rest.

When you have a dog, there is no last minute wake up and run out of the house, in fairness to the puppy, especially one being crated.. You need to get up, get them to go potty, walk them or play with them in the house for a while, feed them, out to potty again, more play time while you are getting ready for work..I used to get up and run for work too..  

That is why daycare worked so well for me.. I could drop him off and they would take care of him..... When I picked him up... he was tired...

I potty trained in May and June and it was tiring.... 

I would never tell you not to get a puppy but I would suggest joining and reading the puppy madness group and seeing what others are going through to see if that is something you are wanting or able to handle in the event you need to.

If it isn't.. you might want to think of a bit of an older rescue dog.. They still require lots of walks, attention, training and sometimes come with more problems that need to be worked on..... but they are usually so grateful for a loving home. They might and I say might be less likely to be jumping on you

My neighbor has a three year old standard GD and they can not tire that girl out.. She goes swimming daily, walks, exercise and daycare and she is still chomping at the bit to go......

When I got Jack I didn't think about it or know much about it, luckily for both of us I would never go back on something I committed to but I was madly in love from the first picture and felt like my heart was going to burst.

Jack is my life.... I would never get another puppy because i don't have what it takes to do the proper training due to some health challenges.... I gave it all to him and am proud of it but I literally spent most of my free time exposing him, training him, teaching him and playing with him.....

IF you want an amazing dog, you have to put an amazing amount of time into it and even then you can have dogs that just have issues with certain things in spite of all your work.

To me, when you a get a puppy, it should be there is no question they will be yours for the rest of their or your life period.   Given that you disclosed your sensory issues that makes me just want to caution you, puppies in particular can blow through some tough sound barriers .....

I don't know what the right thing is for you to do.. these are just my thoughts.... Good luck in your decisions.. Dogs are the most loyal living thing on earth I am convinced of that.

[Jess & Stewart]

Thanks all! I'm actually shocked that everyone is telling me to get my money back. And that they wanted to "prepare" me for 2 walks a day, when they shouldnt be dog owners in my opinion. I'm prepared for a lot more after being on DK! My sensory stuff is very mild, I'm just more jittery than normal LOL! I dont have issues with loud noises, its just like a split second initially. It's honestly just the first rush of big dog when you come into my sister & brothers homes, the dogs are ALL over you & jumping. The GD I was talking about does not rush me, but is playful & will jump up. I'm fine with that, I do jump slightly still LOL but it's no big deal. One of my aunts has a pug & a chocolate lab, I am fine with them & the chocolate lab is BIG, like a moose.

I guess I was just second guessing everything. And I'm thinking I'll do about a week of the new puppy schedule (getting to work early, walking home for lunch, walk back, leave work early) just to get myself accustomed to it. I'm planning to take 2 weeks off to start training & hopefully make headway before I go back to work. I've looked into training & walkers etc. I don't understand how they can be so hypocritical when they have dogs & haven't put in the effort to train etc. I did lots of research into GD's before I decided, I love the attributes of both breeds, I've always wanted a retriever in a smaller package & only settled on a F1B for size, since I know it's more predictable than an F1. Even though mom is about 18 lbs & dad is 15, I could still get a medium dog! I'm hoping it won't be more than 30 max. That'll be perfect size, not too small, not too big, still able to really play.

[Jennifer and Jack]

Good luck to you!!! DK will for sure prepare you, no doubt!

[Heather Martinez]

I was just like you when I was waiting for my puppy. I read all the books and worried about everything. The first year was hard. You will probably second guess your decision to get a puppy when you're waking up early every morning, taking him on a walk when you would rather be relaxing, etc. I did second guess my decision once in a while until he was maybe 1.5 years old. Just realizing that I gave up some of my free time and although I've always loved Teddy so much there were times when it was difficult.

Now that Teddy is 2.5, I could never imagine my life without him. He adds only joy to my life. I enjoy walking him, taking him to the park and playing with him. Every single night my husband and I exclaim over his cuteness several times. We remark on how he is a good old boy now. I just can't explain how much we love him!

But it definitely took a lot of training and work to get to this point. My advice would be to get recommendations for a good trainer. Private training was a lifesaver. It was worth every penny. We also did a puppy training class which was great for socialization. I think the energy levels vary a lot between dogs. Now that Teddy is 2.5 he always takes 2 walks per day but if we're extra busy and he has to take 2 short walks or 2 short play times, he will be just fine. When Teddy is home he sleeps all day and at night he gets playful but not crazy!

Good luck with your puppy!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If you have done a lot of reading and research here on DK, you may have already seen this, but if not, it's worth reading through: http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/considering-a-doodle-crowd...

I'm also assuming you have read the discussions in the Puppy Madness Group as well as the main forum here, and seen the recurrent themes of issues new doodle owners are struggling with: chewing, nipping, getting into everything, too much energy, crying at night, training, etc.

It is harder to have a puppy when you are working full-time, and it's harder when you don't have a fenced yard. But if you are committed to making it work, it will. So really, it all boils down to how much you want a dog, and how much you want this particular kind of dog. It's a huge commitment, but if you want it to work and are willing to do whatever is needed to make sure it works, it will. 

[Jess & Stewart]

Heather- Yes I'm sure I'll do some second guessing. Friends of mine have called it "the hair pulling stage". I just can't believe how many people are telling me not to get a dog. But I suspect that they have second guessed their decision for dogs! Obviously since they don't get much attention & they have a 70 lb intact male! So maybe they just don't realize how much I've wanted a dog for as long as I can remember. Thank god I don't live with my curmudgeon stepdad anymore, he was definitely never "allergic"!

Karen- Yes, I've read all of those pages on DK! I think it'll be an adjustment getting up like 6 am so there's at least an hour & a half before I will go to work. I just happened to notice that I got up the same time i'll need to be at work! I knew that, but it was crazy to think about! UPenn has tons of training classes at a center for working dogs. They raise & train detection, rescue dogs & I get an employee discount so I'm definitely going to take advantage of that!

Does anyone have any advice for potty training in the winter, maybe snow? Im wondering if cold temperatures will speed up any potty breaks? Luckily there is mulch/grass right outside my apt & 2 emergency lights on the street. (I live in West Philadelphia).

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The cold temperatures don't bother dogs like they do us, and don't speed up the potty process. if anything, snow and cold can make it take longer, as most dogs like to sniff around and find that exact right spot, and the snow hampers that. Deep snow makes it harder for many dogs to find a spot, too.

My guy seems to need to move around for a while to get things going, so to speak. He never just goes within a minute or two of getting outside, he needs to walk a while. 

[Enid Ferner]

You can only prepare yourself so much when getting a puppy....reading about them and actually having them are two totally different things. They really are ALOT of work and Goldendoodles are a very active breed, that's without a doubt. I've had many dog breeds during my life and I must say that my Millie has been the most active of them all...and she's not hyper either, just needs a lot of exercise and mental stimulation. We have acreage and 2 other dogs for her to play with so she does just fine, but I can honestly say that if I worked full time and didn't have a big fenced property for her to run off steam then it would be a different story. It wouldn't be fair to her.
Personally if I were you I would consider a slightly older dog that has had some training and has a lower energy level... You might be in for a bit of a shock otherwise. Rescues are a wonderful place to look for a dog like this!

[Donna K & Quincy]

Jess, You are really the only one that matters in this decision since it will be your puppy, your responsibility, your life. A dog, without a doubt, is a huge commitment and it is a lot to think about. I know when I decided to get a dog I was sure I had thought everything through, but I really wasn't prepared for all the changes in lifestyle a dog would bring. It's basically the same as having an infant for the life of the dog. Having said that, I wouldn't change a thing. :>) Here is a link to a recent discussion on being single with a doodle, it may give you some insight into what you can expect. Only you know what's right for you and good luck with whatever you decide. If you do get a doodle, the very first thing you need to do is get pet insurance, it will give you peace of mind, vet bills can get very expensive and you never know what you will encounter.

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/single-people-w-o-kids-ras...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Amen on the insurance.