Breeder Recommendations in Virginia?!

[Zackary Wilkins]

My fiance and I are looking for a goldendoodle in Virginia.  There are quite a few breeders around here, but the choices can be overwhelming and we would welcome advice from anyone that has favorable experiences with any specific one.

We are visiting Old Mill Doodles in Staunton this weekend.  The breeder has been very nice and responsive, my only concern is the number of females she breeds and that they seem to be kept in a kennel and not home raised.  Maybe these are not real issues to be concerned with?

Any advice would be welcome!  Feel free to PM me if some things should not be posted on the board.

Thanks!

Zackary

[F, Calla & Luca]

I have no recommendations. But these are real issues you raise about the breeder. The pups are less likely to be introduced to everyday situations and people. I would look through the internet for problems with a given breeder. Read What to look for in a Breeder here and recommended breeders as well.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If you do a search here on DK for the breeder's name, you will get some info. As F said, it's important to read "What to Look for in a Breeder" and take it to heart.  These are just the bare minimum guidelines. 

In addition to the things mentioned in the What to Look for in a Breeder article, here are a couple of other things that I would be looking at if I were buying a puppy.

If the sales contract and/or health warranty requires you to feed a specific brand of food or give a specific brand of vitamins, look elsewhere. 

Ask the age of the parents. It has recently come to my attention that many so-called "reputable" breeders are breeding dogs younger than 2 years old. In a couple of cases, much younger. Be aware that in a dog younger than 2 years of age, any OFA scores for hips are only preliminary scores and don't really mean much. And lots of other health issues will most likely not have shown up in a dog younger than 2 years of age. A one year old doodle or sporting breed dog is really still a puppy and and is too young to be bred, IMO.

If the breeder wants to send the puppies home before they are 8 weeks old, that's a red flag. There is a reason that it is actually against the law in many states to sell a dog younger than 8 weeks. And dogs who are taken from the litter before 7 weeks old have not developed bite inhibition yet. If the breeder's convenience is more important to her than what is best for the pups' development, look elsewhere. 

Read more here: http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/puppy-in-ohio?x=1&id=2...

[Zackary Wilkins]

Thank you both for the information.  I am definitely concerned over those issues, I envisioned a breeder that keeps the parents and puppies in the house as part of the family as opposed to kenneled - just wasn't sure if that was often a reality.  I just spoke with another breeder, Mckenzie's Doodles, so we plan to visit her as well.

Again, if anyone has first hand experience with either of these or any others around Virginia and could share (through PM if need be) that would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

A LOT of people here have experience with the first breeder you mentioned. See that search box in the upper right hand corner of this page? (And every page on DK). Type the name into it, and you will get lots of info, as well as many members who got doodles from the breeder.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

A lot of that info left the name out because of the guidelines.I only found two a discussions  :(

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

But lots of people who bought pups there, no? 

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

yes, a lot.  Many happy too.  There are two incidences of concern that I remember.  Privatef Messages from those, of course, would be needed here

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Everyone in the world is happy with a new puppy, even if it came from a puppy mill. Even if it has nightmare genetics. Nothing shows up before the dog is older. JD was probably a healthy puppy, too. 

If I were looking for breeder recommendations, I would ask that they only come from people whose doodles are at least 2 or 3 years old. I would ask for recommendations from people like you and F, who have "middle aged" doodles with no health or behavior issues. Those are the recommendations that would mean something to me. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Yes, when I looked there were quite a few and I think some had "issues". Plus the health warranty is a new puppy not reimbursement for expenses the pup you have, not what I would want.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Health Warranty   had loopholes  like so many other breeder's Health Warrenties

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, since no names are mentioned in this discussion by the owner of a puppy from the breeder in question, I don't think posting the link is a violation of the DK guidelines. We'll just hope the OP understands who and what is being discussed: http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/fho-surgery-femoral-head-o...

[Adina P]

The Greater Richmond Area group has a lot of members with dogs from that breeder.  And there was a group of OMD I think....