For All You Facebookers.....

[Brittney & Cally]

I just have to vent. We all know FB is not the place to go for information. Why I try still fathoms me but I do so whatever. Someone on FB asked for reputable breeder suggestions, so I suggested two of my favorite and very well know Michigan breeders. They said early socialization, health guarantees, spay and neuter contracts, and health and genetic testing were important to them so that is really the only reason I bothered to answer. I also stated and agreed why those things are so important.

Well here is a prime example for all of you who doubt us when we say do not get your information from FB.

This was someone's response to my answers....

In my humble opinion, getting a pup from a reputable breeder isn't that big of a deal. A Goldendoodle will be a good dog if you, the owner is a good pack leader, provider, and trainer. Let me just say no pups are going to come perfect, you have to train it to the way you like it. You get a dog to train it, not have it trained then delivered to your house .. it takes all the fun away from it ..

While it is good to have health testing, many dogs at young age are not going to show any signs of health issues, they come up later. As for temperament training, I think all doodles have a good temperament, as a new dog owner how do you even measure what good temperament is .. they are puppies, they are going to be playful and jolly, if you went to meet your pup, you would see first hand how good of a temperament they have .. and as for early socialization, that really isn't an issue if YOU do your part on training your dog, puppy socializations and all that, these are all easy ways to get your pup socialized .. why do you need a breeder to help you socialize your dog? It's not like they had bad bad upbringings and they have human or dog aggression .. like dogs that are put in shelters .. Regarding the issue about the breeder requiring a commitment from the owners to spay/neuter all their puppies ... I think that this is not something you should ask of the breeders, the breeders don't spay and neuter their dogs .. why would they ask you to do such a thing, it makes them hypocrites .. Its a really (mind my language) dumb restriction that you put yourself in from finding a good pup.

if you want to find a pup the right way .. you MUST go meet the pup in person, look at his/her personality when you meet .. is he or she calm and submissive? if so, probably a good pup to pick since he/she will be easy to work with.

its really not about buying the perfect pup from the best breeder .. cause there is no such thing as a perfect pup ... but more so training your pup to become YOUR perfect version of a pup .
just my 2 cents.




I am not even going to respond but really??!?! Well, that's my rant for the day, carry on :)

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

If you dont enjoy the group or the posts, do yourself a favor and get out.  Stick to the funny posts and cute pics and keep it light.

Honestly, if you dont see it go by on a FB page, you dont know a thing.  Ignorance is bliss, especially in this case.  

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Just because you proffer an opinion does not give it validity or make it right. Facts are facts. Common sense would dictate that in order not to bring any more puppies into this world who have a good chance of ending up in shelters or with a congenital disease you would take every precaution not to let that happen. The guidelines here on this site of what to look for in a breeder are a minimum. They were drawn up through bitter experience. It is not bullying. Just hard truth.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Rose: many people use DK to educate themselves. You would be wise to do the same. It is obvious you know nothing about breeding a healthy litter of pups.
You might also want to look up the definition of " bullying". Granted, it appears to be the " go to" word these days when people disagree. But in this case, it is not opinion/ or disagreeing, but plain and simple facts.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Of all the excuses and rationales for irresponsible breeding, the ones comparing breeding dogs to humans having families probably makes the least sense:

"Consider how responsible you were in breeding, did you have your spouse checked out for all the possible congenital issues so as to improve the breed?" 

No, because we didn't have babies for the purpose of selling them. LOL

We were going to love them, keep them ,and care for them, no matter what. 

When some BYB can say the same, I will stop disapproving. 

[Wendy and Myla]

Rose - Nobody is trying to bully you!  You say you have an opinion, and you are entitled to that but you should really educate yourself on this site about the problems that arise from breeding without health certificates.  I have a really hard time articulating what I want to say and lots of people on this site are so good at it - I read their posts and wish I could state what I want to say so well!  But here is my story....

We got our Zak in 2006 - goldendoodles were not heard of then - I saw an ad in our local paper (do papers still have "pets for sale"???? and had to google "goldendoodle".  I was intrigued - poodle and golden retriever mix, wow - that sounded perfect to me - I loved golden retrievers and mix that with a non shedding poodle - perfect!!!!  My whole family thought I was nuts spending $1000. on a "mutt" but that is the mix I wanted!  We got our Zak and she was awesome!  Everyone stopped us and asked what she was and she was the perfect dog!  We loved her with all of our hearts!  She was easy to train, non-shedding and loved camping with us.  I had just retired and DH had changed shifts to working weekends and off the rest of the week.  Everything was perfect until Easter, 2008.  Myla just collapsed.  We took her to the vet and after many, many tests found out that she had EPI - her pancreas was not digesting her food.  She went from 55 pounds to 30 pounds before she was diagnosed and OMG, that was heartbreaking to watch!  This disease is hereditary.  We had a lot of trial and error with medication, but finally figured it out with a lot of tests - we did not have insurance.  We did get her on track with diet and medication which was very very expensive (at one point, I was figuring out the cost and knew that we could not afford it!)  It was a tough time and I will not lie, it was very hard.  Both DH and I were semi-retired, had a lot of plans to travel in our retirement and we had a dog that we loved to bits, whose every day medicationamount depended on how stressed she was!  I was so upset, knowing that the next ten to fifteen years, our best retirement years, would be dependent on Zak.  If we left her at a kennel while we went to Mexico for a week, she would totally stress out and the medication would be double (and not kidding, the medication cost was horrific). There is no way that we could put her down or give her up, she was family, but I sort of resented her for wrecking our retirement plans (I feel terrible saying that, but I am being totally honest here)!  We loved her unconditionally and changed our travel plans and took her everywhere with us.  In the end, she lived another three years and the disease took its toll and she had a major heart attack and died.  We were devastated and heartbroken!  I am crying as I write this!  What I am trying to say is that yes, we all have a "mutt" in a goldendoodle but the "mutt" is a cross between two pure bred dogs that can have health tests - it's not the "mutt" where there are five different breeds in the mix.  We do have the ability to see health testing and know that all tests that can be done on both parent and we can see the results and know that to the best of our ability, our "mutt" has the best chance to live a healthy life.  When Zak died, my DH and I were devastated and so were my grandkids!  They did not understand why Zak had died and they still, to this day, tell me that Zak is "in my heart"!  They loved her!  The breeder of Zak was a woman who had a golden retriever and her best friend had a poodle and they thought that it would be fun to breed the two dogs (typical "backyard breeder").  They loved their dogs and just thought that the two had great personalities and would make terrific puppies.  I tried to get in touch with them when Zak was diagnosed, but she had moved.  I truly hope that they didn't breed again and that any other siblings did not reach the same fate.  When we decided to get another puppy, we still wanted a "goldendoodle" - that is Zak's legacy - they are awesome dogs, but I did not want to have to go through the same heartbreak or put my grandkids through the same heartbreak, so we decided to go with a very reputable breeder and make sure that all of the testing that could be done beforehand was done!  I know that anything could happen with Myla for sure, but I also know that we did everything we could beforehand to make sure that we are "protected" from the many hereditary diseases that both retrievers and poodles have.  I do not hold Zak's breeder responsible at all, but I really wish I could let her know the heartbreak our whole family went through so that if she ever decided to breed her dog because she was adorable and cute and wanted other families to have that "cuteness" that she would definitely consider the health testing before deciding to breed and maybe think that she should leave it to the "professional breeders".  Again Rose, we are not trying to bully you, but there are so many dogs that are given up because of health issued and people cannot afford the cost or just because health issues interfere with their life and they don't want that.  I know I have rambled here, but I beg of you to reconsider breeding your awesome goldendoodle until you have all of the health testing done with both your dog and the potential sire.  There are so many issues that can go back generations, which is why most goldendoodles from reputable breeders who do the testing, are so expensive, even for a "mutt"!!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Wendy, thank you for telling Zak's story. My heart breaks for you. I hope you can take comfort in the fact that you stood by Zak and did everything you could to give him the best life you could for as long as you had him. Many people do not, and that is one reason why this issue touches me so deeply. I've had more people than I care to remember beg me to try to find a home for a dog with a genetic disease that makes him virtually unadoptable. The owners often love the dog deeply, but cannot afford the hundreds or thousands of dollars required to care for them, or cannot find the time required to do all that is needed for them. Rescue volunteers are often the ones who have to clean up the messes left by the irresponsible breeders, the people who brought them into the world, then take the money and run.

Hugs to you. I hope Myla lives a very long, very healthy life. 

[Wendy and Myla]

Thanks Karen and know that I truly appreciate all that you do for Jack and all of the rescues!  I know that it must be heartbreaking and I also know that I just couldn't do the rescue work you do!  I would be heartbroken all of the time!  It takes very special people, and you are one of them!!  Hugs!

[BG and Gavin]

Wendy thank you for providing a heart-breaking real life example of what happens.  I am so sorry you went through this with sweet Zak.  Give Myla an extra hug for me.

[Wendy and Myla]

I hug Myla all of the time - I am so in love with her but I did give her a hug and told her that it was from you!  She just licked my face!  I will pass it on to you ;)

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Oh Wendy :(. I had no idea..My heart just aches for you. Thank you for being kind enough to take the time and share your experience...if it helps just one person, than all is not in vain.((HUGS)) to you and your family and wishing you and Mylar many happy, healthy, years together

[Wendy and Myla]

Ro, thank you!  Helping only one person is really what I am hoping for with this post - I really wish I knew what I know now when we picked up our Zak - we just figured that she was a "mutt" from two breeds we loved - when we reserved Myla, I still hadn't found this site - we just learned so much from the heartbreak and knew that we had to have all of the information (health testing) beforehand to make sure that we were making the best informed decision in selecting our newest family member - they are all cute and adorable - but you definitely want them to be healthy!  I found this site while waiting for Myla and after reading a lot of posts, realized how important a good breeder is!!!  Thanks for the hugs - Zak is Myla's guiding star and we named her "Myla"  for My Little Angel as we believe that she was sent from above!

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Awwww...I love the meaning associated with Myla's name. It is funny how the things life has in store for us all....
We truly believe our now passed Golden, Dylan, had a paw in sending us Enzo. He would have adored her, just as we do.