Bathing your big doodles at home

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Hi!

It looks like DH and I will likely be getting a larger doodle puppy sometime this Summer (standard bernedoodle) but I wanted to see what we're getting into before we commit.

The dam (Bernese) is about 60 lbs, sire (poodle) is about 65 lbs so I'm guessing about a 50-65 lb dog if we get a female.

If you have a bigger doodle what do you do to bathe them?  Just haul them up to the tub (lift with the legs!)?  

Right now we have Luna who is about 40 lbs, I'm not sure I could lift a 70+ pound dog upstairs to the bath tub (if we accidentally get a Monsterdoodle).  

TIA!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

We have 2 doodles that are 65 and 75 lbs.  Most of the time I can get them to jump where I want them, but if I can't, they will normally put their front paws up and then I just have to lift the rear end.  It is dooable that way.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Thank you, sounds like a plan.  I think one of the big differences having a bigger dood will be training for those kinds of things (move here, stay there, settle etc.) will be that much more crucial.

Right now if I need Luna in a certain spot etc. I just move her there myself... not as practical with a bigger dog!

[Lindsey Holt]

We have an enclosed shower and I just get in with Jake.

He loves water so getting him to hop in is no problem!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Yeah we have a standalone shower with a pull-down shower head, that might be a good solution.  Our tub isn't super high either, a big dog would be able to step in easily.  It's the getting a stubborn dog up the stairs part that may be a bit difficult, but most of the time I can just wait until DH is home (unless there's some sort of mud disaster after a walk).

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Clancy is 62 pounds and I know I could not lift him even in an emergency. Size is the reason we have downsized our dogs over the years - we thought Clancy was smaller when we adopted him :-} (not that I would NOT have adopted him). We love larger dogs also, but realize our limitations. Congratulations for looking ahead and weighing (pun intended) size requirements and welcoming another doodle into your hearts.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I mean I think I could probably lift a 60 lb dog if I had to... I'm fairly young but I'm pretty small myself :p  

There's a chance one of the litters could have smaller pups (breeder wasn't expecting two females to come into heat at same time so she bred the 2nd one with a small australian labradoodle too after the standard poodle, might get a mix of puppy sizes).  

We'll see what happens when the pups come at the end of the month and go from there.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Keep us posted!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Still investigating this breeder as it's not clear from her website whether or not the dogs are health tested.. I sent her an e-mail today we'll see where it goes ;)

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Well that was quick I already heard back from her!  The parents are indeed health tested and she even sent me the PDF of their test results.  I'd say things look good :)  Now to wait on the actual puppies...

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I’m excited for you!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

First puppy pics :)  Puppies were born a few days ago.  There are some tricolor females which is what we were hoping for.  Poor mom has 11 puppies to care for!  Coincidentally the mom's name is Luna and our Luna came from a litter of 11 pups.  

Sort of related to this (sort of related to grooming?) At what age can you tell if they will have facial furnishings?  There are 4 Tricolor females to choose from (although breeder may claim one for herself).  So at worst we should have a choice between 3 because (as far as I know) we are first on the puppy wait list.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

This is probably none of my business (ask my kids...that never stops me), but I was wondering what you prefer about the females versus the males? Vern is our first male dog and I would only get males from this point on. I was worried about marking and humping, but Vern does none of those things and it took him until age 3 to pee like a male :) LOL