Dog Owner Chat V. 5

[mierose]

hey guys! it's been literally forever since I've posted here, probably three or so years and I never was super active so not sure if any of you would remember me. honestly i'm kind of scared to, last time I did I got a littttle bit of backlash for owning doodles and everyone's allowed to have their own opinions on it but i've done my research and also don't really have the energy to fight with anyone on it soo if you don't agree with them just skip this post.

but anyways, I own an eight year old goldendoodle named Gretta and a four year old mini goldendoodle named Dazey. we got them both from a really great small local breeder near us and adore them. at some point in the three years I have been gone I fostered some crazy doodle mix named Lola. she was beautiful and all white, but absolutely crazy. great example of how not to do doodles, poor thing. my aunt was able to find her a good home with a family and a mom who was pretty dedicated to helping her settle so that was that.

however we're looking to get another dog! my brother and dad are severely allergic which is why we have the doodles, but we're looking to get a bernedoodle this time around. its taking us a while to find a responsible breeder however, yaknow one that doesn't just throw random dogs with poodles and sells them to people for $5000, haha, but when we do, we will be putting ourselves on the wait list! which is very exciting.

anyways nice to be back and lurking around some of these old forums I used to frequent and hope everyones dogs are doing good!

What's your experience owning doodles? While I won't be getting another dog anytime soon, there's a lovely doodle breed-specific rescue near me, which I may look into when the time comes (a long time that is, haha). Though rescue GSDs/GSD mixes, or any large shepherd-y dogs in general, are still pretty high on my list of dogs to own. However, I would look into doodles if the rescue had any that fit my lifestyle well, whenever the topic of another dog arises.

PS the kids and I are going hiking today, pictures to come

[beautifulglitter]

I think there can be a negative case made for most dog breeds, so don’t feel too bad. C:
It sounds like you are doing absolutely the right thing, I hope you find a responsible breeder soon.
I have never been a huge fan of the doodle breeds myself due to aesthetics. For what ever reason I just don’t love the wire/or curly haired dogs.

I did come across a basset/poodle mix the other day at the park, that was the absolute cutest dog (other than gizmo) I may have ever seen. That pup at least warmed me up to the ‘doodles’ just a little
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Sigh. So I really want to do a Dna test for gizmo. It’s pretty clear at this point that he is not full bred kelpie. The two affordable tests I have looked at say they primarily draw profiles from AKC breeds. Kelpies are not AKC recognized, nor do they have a strong North American profile.

I don’t want to get test results saying he is primarily an Indeterminate mixed breed.

I would HIGHLY recommend Embark! I did it for my dog a while back, and the results are really thorough. My PhD is actually in a fairly similar area, so I went through the results and they are legit (a lot of the DNA test companies are scams). They are having a Black Friday sale right now, which is when they historically have their lowest prices. If you can't do that on such short notice, wait until another major holiday or something like DNA day or shelter pet day and they typically will do smaller sales then. (I think I also have a referral code somewhere that I can give people who are interested- you might be able to get a better deal right now though)

They recently split their breed and breed+health kits for pricing reasons- while it's more expensive, I would recommend the health addition, because they test for over 170 genetic conditions! They also test for like over 250 breeds, including the Australian Kelpie!

Wisdom panel is the only other test I've really seen that's legit (i haven't really looked at the AKC testing though), but Embark is over 100x more accurate, so it's better if you suspect mixed heritage.


Sorry for the commercial lol, like I said Embark's whole process is close to the stuff I'm doing for my thesis, so I'm pretty passionate. Also their partnership with Cornell's vet school lets them help advance knowledge of canine genetics, I'm just a big fan in general

[rose.bloom]

What's your experience owning doodles? While I won't be getting another dog anytime soon, there's a lovely doodle breed-specific rescue near me, which I may look into when the time comes (a long time that is, haha). Though rescue GSDs/GSD mixes, or any large shepherd-y dogs in general, are still pretty high on my list of dogs to own. However, I would look into doodles if the rescue had any that fit my lifestyle well, whenever the topic of another dog arises.

PS the kids and I are going hiking today, pictures to come

If bred responsibly, they can be amazing family dogs. Both our doodles have amazing temperaments and love everyone. Neither of them have had any socialization problems with other dogs or with people and after getting through the puppy years, became amazing dogs. We also haven't had any medical issues at all with either of ours and have been super low-maintenance besides yearly visits and shots. We've really had the best experience with out doodles!

[Kenjaku]

I know you've probably thought to do so, but JUST in case! Be sure you bring your allergic family members to check out the dogs before you commit to a puppy. We have a fair amount of bernedoodles that come into work and I can honestly say their hair texture is something completely different. It's not BMD, it's not poodle, it's not doodle. It's... a league of its own LOL

I've been pretty anti-doodle for a long time but I can respect a breeder who is doing things right - health testing, not making false claims, etc. There are a lot of BYB situations with fad dog breeds and unfortunately doodles are just that in the last few years - so there's a lot of poorly bred ones out there. That being said; we have a local breeder who has produced some very amazingly temperamented doodles who come into daycare and I do love seeing them around - they really are lovely family dogs, even if I wouldn't get one, myself. If you'd ever feel up to sharing pics of your kids, Rose, I'd love to seem them!

I wish I had the $$$ for the Embark BF deal! Would love to get David tested. Alas! Not in the cards this year.

[mierose]

I know you've probably thought to do so, but JUST in case! Be sure you bring your allergic family members to check out the dogs before you commit to a puppy. We have a fair amount of bernedoodles that come into work and I can honestly say their hair texture is something completely different. It's not BMD, it's not poodle, it's not doodle. It's... a league of its own LOL

I've been pretty anti-doodle for a long time but I can respect a breeder who is doing things right - health testing, not making false claims, etc. There are a lot of BYB situations with fad dog breeds and unfortunately doodles are just that in the last few years - so there's a lot of poorly bred ones out there. That being said; we have a local breeder who has produced some very amazingly temperamented doodles who come into daycare and I do love seeing them around - they really are lovely family dogs, even if I wouldn't get one, myself. If you'd ever feel up to sharing pics of your kids, Rose, I'd love to seem them!

I wish I had the $$$ for the Embark BF deal! Would love to get David tested. Alas! Not in the cards this year.

I thoroughly agree with that standpoint. I recently read an article talking about the origins of the doodle and how the original breeder/founder of the breed stated that he had “created a monster”. In this he meant that they were originally bred to be hypoallergenic service dogs, yet have turned into a hot mess of genetic problems brought on by mills and BYBs. At this point, it doesn’t matter what breed you’re talking about, breed responsibly! Lab tests, show titles, temperament, etc. Be careful! As I stated above, the only time a doodle would enter my life is if that rescue had the perfect one for me.

[Kenjaku]

It's been a minute since I shared a puppy pic. Barnaby's gotten huge, it's hard to think he was such a tiny pup at one point. He gets so scraggly between grooms, even with all the brushing in the world. Crazy little ball of energy through & through!

[cswolf.]

@Hewitt - Awe he is absolutely adorable <3

[ᴍᴀᴏᴄɪғᴇʀ]

My cousin's boxer, Bailey, passed away very unexpectedly on Thursday.
She was completely fine the day before and then she just wasnt? They took her to the vet and discovered a mass in her lung. It was cancer, and it had been there for a while.
Just shows how well dogs are at hiding things.

I made fun of her a lot because she wasn't the most attractive dog imo and I called her "squashed face, squashed brain" because the only thing she could do was be obsessed with toys. She was undersocialised and a bit stir crazy but she was actually really sweet, and was beginning to understand the importance of downtime. And she was actually probably the cutest boxer I've seen.
My cousin has cerebral palsy and can't walk or talk, and she made him really happy. Like she was really good at being patient with him, not getting in his way, and skillfully climbing up onto his wheelchair to give him 'kisses' haha. She was just pure energy.
She wasn't my dog, so I don't really feel like I have the right to, but I'll miss her.


I hope all your dogs are happy and healthy, and I wish them all a long life <3

[taikunfoo]

Very cute middy! ^^

Does anyone have any hiking pack recommendations? I'm trying to get more into hiking with Kahlua and would love some input. I also completely forgot to post our Halloween photos so I may if anyone's interested.

I realize I'm a little late to the party, but I wanted to recommend onetigris's dog hiking packs. I wanted to get something with a wide belly band for my pup, as he's basically naked underneath his arms and I was worried about chafing. I wound up getting the mammoth dog pack for him, which he doesn't necessarily love, but he tolerates it well and mostly forgets about when we're out hiking. The saddlebags expand pretty well, and I'm able to fit bottles of water, a collapsible water dish, his poop, etc. in them easily. I don't have any pictures of him out on the trail wearing it (too busy hiking), but I do have these of him tolerating the pack in the house:

[bucky_stan]

Hey guys! I was wondering if you had any advice on pulling dogs? The trainer hasn’t helped and we had her on a k9 bridle for a while which helped then we tried a halti head collar on her the other day to see if it made a difference and now she’s got lumps and spots on her nose where the halti was rubbing her so we can’t use anything across her nose for a while 🤦‍♀️

Check out @lilly_the_weim on Instagram to see what she used to wear
Thank you people if you can help me

No tool is going to beat proper training, so that's what I recommend. I'll link some videos down below. Ideally I'd recommend a back clip harness, but if she's pulling you off her feet using a bungee leash with the back clip harness or using a front clip harness.

Kikopup Loose Leash Walking playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVv_aeY9RP0&list=PL7287C737FB745168
Simpawtico Loose Leash Walking playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcJEQ8p ... 1qXkjlIGqd

Thanks I’ll have a look at the videos but I don’t think we’ll have much success with the harness, she used to have a perfect fit harness ( a front ring harness) with a bungee lead. It had a 3 year guarantee and she stretched it in the first week just from pulling we sent them pictures and evidence and they refused to send us a new one/ refund cuz they said it wasn’t possible. Also we’ve tried some training and some days she doesn’t Pull at all and others she’s like a steam train with no rhyme nor reason!

Anyway thanks 😊