Doodles (and how Labradoodles are different)

JDthe Pug. Actually, I bred Lucy, my Silkshire. http://www.freewebs.com/puppylover92/index.htm Please excuse my website, I just began making it, and it's nowhere near finished.




Here are pictures of my 2 potential dogs that I'll be using in my breeding program. They are both only 6mo, and they'll need to be tested OFA, and CERF before we breed them, so we're not going to have pups anytime soon.(They can't be tested until 2yrs of age)

Here's one for you about the "Hybrid vigor". Make a thread asking about how many of us "true" mutt owners, the ones that don't have the fancy names and astronomical price tags, have had myriad health issues. I'll toss one out there for you...a lady at work as the cutest little lab/golden/who knows mix...total mutt thorugh and through; the perfect "hybrid vigor" specimen. This cute little dog had to undergo a $5,000 hip operation at the age of 9 months because of hip dysplasia.

The thing that gets me about all these people buying "designer dogs" and thinking that they're better off than a "shelter mutt"...do you have any idea of many fancy, high priced doodles are now languishing in a shelter because they got too big, ended up shedding, or have the health problems of both breeds? Just because a dog is in a shelter does not mean it was "bad". Most likely, it was bought by someone just like you who thought that "breeder dog" meant "unfailable" and were sadly misled.

If there was a DD breeder that engaged in proper health and temperment testing, bred for more than just the F1 crosses and somehow managed to establish a standard for their breed, sure. Go for it. However 99.5% of DD breeders out there have not one clue about how to do this, because in order to get their breeding stock to begin with, they have to go through a less than reputable purebred breeder to get the bitch/stud, because no reputable breeder is going to let one of their dogs go for such a purpose.

I'm so confused Dixie's mom.

Your 14 and breed Yorkies? Or does your parents? Do you show in order for those dogs to have Ch. in front of their name - or do your parents?

*cough twitch* I hope to God your Yorkie will mature at more than 3 1/2 pounds, otherwise you're probably going to kill her by breeding.

Yes, the breeder we got her from inssured us she'd be 5lbs.

JDthe pug, yes I'm 14(15 in Oct), and I breed Yorkies. I plan on showing my little Dixie by this summer. She has CH. lines, but I didn't show her parents/grandparents, the breeder we bought her from did. My parents support me, and are there when I need them, but I bought Dixie for $1,500 on my own, and did about 2yrs of reseach before getting her. I made sure she came from a reputable breeder, and we're right now in search of a good male. We're not going to breed her to a male who hasn't been OFA or CERF tested.

Actually I mentioned that in my post. Many shelter dogs ARE in fact very sweet dogs who were given up for the terrible reasons above. But, a relative of mine also got a sweet little puppy from a shelter- the dog turned out to be hand-shy, nervous, and not at all social. He was abused when he was a puppy. I know for a fact that the family trained him well; obedience classes, socialization from an early age, etc. The fact of the matter is, you don't know what you're getting with a shelter dog. Now that is not to say that you know exactly what you're getting with a breeder dog, either...but you know that the dog hasn't been abused.

How do you know "Dixie" will have awesome little show pups? Do you even know the standard? Do you have a mentor?

Who is going to title her? How old is she?

Puke. A good breeder has one price on their puppies, they do not judge it on size, markings, potential, whatever... some breeders who have sold show quality puppies higher than pet quality puppies will tell you how that's setting yourself up for disaster.

Have you even read the Yorkshire Terrier Club of America's code of ethics?? I suggest you do, as they state:

8) All puppies leaving the breeders possession will be a minimum of twelve (12) weeks of age to facilitate adequate socialization as well as appropriate emotional and temperament development through interaction with siblings, dam and other dogs.

And then you have all three of my shelter dogs...the biggest behavioral problem I have is with Aubrey and her barking at other dogs while on-leash. Easily manageable. My Aussie Sawyer was a stray, I have no idea in the world what his background was like...he is the best dog I have ever had, hands down. My Lab Virgo, has the sweetest, most gentle temperment you could hope for. She lets my boss' 10 month old boy belly flop on her and crawl all over poking at noses and ears without even lifting her head.

You cannot judge all shelter dogs on one poor example. It is also quite easy to temperment test a shelter dog, same as you can a breeder dog. If you find that it has a quirk you don't think you can deal with, find another. My one complaint about people going to the shelter is the same as those who buy from petstores. They choose on cuteness and probable size and not much else, then think all shelter dogs suck when obvious problems arise.

If you have any other questions, let me know.

I would never think that all shelter dogs are bad- NEVER. As a child ALL of my dogs were either strays or from shelters. I am not willing to take the chance with a 7 year old child in the house!

I personally wouldn't take a chance with a DD, but it's your choice, your kid and I hope your doodle works out for you and gets the Lab side of temperment and not the poodle. Out of the dozens of poodles I've met, I can think of three that weren't extremely shy and snappy. Ok, five if you count Poodlemom's.

Find yourself a mentor - right now it's the best thing you can do. A GOOD mentor, there's a few breeders in TN, you can find their info on Yorkshire Terrier Club of America's site. Be warned, most people who are dedicated to their breed won't like people BYBing, and it's painfully obvious that's what your doing.

Don't people below 18 have to show in juniors before they can go into the breed ring? ****, if I could have gone straight to the breed ring at 15 it would have saved me so much trouble and humiliation - but sooo worth it and such a rewarding experiance. Dogs cannot be titled in junior classes as the dogs are not judged - you are.

Like I said, setting yourself up for disaster. Stupid, stupid, stupid and I can't stand when people do it, or understand their reasons. What happens if that show potential pup gets older and it becomes obvious it won't make it in the show ring? Will you refund the buyer?

Oh, Baxter is anything but shy and snappy. He is playful and definitely acts more lab-like...but he has kept the poodle's intelligence. We are happy to have him

Edit: Also, no offense, but could we keep the underage breeding issue out of this thread? It is off topic.

Just saw your PM dixie, feel free to reply/answer that way if you'd like.

Dixie, you are 14. You are in no way old enough to have the necessary experience needed to successfuly breed one breed of dogs, never mind four. You hope to title your dog; it's not a guarantee. You are setting yourself up to be a lovely little BYB kennel though. I hope you research Huskies enough to realize that you most likely won't be able to keep them anywhere near your Yorkies.

I'll stop now before I get really into this post, but my mind is throwing a fit right now.

I will look for a mentor around here. I believe you do have to show in Jouniors, but I'm not sure. The breeder who sold me Dixie gave me most of my info. Oh and they aren't guarenteed to be Show quality, but I'm not going to sell a dog who's got an awful bite with full registration! An irresponsible person would most likely breed it for some idiotic reason, probably for profit, and end up making a bunch of puppies with screwed up bites. It's basically a Full, and Limited registration price. If you don't like that still, then okay, but it's how I feel about the situation, and I don't think someone should have to pay full price for a dog who can't be bred, or shown. How is it obvious I'm a BYB? I'm not, and I don't support them in ANY way whatsoever. I promote spay/neuter for people who don't intend to RESPONSIBLY breed dogs, and I also promote OFA, CERF testing. I'd like to know, so maybe I can clear up whatever is making you think I'm a BYB.

p.s. Poodley, please forgive me for going off-topic in your thread! I'll try to keep it to PM's.

Dear god, you have a pm dixie

I'm not the only one who'd breeding. My sister will be breeding, and titleing the Husky (and she's going to be fine with my Yorkies, I've had the 2 breeds together in the past, and all was FINE), the maltese will be bred by my mother (who has no computer experience, so she's educating herself w/ books) and I'm breeding the Silkshire and Yorkie. We're a family kennel as explained in the website. I'm not a BYB. Yes, I am 14, but everyone starts somewhere. I'm more educated then most 50yr olds on dogs, and I'm learning more everyday.


JDthepug, and Zoom please lets continue this throught PM. If there's anythign you'd like to continue.