GOLDENDOODLE INFORMATION

Welcome to my new blog about my beautiful goldendoodle. Over the next few blogs I will share all that I have learned about doodles from my own experiences and those of other owners that I have met.

I have a 2 1/2 year old doodle. He is a long wavy golden color when I let him grown out. I tend to cut him short for the summer and let him grow longer for the winter. Contrary to everything I have read, he sheds like a fiend. There is doodle hair all over my house, we have to vacuum on a regular basis. However, even tho he sheds it does not seem to bother the members of my family that are allergic to everything!! His disposition is the best I have ever seen in a dog. I have had many pets thru the years. We always had dogs, cats, birds, etc. in our home. Our doodle is the most easy going I have ever seen. He is very soft in the mouth (does not "bite" on us) and is food friendly. We can take food, treats or toys from him without fear. All of the other doodle owners I have met say the same thing. They are just eager to please their owners. They are very people oriented. When we take our doodle to the doggy park, he is more interested in playing with the people. He gets along great with other dogs, but LOVES human contact.

The shedding is the only negative I have to say about this beautiful breed, and our experience is not the norm. Today I will start with how we decided on a goldendoodle, and how we found the right breeder for us.

The first thing we did was found a website where we took a quiz (http:\\www.petnet.com) they recommended several breeds and we researched each breed thoroughly until we found the one we thought would best suit our family. After choosing a breed, we started researching breeders. There are several websites out there where breeders are rated based on buyers comments and the kennel association. We were lucky enough to find a wonderful breeder in West Virginia. They have an application process and then you talk directly with the breeder after your written application has been improved. We had a few special needs involving our children, and she was able to make some great suggestions.

It is very important that you check the breeders out thoroughly. This breed is not the most expensive out there, but it is not cheap. You usually have to put a healthy deposit down and then wait for a litter to be born. You need to make sure your breeder is reputable. Most of them will supply references upon request, and they have websites with pictures of their facilities and their parent dogs. Some breeders will not allow you to tour their facility. This is mostly because of the diseases you can bring to the susceptible puppies. Please be firm but respectful of their homes and the well-being on their dogs. It is important to know what type of tests the parent dogs have undergone and what their health history holds. Some breeds have hip problems and they will have hip certified. Some breeders have genetic tests done and will post the results of those tests. We found in our research that we wanted a first generation doodle. This is the offspring of a pure bred poodle and a pure bred golden retriever. A second generation would be a goldendoodle bred with a poodle or retriever.

Good luck in your search. My next post will start with our first week with our beautiful new boy, and we will work up to present day.