<p>To answer some of the issue brought up:</p>
<p>Yes there is variance in hypoallergenic characteristics of doodles, but the good breeders will always let their potential clients know of that possibility and if an individual NEEDS a “hypoallergenic” dog that breeder will steer the person to a backcross (3/4 poodle ¼ lab or golden) or multigenerational doodle (with known low allergenic parents). These breeders usually are experienced enough to make a pretty right on estimate of future coat as far as shedding goes. The shedding coats have a very different texture than the low/no shedding coats. It goes beyond the curly factor. They know which ones are very likely to shed some vs. shed little or not at all (within reason…all dogs lose hair here and there…even poodles can). Some breeders send saliva and hair samples from puppies to potential buyers so the buyer can test their reaction. And if all of that fails and the dog still causes an allergic reaction, they will gladly take the dog back and offer a refund. The breeders who don’t do this are usually the ones who ALSO don’t do health testing and aren’t careful about who they sell to, and all that other low quality stuff. With all that said, I have a coworker who has TERRIBLE allergies to ALL dogs…and this includes poodles. Someone like her hopefully would KNOW better than to assume a doodle would be fine for her. I also know several people who have general dog allergies who do GREAT with their doodles. I realize “other” breeds can be hypoallergenic, but not everyone likes some of the smaller dogs or full on poodles, etc. </p>
<p>Also for the first cross dogs, there are usually enough people who don’t need a low allergenic dog who don’t mind some shedding who are willing to buy those from the litter. It’s not ONLY allergic people who go to buy doodles. Interestingly some of the good breeders I know actually are AIMING their program to produce the low shed doodle with the mild temparement (service dog basically) and are quite successful (of course they breed F1b or multigens).</p>
<p>Regarding training and the need for a “family pet” to be “trainable.” In my opinion MOST dogs are trainable with time and consistency. Yes there is always the odd dog that is out of control, hyper, bouncing off the walls, but when I said the good doodle breeders breed for “family pets” I’m saying that they use breeding dogs that have that type of more mellow temperament. They do seek out breeding stock which do exhibit the easily trained type personality. But even with super mellow parents, you’ll get some puppies that are more difficult than others. Even pure breeds vary and this is why even in a show breeding or in an obedience line…some of the litter will be considered “just” pet quality. </p>
<p>And yet the average pet owner wouldn’t necessarily find an easier dog in a mutt from the pound. I think I tend to not think so highly of the “average” pet owner because so many of the ones I know are terrible at training and/or disciplining their dogs and helping them to become better citizens of their community. I feel like I read SOOO MUCH before getting my first dog (my labradoodle) that I’m amazed when other dog owners I know don’t know or do HALF of what I know is important to do. I can’t help but wonder…don’t people READ? How can anyone enter into ownership of a different species without doing some MAJOR preparation? </p>
<p>One of my good friends recently adopted a puppy from rescue. I went with her to help her out and although she wasn’t sure if she would end up taking a pup home earlier that day, she wasn’t prepared for ANYTHING. I let her use an old crate, gave her a bottle of Nature’s Miracle to clean up accidents, lent her a puppy training book and video, went with her to the pet stores the next day to get more supplies. </p>
<p>Other owners I know think crates look so mean and evil and instead of crating they are willing to come home to styrafoam all over the living room and burst soda cans and who knows what swallowed items that could cause obstructions because “oh I just couldn’t bare to put fluffy in a cage!”</p>
<p>As far as the lunatic bearded collie, while that may be partly breed related (don’t know much about that breed) and partly breeding related, my guess is that they simply aren’t doing their part in training. There are lunatic labs…lunatic weimaraners…beagles…you name it! My dogs would be lunatics too if my husband and I didn’t invest time to train. He trained his border collie to off leash reliability…got his labradoodle to heel on leash beautifully…and I’m working on finishing my labradoodle to off-leash reliability and then I’ll start his labradoodle to get her there. I can walk all three of them without worrying I’ll get pulled down the street (and they weigh a collective 210 lbs or so). I feel so proud when we walk them down the sidewalk and the dogs across the street are pulling on their leashes while ours are walking nicely at our side. That’s not to say I don’t believe in picking the right breed for one’s family. Better to start with a generally recognized as safe family dog than to pick on looks alone. Luckily there are all sorts of combos of looks and personality to fit most people.</p>
<p>To princedog…if you indeed believe that virtually all breeding (including that of pure breeds ) is wrong to a than I think you have a very valid position. I’m not kidding. There are very good arguments to be made regarding the unnecessary act of breeding and the opportunity cost of buying a purposely bred dog. If nobody bought from breeders or ooops litters…they would be forced to go to a shelter/rescue and reduce the pet overpopulation. The problem with that, for me, is that that would necessitate extra legislation and I’m not big on adding more laws. A lot of decent people would lose their livelihood and there isn’t enough money available to enforce an anti-breeding law. Those who breed pit bulls for fighting would continue to do so for example. </p>
<p>I really like to know where my dog came from…I like knowing it was raised properly as a puppy and got purposeful and appropriate socialization. So for me I really prefer to buy from a breeder. I also adore puppies and love all the hard work involved in raising a good dog. Not impossible to find puppies at shelters/rescue, but is a bit tougher.</p>
<p>Anyway, thank you all for the good discussion! I appreciate that although opinions can be heated on these issues, everyone is pretty cordial =)</p>