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this is all new to me but..

kimmie
October 15th, 2006, 11:33 AM
This is the first time doing this, and I am not sure this is the right avenue for me, but I have been trying for 3 months to find the perfect puppy for our family. We have certain criteria. We are looking for (1st) a small breed, preferably mixed puppy. All our dogs in the past have come to us by either owners giving them up, two tied to our farm sign, and one from a friend who didn;t want a mistake. However since then some of our pets have passed away, old age. We have always had dogs in our family. We also have done a lot of research on goldendoodles which we are fond of. My problem is we don't believe and can't afford to pay the unreasonable prices some people are asking. We take our pets to the vet and treat them like part of the family. We do not want anything with hopund/beagle/rottie/shepards, not interested in yorkies or chiuaus, picky eh. something mixed with terrier, and must be good with children.

thanks

jesse's mommy
October 15th, 2006, 11:55 AM
Have you looked on petfinder?

kimmie
October 15th, 2006, 12:52 PM
I have tried petfinder, the smaller breeds are harder to find lots of the type of dogs we are not looking for, thanks though.

phoenix
October 15th, 2006, 01:25 PM
keep trying on petfinder; I just did a search there for Lanark area... lots and lots of small mixes (although.... wow are there ever a lot of beagles in your area!) Did you mean yes to a terrier mix or no? (Unclear)... also unclear: You want a small mix but like retriever/poodle mixes??? they are pretty big, usually. Lots of breeds have rescues that you can apply to... they keep you on record even if they don't have a dog available right then. (eg. boxer rescue Ontario, boxer rescue quebec, boston terrier rescue, etc).
Are you willing to adopt from Quebec? Try Sasha's den or http://www.spcamonteregie.com/ although they look like bigger dogs there.

The rescue listings on this site might help. Sasha's den just posted about a jrt named popcorn...

Good for you for refusing to help the byb's who breed designer dogs like 'golden doodles' and charge ridiculous prices for mutts :thumbs up

Good luck in your search. I'm sure there are lots of people around here who can help if you give us some more 'likes' and the type of lifestyle you want to match for your new family member. I don't think it is a bad thing to be picky; because this is for life.

TMac
October 15th, 2006, 03:23 PM
Hi Kimmie,

You won't get many people on this board supporting the goldendoodle (do a search for the term on the discussion forum to find out why). Have you tried any of the area rescues? Lanark Animal Welfare Society is in your area (http://www.lanarkanimals.ca/dogs1.asp) and BARK is another good all-breed rescue (http://home.ican.net/~933435/HowMuchIsThatDoggie.htm).

What are the characteristics you are most looking for or trying to avoid? The people on this board are very knowledgeable about various breeds and with a bit more info I'm sure we could direct you to a great dog!

wdawson
October 15th, 2006, 05:49 PM
its not that people don't support goldendoodles....it's the rediculess notion that these people breed these dogs as designer breeds and the people that buy them and keep the demand going are the same people that will get rid of them when the next fad happens along......like cars where popular,now its suv's....colored appliances,now stainless.......there will be alot of support in the rescue groups in the next couple years:sad:

mummummum
October 15th, 2006, 09:20 PM
Best wishes in finding a puppy and thank you for going the rescue route ~ they are the BEST. Thought I would let you know that "goldendoodles" can be quite large. We have one in our neighbourhood which is on the tall end for a Standard Poodle and on the thick end for a Golden Retriever ~ he's a big boy!:dog:

H.P.
October 15th, 2006, 09:34 PM
i would suggest that you go back to pet finder, and get intouch woht the groups/shelters that they have listed in your area. Let them know what you are looking for. I know that around here, the petfinder listings are often not up to date, also, they can pre-approve you, and then give you a call if they a pet comes in that seems to fit your needs for you to come and meet. Good luck!

Prin
October 15th, 2006, 09:44 PM
If you don't like the outrageous prices for goldendoodles and that deters you from buying one, that's good enough for me.:D

Everybody here has already mentioned petfinder...

What do you mean by small? Because you say small and then you say golden mutt and they're two competely different ball parks....

Why not a beagle? (it's in your list of "don't wants") IMO, beagles are slightly more family friendly than Jack Russell terriers who have crazy, crazy prey drive and are ultra high energy....

The other thing that might be good is a dwarf lab... A few of the rescue labs are smaller than the norm, and they might be perfect.:)

Or what about this one:
http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=7094629

TMac
October 15th, 2006, 09:45 PM
its not that people don't support goldendoodles....it's the rediculess notion that these people breed these dogs as designer breeds and the people that buy them and keep the demand going are the same people that will get rid of them when the next fad happens along......like cars where popular,now its suv's....colored appliances,now stainless.......there will be alot of support in the rescue groups in the next couple years:sad:

Sorry - should have said "don't support the breeding of goldendoodles as a designer breed" or something like that. Hopefully everyone knew what I meant. :)

Prin
October 15th, 2006, 09:48 PM
Exactly. Mutts are mutts and shouldn't be sold as a breed. There's nothing wrong with wanting a mutt, but don't expect it to adhere to any sort of breed standards...

Anyway, this topic has been discussed to death already, so I won't hijack this thread anymore....:o

kimmie
October 16th, 2006, 08:36 AM
The reason I go from small mix to golden doodle is that I have 4 children and we have all discussed this so the two types of dogs that would fit into our family are as listed. I realize goldendoodles can be rather large, still okay. We have had rotti mixes and our beloved bouvier.great dane mix. Right now we have a hound/rotti mix. The problem for us with beagle or hound mixes is that we live in the country and generally all our dogs walk in the bush without leashes, however we were surprised when two years ago we got our current dog and when kodas off a leash he is good till he gets the scent then he's gone!! My girlfriend down the road has a beagle mis same thing and in general this happens. Howvere none with our rotti or bouvier mixed dogs.
So ideally we would like something like a benji dog( I know he was a pure bred) but that type of look, also light in colour, nothing reflecting the colors of a rottie/shepherd. I will register with petfinder and keep looking but trying all avenues. Tnaks for all those with imput this is great.

meb999
October 16th, 2006, 12:03 PM
I don't have much to add that hasn't already been said....except it might be a good idea to send applications to the rescues in your area. That way, you can get your home approved and stuff, and they'll keep their eyes open for a dog that would meet your criteria. Most rescues don't post ALL their adoptable pets on petfinder (or on their own rescue website....), so it's good to have your application in already.

wdawson
October 16th, 2006, 05:25 PM
TMac
i know what you wanted to say........i just wanted to reword it abit :D

OntarioGreys
October 16th, 2006, 07:03 PM
It seems you want something small and shaggy ,being you are in the country have you considered the problem that burrs? Have you checked pet finder looking under poodles, puppies are harder to come by but there iften lots of young adult poodle mixes

Prin
October 16th, 2006, 10:45 PM
But what about this guy (the one I posted above)?
http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=7094629
Is he close to what you're looking for?

I think it's best to research the breeds first though- for example, terriers can have a purpose, too, that might lead them to run off after something.

And why a goldendoodle and not either a golden or a poodle? :o

kimmie
October 17th, 2006, 06:17 AM
I have checked the one out at petfinder-the terrier mix however he is a little older than what we wanted - 7 years, and if I was to get a terrier mix I would want smaller. As for the goldendoodle mix we have met quite a few my children just fell in love,and have spent days with these dogs and still loved them. Not intereted in just the poodle breed, but would consider the golden retreiver. Its like the person said before we are being a bit picky because this is forever. I am surprised the response I am getting regarding the goldendoodle, more megative than positive....interesting.

mafiaprincess
October 17th, 2006, 07:11 AM
If you said you wanted a golden x poodle mix, you'd get a better response. No one but a backyard breeder or a mill is selling 'goldendoodles'. They aren't a 'breed' and the way things like that go so few people are trying to go about breeding the right way for them ever to become a breed.
So when you say you want a goldendoodle.. only place you'll find one is from a sketch breeder, and none of us support that.

A lot of terriers as Prin said can also follow their noses, and many breeds that might be okay for being off leash, you could easily end up with a dog that is the opposite and flees repeatedly.

You need to make a list of the traits most important to you to try and narrow down what you want.

OntarioGreys
October 17th, 2006, 07:46 AM
The original Benji was named Higgins and used to star in Petticoat junction, he was not purebred but a mutt a poodle, cocker and schnauzer mix.

If you go to a small breed rescue and ask for a dog that looks a certain way chances are you will get turned down flat, because how a dog looks will not guarantee it is a good fit for your home, and most rescues will not adopt a small dog to a family with young children due to being too fragile, most will only place a small dog in homes where children are 10 and older.

I have found one on petfinder that looks close to Benji , but the dog has a buddy and they must be adopted together,
http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=7170803


http://wwww.petfinder.com/fotos/ON254/ON254.7170803-1-x.jpg

phoenix
October 17th, 2006, 08:38 AM
http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=6137423 Sassy is cute!

Lissa
October 17th, 2006, 09:54 AM
A lot of terriers as Prin said can also follow their noses, and many breeds that might be okay for being off leash, you could easily end up with a dog that is the opposite and flees repeatedly.

That's the first thing that came to my mind too. Terriers are just as likely to "take-off" as hounds. Having said that, any breed with a high prey drive is likely to disappear when they see/smell prey.

I am glad you and your family are really taking them time to think about what you want in a dog.:)

kimmie
October 17th, 2006, 01:59 PM
Your right how a dog looks does not determin how the will fit in, but how they look is the initial attraction as with most things in life. As for the goldendoodle response I have looked on kijiji and usedottawa are you saying the people selling their goldendoodles puppies for $800-$1000 are sketch breeders or worse puppy mills? Looked into the site with the two dogs however that would be too much responsibility right off the bat. We already have a dog and although we have had 4 dogs at one time we had them first of all because they were dropped off at our farm and we kept them instead of sending them to the pound, unfortunately they passed away @year ago, and the other 3yrs.ago.
Thanks for the imput again we have done a lot of reasearch sometimes there is a thing as too much info. I am sure no breed is perfect for everyone!!!

mafiaprincess
October 17th, 2006, 02:23 PM
I have looked on kijiji and usedottawa are you saying the people selling their goldendoodles puppies for $800-$1000 are sketch breeders or worse puppy mills?


Yes, they are. If they are breeding designer mutts they are the lowest of the low. They may be the few odd breeders out there trying to do it all right and trying to make that mix into a breed that breeds true, but 99.9% of the people breeding mutts are doing it for the money.. Many don't health test, and don't do anything else that make us respect them. So you are paying more than I'd pay for a purebred dog from Ch. parents who health test and the whole lot because they are preying on people's desire for something 'different'.
Also no breeder worth anything at all would advertise on places like hoobly, kijiji, etc

bethaliz
October 17th, 2006, 03:29 PM
just as a side bar to the whole rescue thing....you can also check with local breeders for older animals. I know that a lot of breeders have dogs available that were show dogs and breeding stock. Now that they are retired, they try to place them in loving homes. NOrmally these pets tend to cost less. You wouldn't be getting a puppy, but that doesn't appear to be what your after anyway......I know pure bred breeder do this..........mixed bred breeders might as well.......I"m not sure, but you can check into it.

Prin
October 17th, 2006, 06:55 PM
As for the goldendoodle response I have looked on kijiji and usedottawa are you saying the people selling their goldendoodles puppies for $800-$1000 are sketch breeders or worse puppy mills?Yes! We're all saying that. They're not "breeders", they're just in it for profits. Breeders don't breed mutts. If you go that route, you will definitely be disappointed. Sorry.:shrug: