Golden Doodle

[curty]

I have recently adopted a beautiful black 1 year old golden doodle. Both of her parents were also golden doodles. She’s got a lovely temperament and is incredibly smart. I’d love to responsibility breed her but I am a novice. I’ve only owned fixed dogs. What breed is ideal for her to mate with? How do you go about finding a mate? What are some other good things to know? I would like to do everything the right way - I’m just not sure what that means.

 

[davecb]

@curty Before you even think about finding a stud dog, understand a few things.

The first is the cost of breeding dogs. Stuff goes wrong, and when it does, medical intervention is not cheap. I have no idea where you live, but having a vet who can do an emergency C-section, is really high on the list of things you need to be able to pay for.

Also health testing: DNA testing is very cheap. Doing proper testing on hips, elbows, hearts and eyes is all expensive and requires seeking out specialized vets. I did my young dog's hips and elbows over the summer, and that was just over $1,000. Eyes are about $100 or so, and cardiac is about $500 or so.

And...the quality of stud dog you will find for a pet doodle is super minimal. The Lab, Golden and Poodle clubs of America all have published position papers on breeding doodles. No one who is a member of those clubs will breed their nice, fully health tested dogs to one.

That would leave you using doodles who are not health tested who have questionable temperaments, etc.

Finally, let's say you breed her and now you have 10 doodle puppies in your house/apartment. How are you going to sell them? What if you can't find homes for 3 or 4 or 5 of them? Are you ok dumping them at a shelter?

Dog breeding is not for the faint of heart: it's why I always say it's far easier to write a check, then to breed dogs.

 

[curty]

@davecb Thank you. Those are good things to consider.

 

[silverthorne]

@curty Do her last 4 generations have full health testing for each of the breeds in their mix?

For the past 4 generations can anyone explain the pros and cons to each generation?

Have the past 4 generations been bred with any sort of purpose other than to produce puppies?

Have have the past four generations been judged for soundness of mind body and temperament?

If the first one isn't true, then this dog cannot be ethically bred.

 

[curty]

@silverthorne Thank you for the advice! That’s solid and something I can use. I appreciate it.

 

[sjp03]

@curty There is no conceivable way doodles can be responsibly or ethically bred. There is a ton of information out there about why doodles are unethical, start doing some research. Spay your girl, dive into training and activities with her, enjoy the learning opportunities. Get involved in your local dog groups. If breeding is something you're interested in, get involved in the dog fancy and some aspect of the purebred dog world, start educating yourself on what it means to be an ethical breeder.

 

[curty]

@sjp03 That’s why I’m here. Starting my research. Thank you.

 

[jasenismyname]

@curty Doodles don't have a true standard to prove the structure of their dogs. Someone tried to write one recently that's very, very broad. The supporters of that standard are all incredibly unethical as well so I don't count on it.

I have the same advice for you. I'm looking to preserve a breed, so I'm doing my research on ethical breeding as well. It starts with going to dog shows/dog sports and looking into a certain breed. Since you like your doodle, I'd look into getting a poodle!

 

[home4good]

@jasenismyname What breed started with a standard? Or with health testing? Or even started with just a single try?

 

[jasenismyname]

@home4good All breeds were created to perform a task. What do doodle dogs offer that either parent fails at?

 

[home4good]

@jasenismyname ? There are dogs that were created to sit on someone's lap! There are breeds that were created to bark to wake up another dog. There are breeds that were just found to be cute and they kept making them. Not all breeds were created intentionally or for something we have to find useful. They don't even have to do something unique.

Toy group in the AKC has some of the histories that are the strangest, and they were not created in single tries by single breeders.

 

[jasenismyname]

@home4good The parents clubs for Labradors, Poodles, and Golden Retrievers have all condemned doodling because of the lack of ethics in the breeders.

Toy dogs serve their purpose! That's why so many small dogs are small. They have to stay in standard in order to fulfill their purpose in the written standard.

For some breeds like the Alaskan Husky, if the dog can do their job and do it well, chances are they'd be able to spread their genes to the next generation. Looks come second to the function.

Creating a new breed is a monumental task to be performed by a group of collaborative breeders, to perform a task that either adds to or deviates from tasks that other breeds of dogs can do. I ask again, what purpose would a doodle serve? What breeds would go into making a doodle a breed?

Right now, doodles are so widely mixed willy-nilly that there cannot be a good standard. These poodle mixes cannot be developed into a breed until every single breeder of these dogs is health testing to both breed chic standards and collaborates. Unfortunately, profits seem to come first.

 

[sjp03]

@jasenismyname

Creating a new breed is a monumental task to be performed by a group of collaborative breeders, to perform a task that either adds to or deviates from tasks that other breeds of dogs can do.

Hanging Tree Cow Dogs are a great example of this. This is a new breed with a number of organized breeders who have achieved what they set out to do, fill a niche in stock dog work. Doodles will never achieve this.

 

[jasenismyname]

@sjp03 That's a great example!

 

[home4good]

@jasenismyname You have great dreams but I am not holding my breath that any breed will start by the rules you have. Good luck.

 

[sjp03]

@home4good I literally just mentioned one lol. I could easily name a couple more... Silken Windhounds, Idaho Shags (sort of), McNabbs...

 

[home4good]

@sjp03

Hanging Tree Cow Dogs

Do any of these breeds you are throwing out there have published standards, health testing requirements, or competition for them?

If not, what makes them more of a breed than any other mix?

 

[jasenismyname]

@home4good Not sure what that means but okay

 

[bailey2017]

@home4good Those dogs were created to withstand the hustle and bustle of a busy royal court without moving from their post.

The others were created to hide near the royalty and bark to alert the guards if someone managed to sneak past them

 

[thewingsoftruth]

@curty Whoa whoa whoa, hold up. You adopted her? Or did you buy her? Those are NOT the same thing.