Back in 2013 the Mister and I were discussing getting a dog. We were both firm on having a "big" dog. We'd both had big dogs (mongrels) before, and we liked having what, to us, is a proper dog. I know i am offending the millions of small-dog owners, and i admit i know lots of Jack Russell Terriers who THINK they are big dogs, but there it is. We are Big Dog people.
What sort though? We liked Newfoundland's. Big, hairy, chunky dogs. So far so lovely. So we began looking into Newfoundland's. We have 3 kids so we don't want to make any mistakes. When we get a dog it has to be the right one, it's potentially a 15-year decision, so we wanted to be sure.
So i googled and read about and eventually found a group of people who work their Newfie's (by wading into loch's in the middle of winter and having their dogs rescue them). I got in touch with them, via email i think, and they told me when they'd next be training so we could go and see. On the day (the cold, drizzly, miserable day) we were actually late, and pulled into the lochside carpark just as the last team were packing up. I got out and ran to their car and asked if they'd been training with the Newfies and they said they had, and very kindly opened the boot of their car and let us meet their dogs.
If you are going to meet a Newfie you should make sure it is immediately after it has rescued someone from a loch. Then you can appreciate the breed in it's full, soggy, dribbly, smelly, magnificent state. If you love Newfie's when they just got out of the loch, then you will always love them. We were informed that the other dogs and owners had gone just up the road, to the nearby dog cafe, and so we got back in the car and went up there. We met a number of owners and dogs, all very friendly. The dogs were so calm and relaxed, I was amazed to be told one girl was only 9 months old, she lay calmly at her owners feet watching two terriers scrap at a nearby table. We went away energised and thinking what a lovely breed we had found.
So far so good. But then second thoughts began to set in.
I am a slattern. Which is unfortunate for my family because aside from being a registered carer for my kids, i am also a full-time "housewife". I think my house wants a divorce...
My wonderful, patient, forgiving, loving husband grew up in a very clean, tidy house. He tolerates my slovenly ways with patience and kindness (and does a lot of the cleaning himself), but...but. I got to thinking, how would he REALLY feel about the drool on things? Not just on the sofa, but, if they shake their heads, on the ceiling? And the hair - Newfie's are the most shedding dogs, you could probably knit a sweater with their spring moult. Everything i read about them basically said, "if you can love the drool, hair and smell then you're set."
The smell! They did smell. The day we met them all fresh from the loch. They didn't smell bad, but they smelled very strongly, of dog. An for the rest of the day my hands did, even after i'd washed them. Would my husband deal well with his already not-very-clean home also being coated in drool and hair and dog-stink?
Another factor was that we walk a lot and have three active kids who want to play ball and chase and hide and seek with their new hairy sibling. Newfoundland's are massive and those huge bones and joints take time to grow and be strong. Most of the Newfie's we met accessed the car via a ramp, several owners told us slippery floors and stairs could be a problem for puppies, as could excessively quick growth (which seems fairly hard to prevent). They grow up big and strong...eventually. But excessive strain on the joints when they're still growing can really damage them. Hip and elbow surgery in a dog that size runs into thousands of pounds.
So i began googling again. And first i found out about (brace yourselves) Newfiepoo's. In case you need a picture drawn, that is a Newfie/poodle cross. Poodles do NOT shed and do NOT drool excessively. They also tend not to smell (though they need a lot of grooming so that is probably partly why). Standard poodles are often 24-26" tall at the shoulder. So a newfiepoo, hopefully, will be a big Newfie-ish dog which doesn't shed or drool like a Newfie. Sorted, i thought. I found a breeder and emailed to ask if i could please have some more info and join her waiting list. She didn't respond, but that is not unusual in the world of dog breeders. Many breeders are busy people and unless they're looking for potentials they often don't have time to respond to every enquiry.
I kept checking back at the cross though, and looked a little deeper, i found out that SOME Newfiepoos inherit the "other" genes and do have shedding coats and dribbly mouths. Cross-breeding is a guessing game, basically. I kept reading, wondering what drawbacks of poodles were potentially eradicated by this cross, but i drew a blank.
Poodles, if you accept their grooming needs, don't really have many drawbacks. They are incredibly smart (the second cleverest breed, behind collies) and very trainable, they are sociable, they are fun and love to play but are not crazy, and, if you like that sort of thing, they are good looking dogs. Their joints are usually fine, and the major problem the breed suffers is Addison's, which is adrenal insufficiency. It most often affects middle aged bitches and is very treatable but a good reason to have Lifetime insurance (as treatment is for the life of the dog from onset until death).
At first i baulked at the (at times froufrou, at times ridiculous) clips but the more i looked online the more information i found that, except in the showring, EVERY clip is optional. Don't like shaved feet? Just scissor them for comfort. Don't like a topknot? Cut the whole head one length. If you are paying the groomer they are obliged to give you what you ask for, and if you plan to DIY (which i do) you have even more freedom to be as creative or as basic as you wish. The dog underneath doesn't care if it has a banded topknot or is shaved down to 7mm all over. As long as the dog IS groomed, and the coat isn't allowed to mat, all creative decisions can be taken by the owner.
I began showing all the things i'd found out to my husband, and he shared my enthusiasm about this smart, trainable, fun breed, which felt to us like it'd been hiding in full sight.
So that was it. We wanted a poodle.
