So the puppies were born, and our breeder kept me updated throughout the labour. Eventually the litter was complete, five puppies, two girls and three boys. She sent me a picture of them all curled up together, so sweet.
When they were about two weeks old she sent me a video of them all wobbly-walking about in the whelping box, under their heat lamp, clumsily playing with one another. Right away i really liked the look of one but i held my feelings on the matter pretty tight.
I had asked the breeder to choose our puppy. That's another move that can be contentious - people think, "well, i'm paying for it, i want to choose it myself". But be honest - how much do you know about dogs? About the specific breed you've chosen? About the dog and bitch of that breed who are the parents? About the puppies in front of you?
In our case the breeder owns both parents and had been with the puppies almost every minute of their lives, having been sleeping on the sofa in the room where they were born for weeks. She had known the parents from their own young days, and had seen how each puppy had grown and developed since they were born. She knew what we were looking for in a puppy, what our family looked like and what our lifestyle was like. So for us she was the best qualified to choose.
We got the video when we were on holiday. Rather than try to take a young puppy away or kennel a young puppy we decided to have our "main" holiday at Easter this year, and spend the summer at home getting the puppy socialised and trained. If all goes well there will be a holiday either in late August or early November with our hopefully-maturing-well dog.
So once we returned home from our holiday the breeder said we should come and meet the puppies. We arranged childcare. Some people will take the whole family to meet a potential puppy but we decided not to. I wanted to make the choice of whether the puppy was right for us with my head - i know for a fact the kids would have fallen in love with WHATEVER puppy we took them to see, and would have wanted it, no matter what and it would have torn at me heart to walk away at that point, knowing how invested they were. So just me and Mr Kaboodle went, the kids stayed with their grandparents.
I had already seen the set up so it was familiar to me, but Mr Kaboodle hadn't been before. When we arrived the puppy deemed most suitable for us by the breeder was put straight into our arms and we went to sit with him and the breeder and her husband and get to know him a bit. By chance he was the dog i'd liked the look of best from the start. In total we spent about an hour there, cuddling the puppy, meeting all the other adult dogs (there are lots besides the breeding stock) and puppies, and chatting, and we came away completely certain he was our boy.
Tuesday, 17 May 2016
Particularly Particoloured Poodle
Particoloured poodles are divisive.
The UK Kennel Club actually states "Any Solid Colour" in the poodle breed standard. Which means that technically, particoloured poodles aren't "proper" poodles. It goes on to say, as regards breeding and showing - "Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog and on the dog’s ability to perform its traditional work."
There are paintings from as long ago as the 16th century featuring particoloured poodles, in fact the colouring was once regarded as normal and was the foundation colouring of the breed. But when the breed standard was written in 1886 (I think - if you know better then comment!) only solid colours were permitted, presumably due to the fashion at the time. Consequently in the UK particoloured poodles in the UK have been, since then, regarded as "mismarked" or "abstract" in the US (their KC registration lists their colour as "not recognised"). Indeed for a long time they were regarded as seriously flawed and often drowned at birth. Despite well over a century of breeding solid colours, particolours appear still, they are genetically normal poodles and not associated with any particular health problems (as can happen in other breeds - for example white boxers are more likely to be deaf than other colours). Up until fairly recently "mismarked" poodles lucky enough to be bred by kind breeders and allowed to live would be sold off cheaply to pet owners not looking for a show dog, often unregistered.
Recently however, there has been a resurgence for the parti-poodle. More and more people like how they look and want them. This has led to a difficult situation - since they don't adhere to the breed standard many people will say, "any breeder breeding them is not a good breeder!" which obviously dissuades good breeders from breeding them. In addition those who would breed an untested poorly cared for litter in order to make a fast profit WILL breed them, because they sell, and for higher prices than solids due to their relative scarcity. Where there is demand there WILL be supply. Luckily a few good breeders ARE breeding particolours, from well bred, health tested parents, but finding one is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
In our case choosing a particoloured puppy was entirely by accident. The breeder happened to have parti's she was planning to breed, and i happened to be especially drawn to them when i visited (much as i liked her show bitch, i fell in love with the parti's). If i had set out to find a good quality partipoodle i wouldn't have known where to start.
Because of the KC breed standard many staunch "dog people" will say that a partipoodle can only have come from an unethical breeder, because "no GOOD breeder would breed one!". That also means that those people see the dog and assume the owner is a fool who has been fleeced into buying a suspect pup of dubious heritage.
Personally i don't see how being a non-solid colours makes ANY DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER to the health or welfare of the dog, nor how it could possibly interfere with the dog's ability to perform it's traditional work, so in that sense the "solid colours only" KC line makes no sense to me. They are beautiful dogs, just as clever and friendly as solid coloured poodles, and just as likely to be healthy and useful. One could reasonably argue that the standard for the face of the pug dog, which contains the line, "muzzle relatively short, blunt, square, not upfaced," contributes strongly to the breathing difficulties common in pugs and similar dogs, and yet it is deemed perfectly correct and acceptable. Yes the breed standard states it SHOULD NOT interfere with breathing, but we all know it can. Similarly the "slight slope" of the back in a German Shepherd's correct standard seems to have become a shuffling gaited banana back in some show rings and that isn't seen unilaterally to be a problem either. So i'm not very excited about breed standards, especially purely cosmetic arbitrary rules, and i'm also, with two autistic kids who act up relentlessly, not THAT interested in the general opinions on the matter of those i might meet!
So CHOOSING to seek a partipoodle might be a difficult path to tread, depending on how easy you find it to locate a good breeder, and how you feel about the debate surrounding them. People who want to can start with The Parti Poodle Club (UK).
The UK Kennel Club actually states "Any Solid Colour" in the poodle breed standard. Which means that technically, particoloured poodles aren't "proper" poodles. It goes on to say, as regards breeding and showing - "Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog and on the dog’s ability to perform its traditional work."
There are paintings from as long ago as the 16th century featuring particoloured poodles, in fact the colouring was once regarded as normal and was the foundation colouring of the breed. But when the breed standard was written in 1886 (I think - if you know better then comment!) only solid colours were permitted, presumably due to the fashion at the time. Consequently in the UK particoloured poodles in the UK have been, since then, regarded as "mismarked" or "abstract" in the US (their KC registration lists their colour as "not recognised"). Indeed for a long time they were regarded as seriously flawed and often drowned at birth. Despite well over a century of breeding solid colours, particolours appear still, they are genetically normal poodles and not associated with any particular health problems (as can happen in other breeds - for example white boxers are more likely to be deaf than other colours). Up until fairly recently "mismarked" poodles lucky enough to be bred by kind breeders and allowed to live would be sold off cheaply to pet owners not looking for a show dog, often unregistered.
Recently however, there has been a resurgence for the parti-poodle. More and more people like how they look and want them. This has led to a difficult situation - since they don't adhere to the breed standard many people will say, "any breeder breeding them is not a good breeder!" which obviously dissuades good breeders from breeding them. In addition those who would breed an untested poorly cared for litter in order to make a fast profit WILL breed them, because they sell, and for higher prices than solids due to their relative scarcity. Where there is demand there WILL be supply. Luckily a few good breeders ARE breeding particolours, from well bred, health tested parents, but finding one is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
In our case choosing a particoloured puppy was entirely by accident. The breeder happened to have parti's she was planning to breed, and i happened to be especially drawn to them when i visited (much as i liked her show bitch, i fell in love with the parti's). If i had set out to find a good quality partipoodle i wouldn't have known where to start.
Because of the KC breed standard many staunch "dog people" will say that a partipoodle can only have come from an unethical breeder, because "no GOOD breeder would breed one!". That also means that those people see the dog and assume the owner is a fool who has been fleeced into buying a suspect pup of dubious heritage.
Personally i don't see how being a non-solid colours makes ANY DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER to the health or welfare of the dog, nor how it could possibly interfere with the dog's ability to perform it's traditional work, so in that sense the "solid colours only" KC line makes no sense to me. They are beautiful dogs, just as clever and friendly as solid coloured poodles, and just as likely to be healthy and useful. One could reasonably argue that the standard for the face of the pug dog, which contains the line, "muzzle relatively short, blunt, square, not upfaced," contributes strongly to the breathing difficulties common in pugs and similar dogs, and yet it is deemed perfectly correct and acceptable. Yes the breed standard states it SHOULD NOT interfere with breathing, but we all know it can. Similarly the "slight slope" of the back in a German Shepherd's correct standard seems to have become a shuffling gaited banana back in some show rings and that isn't seen unilaterally to be a problem either. So i'm not very excited about breed standards, especially purely cosmetic arbitrary rules, and i'm also, with two autistic kids who act up relentlessly, not THAT interested in the general opinions on the matter of those i might meet!
So CHOOSING to seek a partipoodle might be a difficult path to tread, depending on how easy you find it to locate a good breeder, and how you feel about the debate surrounding them. People who want to can start with The Parti Poodle Club (UK).
Sunday, 15 May 2016
Meet The Parents!
Everyone knows that if you are buying a puppy you should at LEAST meet the bitch. And yet it is actually very common for people to buy a puppy having NOT done this.
You might not be going about this the way we did, you might not find your breeder until the pups are already born, but no matter what you need to meet the bitch. The bitch is genetically half the story of you pup's make-up, and in addition she is raising those puppies for the early weeks and her temperament and behaviour will rub off on them. If she is aggressive they run a higher risk of being aggressive. If she is nervous and scared they will learn to be too. If she is calm and confident they will be calmer and more confident too. So meet her and ask yourself if you'd be happy to live with her.
Dogs should be health tested before breeding. The specific tests depend on the breed but do your research and find out which tests the Kennel Club or breed society advises and familiarise yourself with how results look and what they mean. There's no point in finding out the bitch's hipscore if you don't have a clue what a Good hipscore is. The breeder should be able to show you the results on request.
The breeder was open and friendly and showed me around. Her dogs live in the house with her, which is excellent if you want a dog to live indoors with you, because it means the puppies will usually come home with at least SOME idea of outside/inside when it comes to toileting and that makes house-training a wee bit easier. It also means they will not be horrified and scared by normal house sights sounds and smells, a big bonus in fitting them in to family life.
We are lucky that our puppy's parents were both owned by Arkangel's, so we were able to meet them both, and i went along and did so when the bitch was still a few weeks from whelping (giving birth). The bitch was a little reticent at first sight with me, but friendly after a minute or two and happy to be petted and admired.
The dog was amazing, very confident and friendly, and beautiful. When i met him the breeder was growing his coat out to a full show coat so he looked like a huge black and white lion. I offered to take him home with me! I was that smitten.
After meeting the dogs and the breeder i was 100% sure i was happy with the set-up and the dogs and knew that come what may, we had found the parents of our future puppy. We had already decided, so at that point i let the breeder know, that we'd like a boy puppy, and given how taken i was with them i said i'd love a pup with similar colourings to the parents (who are parti, but heading towards tuxedo in their patterning). So now we just had to wait for whelping.
You might not be going about this the way we did, you might not find your breeder until the pups are already born, but no matter what you need to meet the bitch. The bitch is genetically half the story of you pup's make-up, and in addition she is raising those puppies for the early weeks and her temperament and behaviour will rub off on them. If she is aggressive they run a higher risk of being aggressive. If she is nervous and scared they will learn to be too. If she is calm and confident they will be calmer and more confident too. So meet her and ask yourself if you'd be happy to live with her.
Dogs should be health tested before breeding. The specific tests depend on the breed but do your research and find out which tests the Kennel Club or breed society advises and familiarise yourself with how results look and what they mean. There's no point in finding out the bitch's hipscore if you don't have a clue what a Good hipscore is. The breeder should be able to show you the results on request.
The breeder was open and friendly and showed me around. Her dogs live in the house with her, which is excellent if you want a dog to live indoors with you, because it means the puppies will usually come home with at least SOME idea of outside/inside when it comes to toileting and that makes house-training a wee bit easier. It also means they will not be horrified and scared by normal house sights sounds and smells, a big bonus in fitting them in to family life.
We are lucky that our puppy's parents were both owned by Arkangel's, so we were able to meet them both, and i went along and did so when the bitch was still a few weeks from whelping (giving birth). The bitch was a little reticent at first sight with me, but friendly after a minute or two and happy to be petted and admired.
The dog was amazing, very confident and friendly, and beautiful. When i met him the breeder was growing his coat out to a full show coat so he looked like a huge black and white lion. I offered to take him home with me! I was that smitten.
After meeting the dogs and the breeder i was 100% sure i was happy with the set-up and the dogs and knew that come what may, we had found the parents of our future puppy. We had already decided, so at that point i let the breeder know, that we'd like a boy puppy, and given how taken i was with them i said i'd love a pup with similar colourings to the parents (who are parti, but heading towards tuxedo in their patterning). So now we just had to wait for whelping.
Finding a Dog
Obviously the most ethical place to find a dog is a rescue centre.
If you want a specific breed that ISN'T Staffordshire bull terrier cross (which the rescue centres are crammed full of) there are usually local and national Breed Societies who re-home unwanted dogs of that breed.
Unfortunately though, rescue dogs are not for everyone, all the time. In our case a rescue dog wouldn't be appropriate, and no rescues are likely to consider us.
We have three children, aged 10, 5 and 3. Two of those children, the eldest and youngest, have Autism Spectrum Disorder. The eldest also has ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). So because of the young age of our children most rescues won't even consider us (they generally like children over 10 at a minimum, we're in the UK so YMMV depending on where in the world you are), and because of our childrens' additional support needs we do not feel good about bringing an adult dog with unknown but specific issues (and the vast majority of rescue dogs DO have issues, with training or behaviour, which need to be addressed) into our home. We have owned rescue dogs in the past, and will no doubt own them again in the future. But at this specific time it isn't a realistic path for us.
You can usually find puppies of every imaginable breed and cross for sale on sites like Gumtree, Pets4Homes, Criagslist etc. Unfortunately there is no way to know exactly what you're getting if you go that route. The puppy could be from a loving home, carefully bred from well matched health tested parents and carefully socialised. Or it could be from a puppy farm, born of an untested set of parents to turn a quick profit and have never met a human until the day the man who brought it to your house came to take it from its mother. MANY MANY puppy farmed and backyard bred puppies grow up into lovely, well-balanced, enviable family pets without any health problems. But some don't. You can certainly get a dog that way, we just decided it was a risk and we didn't want to take it.
So, having discounted that route and chosen our preferred breed, we began to look for a breeder.
Dog breeders seem to be an odd bunch. Some will get back to you immediately upon an enquiry but MANY won't. For the vast majority of good breeders (by which i mean those who love their dogs, keep them in or at their homes, carefully have their health tested before breeding, wait until they are a fair age to breed, limit the number of litters they have and are selective about who they sell their puppies to) are not turning a profit from breeding. Because of this they usually work full time at something else, and are limited for time. They might not answer your enquiry simply because they aren't planning a litter. Others will get back to you right away with a lengthy response only to tell you eventually that they have stopped breeding for good.
We looked at various breed-specific websites and the Kennel Club site before we found our breeder. I emailed several breeders who i immediately discounted because of how they responded. One "Hi, we're interested in your dogs, are you planning a litter?" enquiry was met with, "Yep, due in 3 weeks, £700, £100 now if you want one."! I didn't want a dog from someone who didn't care where it was going, so i just left it there.
I actually found our breeder because she happens not to live far away. Good breeders are few and far between, there just isn't money in breeding if you only breed your few well-kept dogs ethically. So most of those who breed are doing so to improve their breed and/or in the hopes of producing a Champion. I'd found two closer but neither seemed to have health tested their dogs. I'd found many farther away but none i'd particularly clicked with.
Things that let me know our breeder was the Right One for us: she wanted to talk on the phone rather than just email, she asked some questions about our family and home (to be fair i had already volunteered a LOT about it via email because i thought it would waste everyone's time to not mention those things early on if something later turned out to be a dealbreaker), she was completely un-phased by being asked a million questions about her dogs and how they are kept and bred, her breeding dogs are all health tested and she was willing to share their results before we even went on a waiting list, she was also happy to share the name and practice of her vet and was fine with us enquiring there after the health and wellbeing of her dogs, she discussed the price of puppies but only when i asked and it was by far the last thing discussed rather than the first. Aside from all of that i found an easy rapport with her and she was kind about staying in touch and answering my many silly breed-specific questions.
She wasn't planning immediately, but as our children were even younger (1,4 and 8) when i first contacted her, we were happy to wait. You will OFTEN need to wait to get a dog from a decent breeder. Unless you happened to contact them when they already have puppies "on the ground" (which means born and well and looking for forever homes) and they also happened not to have sorted homes for everyone, you will probably be added to a waiting list.
We were on a list for over a year. I know a lot of people would look elsewhere, but we'd clicked and finding someone kind, ethical and local (so you can actually visit easily and if you need assistance where seeing the dog will make it easier for them to help) is invaluable. Our breeder is Arkangel's kennels, and once i'd found them i wasn't going anywhere else.
The first planned mating didn't happen. This was partly due to stuff going on in the breeder's family - puppies are a massive commitment, many people don't realise a good breeder is sleeping right next to the whelping box from before the puppies are born until they are 3-5 weeks old, missing lots of sleep in order to make sure all the pups are feeding well, the mum isn't rolling on them, everyone is growing and developing normally etc. so a planning a litter to coincide with exams, weddings, or any other life event that takes time and energy isn't a good idea. And partly it was due to the age of the dog when the bitch came into season - a good breeder won't breed a dog or bitch until it is fully grown and matured. The exact age varies from breed to breed but it's later in larger breeds. The mating was then planned for the next season, usually they occur every 6 months. So we waited. And waited. And the season didn't come.
Eventually another Arkangel's bitch, a showing star, came into season. Putting an in-season bitch with a not-in-season bitch can bring the no-in-season bitch on. So the breeder tried that and YAY! Success. Two good matings took place over a few days and we settled to wait again. Our breeder kept in touch, which i loved, and i was kept up to date with how things were going. First when a scan showed both bitches were pregnant, and then as they both got bigger.
Once it had become clear the pregnancy was going well, it was time to meet the breeder and dogs face to face.
If you want a specific breed that ISN'T Staffordshire bull terrier cross (which the rescue centres are crammed full of) there are usually local and national Breed Societies who re-home unwanted dogs of that breed.
Unfortunately though, rescue dogs are not for everyone, all the time. In our case a rescue dog wouldn't be appropriate, and no rescues are likely to consider us.
We have three children, aged 10, 5 and 3. Two of those children, the eldest and youngest, have Autism Spectrum Disorder. The eldest also has ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). So because of the young age of our children most rescues won't even consider us (they generally like children over 10 at a minimum, we're in the UK so YMMV depending on where in the world you are), and because of our childrens' additional support needs we do not feel good about bringing an adult dog with unknown but specific issues (and the vast majority of rescue dogs DO have issues, with training or behaviour, which need to be addressed) into our home. We have owned rescue dogs in the past, and will no doubt own them again in the future. But at this specific time it isn't a realistic path for us.
You can usually find puppies of every imaginable breed and cross for sale on sites like Gumtree, Pets4Homes, Criagslist etc. Unfortunately there is no way to know exactly what you're getting if you go that route. The puppy could be from a loving home, carefully bred from well matched health tested parents and carefully socialised. Or it could be from a puppy farm, born of an untested set of parents to turn a quick profit and have never met a human until the day the man who brought it to your house came to take it from its mother. MANY MANY puppy farmed and backyard bred puppies grow up into lovely, well-balanced, enviable family pets without any health problems. But some don't. You can certainly get a dog that way, we just decided it was a risk and we didn't want to take it.
So, having discounted that route and chosen our preferred breed, we began to look for a breeder.
Dog breeders seem to be an odd bunch. Some will get back to you immediately upon an enquiry but MANY won't. For the vast majority of good breeders (by which i mean those who love their dogs, keep them in or at their homes, carefully have their health tested before breeding, wait until they are a fair age to breed, limit the number of litters they have and are selective about who they sell their puppies to) are not turning a profit from breeding. Because of this they usually work full time at something else, and are limited for time. They might not answer your enquiry simply because they aren't planning a litter. Others will get back to you right away with a lengthy response only to tell you eventually that they have stopped breeding for good.
We looked at various breed-specific websites and the Kennel Club site before we found our breeder. I emailed several breeders who i immediately discounted because of how they responded. One "Hi, we're interested in your dogs, are you planning a litter?" enquiry was met with, "Yep, due in 3 weeks, £700, £100 now if you want one."! I didn't want a dog from someone who didn't care where it was going, so i just left it there.
I actually found our breeder because she happens not to live far away. Good breeders are few and far between, there just isn't money in breeding if you only breed your few well-kept dogs ethically. So most of those who breed are doing so to improve their breed and/or in the hopes of producing a Champion. I'd found two closer but neither seemed to have health tested their dogs. I'd found many farther away but none i'd particularly clicked with.
Things that let me know our breeder was the Right One for us: she wanted to talk on the phone rather than just email, she asked some questions about our family and home (to be fair i had already volunteered a LOT about it via email because i thought it would waste everyone's time to not mention those things early on if something later turned out to be a dealbreaker), she was completely un-phased by being asked a million questions about her dogs and how they are kept and bred, her breeding dogs are all health tested and she was willing to share their results before we even went on a waiting list, she was also happy to share the name and practice of her vet and was fine with us enquiring there after the health and wellbeing of her dogs, she discussed the price of puppies but only when i asked and it was by far the last thing discussed rather than the first. Aside from all of that i found an easy rapport with her and she was kind about staying in touch and answering my many silly breed-specific questions.
She wasn't planning immediately, but as our children were even younger (1,4 and 8) when i first contacted her, we were happy to wait. You will OFTEN need to wait to get a dog from a decent breeder. Unless you happened to contact them when they already have puppies "on the ground" (which means born and well and looking for forever homes) and they also happened not to have sorted homes for everyone, you will probably be added to a waiting list.
We were on a list for over a year. I know a lot of people would look elsewhere, but we'd clicked and finding someone kind, ethical and local (so you can actually visit easily and if you need assistance where seeing the dog will make it easier for them to help) is invaluable. Our breeder is Arkangel's kennels, and once i'd found them i wasn't going anywhere else.
The first planned mating didn't happen. This was partly due to stuff going on in the breeder's family - puppies are a massive commitment, many people don't realise a good breeder is sleeping right next to the whelping box from before the puppies are born until they are 3-5 weeks old, missing lots of sleep in order to make sure all the pups are feeding well, the mum isn't rolling on them, everyone is growing and developing normally etc. so a planning a litter to coincide with exams, weddings, or any other life event that takes time and energy isn't a good idea. And partly it was due to the age of the dog when the bitch came into season - a good breeder won't breed a dog or bitch until it is fully grown and matured. The exact age varies from breed to breed but it's later in larger breeds. The mating was then planned for the next season, usually they occur every 6 months. So we waited. And waited. And the season didn't come.
Eventually another Arkangel's bitch, a showing star, came into season. Putting an in-season bitch with a not-in-season bitch can bring the no-in-season bitch on. So the breeder tried that and YAY! Success. Two good matings took place over a few days and we settled to wait again. Our breeder kept in touch, which i loved, and i was kept up to date with how things were going. First when a scan showed both bitches were pregnant, and then as they both got bigger.
Once it had become clear the pregnancy was going well, it was time to meet the breeder and dogs face to face.
Monday, 14 March 2016
Why did we choose poodles?
Actually, we didn't.
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.
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.
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