This thread reminds me of a funny exchange at the recent family Christmas party.
Extended family member: “So, (11-year-old), what did you get?”
11-year-old: “A puppy.”
Extended family member: “What breed?”
11-year-old: “She’s a Golden Retriever.”
Extended family member: “Oh, how neat. A Goldendoodle!”
Mother of 11-year-old: “No. A Golden Retriever.” You have to imagine the tone, but you probably can. Those parents are quite experienced dog folks.
I wouldn’t consider a Dalmatian the best choice as a child-friendly dog. Do they have any idea how much exercise they need? 
And the few I’ve known have been quick to nip, also.
I can hear that tone all the way over here and into tomorrow. AND I got the side eye stare along with it too! Short, firm and to the point like the crack of a whip. If I was in the room I would have laughed so loud. The doodle rage has me raging.
There are lots of doodles in the town close to us. I see their owners out walking them all the time. I suppose it’s working out for them.
I have nothing against a healthy dog, whether it’s a purebred or a mutt. I do worry about people assuming a designer breed will be free from genetic issues. If these cross breeders are reputable, they should test for all genetic problems that are common in BOTH breeds, rather than assuming the canine genetic soup they’re creating will exclude undesirable genes.
I’m glad you resurrected this thread. I had a difficult conversation with a lady in the vet’s office yesterday who was admiring my poodle, and remarking on how well-behaved and groomed he was. The tech came out from the back with her dog dragging the poor girl along like she was on skis. His coat was a total mess; a mix of straight and wavy that must be a nightmare to maintain, and she was complaining about the amount of shedding. I commiserated with her about the grooming and suggested a few things she might do (having a groomer blow him out, for example), but I can’t imagine her taking the time to actually put into him, and that’s fine. I just can’t help but think how much these dogs are sold to really novice owners, and the revolving cycle between their lack of knowledge and the degree to which they are being convinced to spend oodles of money on these poorly bred dogs. She mentioned how much she paid for him, and it was in the mid 4 figures ($3500)! I just feel like these breeders are effing predatory.
My cousin recently decided it was long enough after her last beloved dog and time for a new puppy. She’s always had Standard Poodles but for some inexplicable reason decided to look at a miniature labradoodle. The conversation with the breeder over the phone was going really well until they came to price. It was £3.5k for a mongrel dog, more expensive than a purebred poodle! Options are currently being reconsidered.
So about $3800 USD for a crossbred. As PT Barnum allegedly said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” 
I can get a very nice show quality puppy in my breed for $3500 - one with an exemplary pedigree full of champions.
Every time this pops up on Facebook I think of this thread. There’s really just no good reason to get a doodle or any designer dog for that matter.
I was talking to someone a few weeks ago who said they were planning on getting a doodle. I asked why they weren’t just getting a poodle. She said because doodles are cuter. I told her that a poodle in a “doodle cut” will look just as cute, and it will be much easier to find a reputable poodle breeder with health tested dogs. I could see the wheels turning, hopefully I made an impact.
My exceptional show quality puppy cost $2000. It would be unusual to find a puppy priced much higher than that in my breed anywhere in the country, and very likely to find them for less in some areas.
That said - they are not rare, and tend to have medium/large litters, which is not the case for many breeds. So, it is not unusual for some breeds to be more expensive than $2K for a quality, show prospect.
But - a mutt puppy from untitled parents? WTF? Why do people think that’s reasonable?
The mind boggles at this. SMH. My breed is the Whippet, and puppies with the top bloodlines in the country are rarely over $2,000, 2,500.
People have more money than sense (certainly very true in my area.) Doodles have taken over as the dog of choice for the vast majority of first time dog owners, to my great dismay.
Also, as discussed previously, people don’t know what they don’t know – and they are notoriously impatient; they don’t want to wait for a legitimate, quality breeder of purebreds to have a litter of puppies (and they certainly don’t want to have to “qualify” to own one of these puppies through the breeder’s screening process), they just want what’s trendy, and they want it now.
Off to give a private session to a Cavalier King Charles/Poodle mix puppy (“Cavapoo”) whose owner is scared of the new respiratory virus going around – even though there have not been any reported cases in Virginia – so has signed up for private sessions rather than a group puppy class, and is afraid to socialize her puppy or take it anywhere.
I suspect she paid a pretty penny for this dog, way more than most would pay for a quality purebred with health tested parents. I explained that it’s important to socialize puppies and get them used to being around other dogs, people, places, and things - especially when they are under a certain age because it becomes critical to their later development!, but I’m sure any suggestions on what she needs to do will fall on deaf ears. I continue to fight the good fight though. SIGH.
I think it is shameful that doodles are misrepresented as purebred. However, we have a labradoodle that came from a person who didn’t mean to breed them, and this pup had been well cared for and was definitely not pricey, just cost enough to cover his shots. We have had decades of dogs, labs, golden retrievers, and pointers. This dog is very nice, and has been a delight from the time we brought him home.
I think the over pricing is reminiscent of the Gypsy Vanner craze, when people were buying them for $$,$$$, and supposedly you could pick one up for very little in, for example, England. My neighbor just bought two of them, for big bucks, proving that over pricing persists. Personally, I think the big prices paid for various colors in horses is also strange, and the same as paying lots of money for doodles.
However, I don’t think that they are terrible dogs, which seems to be a common thread here. Ours is very nice, and I have a couple of friends who have doodles, and they are excellent dogs. I’m sure there are many example of doodles who aren’t nice, but that can be said of any grouping of dogs, purebred or crossbred.
I was about to say the same thing. 5 and 6 figure cobs.
I don’t understand the doodle cut. Why? Unless you have a lot of money to spend on grooming to keep the moptop from matting, why not get them trimmed down to the same length?
Yep, I love our two shoodles! We didn’t set out to get them, but that was what we ended up with from this particular rescue. I would never pay thousands of dollars for a mutt, but I adore our dippy doodles.
I do think that one reason that doodles end up getting a bad rap is that people breed lots of totally random breeds to poodles and don’t care about temperament, conformation, or anything with the parents, so what comes out is a total crapshoot. Our youngest spent his early months in a small, filthy cage in a barn and while he is exceptionally sweet and quite smart, we had to do a lot of work to socialize him as much as we could since he was already four months old when we got him. Had he not ended up with responsible owners who are very used to large, active dogs (and, because we always rescue, our guys are often from not the best background), he might have turned out very differently. He needs structure and lots of exercise and so on, and without that he would probably be a bit of a monster. Our older guy was dragged around to the barn and competitions and everywhere with me for his first year and that absolutely helped him become a good citizen, instead of a rambunctious, obnoxious dingbat with bad eyesight. Well, he still has bad eyesight and is a dingbat, but he’s a well-behaved dingbat!
Cute doesn’t translate into trained, but I guess people somehow think if they spend thousands on this fluffy little bear the puppy will automatically turn into the perfect dog without any work from them. Sadly not the case, so there are lots of young doodles ending up in rescues or shelters that now need all of the things they didn’t get: training and socialization, and I think that is going to keep getting worse.
As far as the “doodle cut” I think groomers just assume that is what you want, instead of a poodle puppy cut. Our older one has wiry hair, but the youngest has the curly poodle hair and I just want it clipped down, instead of this massive afro and huge puffy feet! He does look very cute, but his hair is ridiculous.
She was picking a dog based on looks so I was just pointing out that she can pick whatever hair cut she wants.
Personally I’m not a fan of any of the floofy, curly coats.
Yeah… picking based on looks is always a fantastic idea. /s
At least the various colors in horses can arguably be called rare, demanding the price. Doodles are everywhere!
Well, come on. There are hundreds of dog breeds - most of us DO make choices based on looks, to some degree. Hopefully not the only characteristic, of course.
Yes, exactly. And no health testing of the parents, and then spewing “hybrid vigor” nonsense, calling it a purebred, and charging thousands of dollars to uninformed people who think they are getting a good deal. AKA mutts bred by “Greeders.”
Sure. It shouldn’t be the main reason though. Like people who see the dog in the movie and have to have one, only to find out that their couch potato lifestyle does NOT suit a Husky, Malinois, Dalmation, etc.
As well, the people who ethically breed poodles (especially, but a lot of the cross breeds as well, like BMDs) and who show do a lot to try to keep them out of the hands of doodle breeders. So the breeding stock they can get hold of is typically NOT the cream of the crop.
Sure. It shouldn’t be the main reason though. Like people who see the dog in the movie and have to have one, only to find out that their couch potato lifestyle does NOT suit a Husky, Malinois, Dalmation, etc.
I think a lot of people also underestimate their lifestyle when it comes to dog raising. They THINK they’re very active and will give the dog plenty of stimulation (I have a friend like this and she does her best, but really, her BC cross needs the extended work that farm life provides). They don’t truly understand what “active” breed means so they either run the dog’s legs off at the dog park and don’t teach it to settle, or they don’t do enough.
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