Puppy Fever

My daughter (and wife) have puppy fever, they both want a mini-aussiedoodle both because they are "cute" and because they appear to have very few down sides. Hypoallergenic, not many negative physical traits, easily trained, smart, good with kids (we have 3), good indoor, good outdoor.....etc etc. 

Talk me out of if there is a some reason that google is hiding from us or into if you know a reputable breeder...

All I got for you is look into it NOW.  Pretty much every breeder around us for anything popular has a waiting list.  We lost our Buddy Dog a couple months ago.  We started looking almost immediately, and the soonest we can replace him without going to a puppy mill is next summer.  If we would take anything, it might not be as much of an issue, but if you want a specific breed (we want another Schnauzer), most reputable breeders have pretty solid waiting lists.  Apparently, a LOT of people bought dogs while they were stuck at home.

Just because, here's a Schnauzer pup:

No because puppies are a crazy handful

But yes because DOG! 
 

i have never been a dog person, we got a puppy, it was awful for like 2-3 months, now i wouldnt trade her for anything. My couch pal. 

 

We have a $500 deposit down on one.  Maybe next summer?   It's nuts to me but it's all my wife.   
 

My sister has two doodles of some sort. Labradoodles maybe. She has always been one to follow the fads but I don't understand the appeal. One of her dogs is schizophrenic and will eat you at the drop of a hat, the other barks at everything under the sun 24 hours a day. That particular dog destroyed a front leg jumping a fence one day. Dumb as a post. Could be the breeder she used but I'd hate to pay that kind of money for a dog and end up with a animal like either one of them. 

My Chihuahua is a better dog than both of them put together and she was free at the local pound. 

Its the breeder and the owner combined that make bad dogs. A good owner can fix bad breeding but not the other way around. I am a serious fan of the poodle mixes. They tend to be easy to train, they tend to be easy to maintain and they are very very healthy as a mix. A poodle aussie just seems like a dog that needs a therapy from the start. 

But I am a cat person. 

In reply to TJL (Forum Supporter) :

We have a "little brown dog" about 1/2 her size... maybe 17lbs. She gets on the couch and begs me to come sit down with her, so she can take a nap!  I've never had to suffer through the puppy stages. All of ours (except the purpose bought protection dogs my wife has had) have been rescues.

I'm def. not a designer fad dog kinda guy, but no shedding would sure be nice.

Aussie as in Australian Shepherd? Because if that's true, you will never be able to run in it's presence again. Well, unless you like having your ankles nipped. 

We had an Aussie mix long before they became trendy or hell, even AKC recognized.  Our moon boots were seived every year till he died. You ran and dealt with getting bit.

Other than that, that dog was fearless. Taught my brother to walk by leading him around with bro clamped onto his hair. Max ruled.

In reply to Appleseed :

We were told the same thing with our Border Collie. "the nipping can never be stopped". Not true. It ain't easy.... God it was hard. Stubborn. Too smart for her own good. But after 2 years we got her nipping down to a teeth click. She would click her teeth but leave your heals alone. 

In reply to bobzilla :

My uncle had a Border Collie. He was a vet and no amount of training would stop that dog from trying to herd kids and biting. It got to the point that the kids couldn't go outside at the family farm without an adult. Bit one of my kids on the back of the leg one day and I offered to shoot it for him if I ever saw it at the farm again. He gave it to a friend. The dog bit one of the new owners grandkids in the face and the new owner shot it instead. There are bad dogs out there. Even the best owner can't fix some of them. Border Collies are super smart dogs, but they get bored and then the trouble starts. They frequently make poor pets unless the owner is willing and able to keep them entertained and work with them constantly. Dogs bred for herding are going to herd. Dogs bred for fighting are going to fight. Dogs bred for looks are going to have all kinds of issues because the breeders only care about one thing, looks. The worst thing about puppies is you don't know what you have until it grows up. 

In reply to Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) :

we got ours at 5.5 weeks old and we were very focused on training from the beginning. Growing up we had an Aussie mix that was just flat nutso. She couldn't be trusted. There are bad everything, we've been lucky to have had some fantastic ones. The current puppy... god is she a lover. Loves EVERYTHING. Her main problem currently is her aggressive licking andher jumping when she's excited. granted she's still not even 5 months old yet

My dog decision tree:
 

Does it weight more than 50 pounds?

          |                                                    |
         No                                              Yes

         |                                                    |
Get a cat,                              Is it a pit mix?
or a hamster                          |                   |

                                               No                Yes

                                               |                      |

                                         Keep             Are you paying
                                        looking            a breeder?

                                                                 |                   |

                                                               No                Yes

                                                                |                     |

                                                      Adopt and          Keep
                                                        Enjoy               Looking

That may not work for everyone of course! My buddy got a Morkie because it was hypo-allergenic and his daughters wanted cute. (He also wanted portability). That little guy is a great dog, he keeps up with bigger dogs on hikes in the woods and everything.

In reply to wearymicrobe :

Mail me the orange one? 

We have a small doodle. More poodle than not, I think. We have to pluck her ears bi-weekly and keep them super clean or they would be constantly infected.

She also needs daily brushing or her fur turns into a matted mess. The lack of shedding comes at a price. IMO it’s easier to run the vacuum around every couple days than it is to deal with her curls.

But, my mom who’s allergic can be around her without feeling like crap.

She’s a fun dog, super smart and loving but takes work to keep her from getting bored. In our case it helps having a second dog around so she can have a sparring partner.

I currently have a border collie eastern coyote mix. She's neurotic, lacks confidence, hates being away from her den (seriously I stopped talking her to agility as she hated not being home) , but she's an incredibly intelligent sweetheart. However she is demanding, she requires conversations and engagement pretty much all the time that I'm home and if I try to ignore her she just doesn't allow to happen. and there's no leaving her outside in a fenced-in yard to get stuff done around the house, as she won't stay outside alone, I have to at least be in the kitchen so she can see me through the back door. When I had my half lab half golden who passed away at 16 and a half, she would at least stay out with the other dog as she had a pack member with her. 

She also has the strangest relationship and interactions with birds. 

In reply to captdownshift (Forum Supporter) :

Maya (our BC mix) would sit and put her paw on your knee. If you didn't respond to the whines, grunts, and "talking" she would then use her nails like fingers to grip your arm/hand and pull it towrds her.

All the cool kids are doing it...

9 year old Schnauzer, my M-I-L's, Sadie (F)

8 year old Cairn Terrier, Barney (M)

10 week old Scottish Terrier, Pepper (F)

I was reluctant but my wife has always wanted an all black, female Scottie Dog and the opportunity presented itself, so here we are.  

It's strange about the problem with Border Collies because in herding competition nipping the sheep or biting the sheep, called gripping is an instant disqualification. At a higher level of competition you just don't see gripping at all. In England and Scotland where the dogs come from and competition is taken much more seriously you often see handlers not using leads because they just don't need them. The dog is so keyed into the handler that he will not leave his side until told. But these guys are living with their dogs and running sheep every single day.

The biggest problem I had with my current Aussie, Mac, is when he bit the Meals on Wheels guy after my mother fell. Mom fell off her walker and could not get up. He got down beside her to protect her when she was down. Then the Meals on Wheels guy showed up, panicked, opened the door with the key and ran straight at her. The dog put himself between Mom and the MoW guy and would not let him near, running in front of him and nipping him to keep him away until my neighbor came in and called him off. Dallas Animal Control actually gave him a pass on that one because he had never bitten before, wasn't normally vicious towards other people and he was actually doing what he was supposed to do.  Protect my elderly mother. Every time she fell, the dog was right there with her and would not leave until either myself or one of the visiting nurses came to help her get up. 

Good dog. Even though mom is in a nursing home now, he has a home with me and Mrs. Snowdoggie forever. 

In reply to bobzilla :

That's similar to what Riley, mine, does, but she'll start seated next to you. 

Another incredibly weird thing about her, that I suspect is from the coyote side, is she won't drink water from her bowl unless I'm in the room with her. It's like she needs somebody to watch her back so she can't be attacked while eating or drinking. 

Coyote mix?

No. Berkin. Way. 

Not for this dude anyway.

I don't like small, yappy dogs.  I've rescued three labs.  The first one the rescue organization lied to me about his background.  Previous owners had allowed him to roam and two previous adoption families had returned him.  He was a sweet dog that bonded with me quickly but was was super alpha to all other dogs and if the other dog didn't back down he'd kick that dogs ass.

Wasn't a problem when I was around because I was alpha but was a big problem when my girlfriend (now wife) was around.  We ended up giving him back.

Next lab was a sweetheart, we got her when she was 8 and she lived till almost 16.  Huge food drive, would eat things that clearly weren't food, not the smartest of labs.

Current lab we got when he was one and he's maybe 13 now.  Really smart, well behaved, could tell he was abused but he's not aggressive in the least. 

I highly recommend rescueing a dog....

Best dog I ever had was out of a purebred German Shepherd, but we always felt that a horny Coyote came by one day.  Longer hair, shorter than a Shepherd, walked sideways, could tell instantly when you were going to brush her and would disappear, teamed up with out heinz 57 short haired mutt to drive rabbits to the other one hiding behind a grain bin...

Wonderful dog.  Stupid around porcupines, though.

Today we added Scout to the family; AussieDoodle and quite the cuddler so far. 
 

Congrats!  We finally made it to the top of the list here as well.  "Otto" comes home in about 2 weeks.

Puppy fever is definitely in the air.  We just picked up this bad boy today, meet Loki the greyhound puppy.  Not much to say about them beyond being my favorite dog breed.  Males get big, his father is easily over 100 pounds and 34" tall at the shoulder.