BorderDoodles?

[Aidan]

I have not met yet a doodle, oodle or noodle I have been impressed with.

[mum24dog]

I have not met yet a doodle, oodle or noodle I have been impressed with.

 

I have. I could imagine myself with a cockerpoo as long as the cocker part was a working type. I wouldn't go looking for one but if one came my way I wouldn't refuse to consider it.

 

The constant busyness of the cocker would drive me nuts and I prefer something more powerful and substantial than a poodle (even though I grew up with them). I have met cockerpoos that get the balance right for me. The coat maintenance might put me off though.

 

Similar case with a poodle x jack.

 

Of course I wouldn't spend an arm and a leg to get one but they do turn up in rescue here.

[Sue R]

I have not met yet a doodle, oodle or noodle I have been impressed with.

Is that the fault of the dog or the fault of the owner/trainer? Just about everyone of these dogs I've met have been owned by someone clueless, and it might have been a lovely dog if raised with reasonable training and expectations. In my experience, those who buy them are gullible.

 

JMO.

[GentleLake]

^^I'm sure this is a very big part of it with most of them. I knew a corgipoo that was terribly behaved (not even reliably house trained at 3 years old!), but a very sweet dog with lots of potential. It was entirely the owners' fault.

 

And there are 2 labradoodles in my therapy dog group who are lovely, calm, well behaved dogs. They don't really appeal to me, but they're wonderful therapy dogs and a real credit to their owner's work.

[D'Elle]

I have not met yet a doodle, oodle or noodle I have been impressed with.

 

Guess that depends on what criteria you are using in order to be impressed. If you hold border collie standards (as most of us here tend to do), then just about any other dog is unlikely to impress.

 

I have a "-oodle". Don't know exactly what he is, but half of it is very likely poodle. He is not "impressive", and never will be, but I never knew a sweeter or cuter little dog. No one could help but like him, and I guess he doesn't need to impress anyone.

 

Not that I am saying he should have been bred on purpose. (and I don't know if he was or not, as he is a rescue).

I completely agree that a new hybrid is merely an old mutt and the so called designer dogs are just another way for fools and their money to be parted.

[Maralynn]

I think doodles often start out with two strikes against them. First, breeders whose main goal is creating a doodlle dog and give little consideration to other factors that go into breeding a quality dog. And second, the fact that doodles often appeal those who don't do their research before getting a dog. So, while it's entirely possible to have a nice doodle, the two above reasons would explain why unruly ones are common.

[Liz P]

I had a doodle when I was a kid (before they were the PC/cool dog to get as a pet). Dumb as a box of rocks. I desperately wanted to do sports with her, but she was so dense it was frustrating and I was getting nowhere. Mom bought me a Border Collie pup. Within a week he knew everything she did and then some. The contrast between them was night and day.

[waffles]

I just heard a new term that I have never heard before. Working in a grooming shop I have seen tons of 'doodles'. They are now one of the top dogs we get (cock-a-poos, shih-poos, maltipoos, yorkiepoos and goldendoodles are the most popular) and just the other day someone came in with a puppy and proclaimed it a "petite goldendoodle". We have few customers with mini golden doodles (about the size of a cocker spaniel) but this one is claimed to only grow to the size of a shih tzu and with a $1,200 price tag. When they breed them so small like that they end up looking like golden colored poodles, presumably because they had to breed in more mini poodle to get the size down.

 

Most people who have these poodle mix dogs seem to say they got it because they heard it doesn't shed and it wouldn't bother their allergies, if they have allergies. Anything with hair sheds to some degree and these dogs all require regular (and typically pricey) grooming otherwise they become matted messes with no faces (and many of these owners tell us to shave them down completely to help with the shedding ). So sure you spent all that extra money on a dog that doesn't shed as much as another breed, but many aren't aware of the upkeep involved with their coats and sadly most come in looking like hell.

[Aidan]

I think doodles often start out with two strikes against them. First, breeders whose main goal is creating a doodlle dog and give little consideration to other factors that go into breeding a quality dog. And second, the fact that doodles often appeal those who don't do their research before getting a dog. So, while it's entirely possible to have a nice doodle, the two above reasons would explain why unruly ones are common.

I think this post explains a lot of the problems with the ones we have unluckily met over Aidan's first three years and a lot of the problems we have seen with these dogs in action in general. I am not saying there are not any good ones out there. But we have not met or seen them yet.

[Aidan]

Guess that depends on what criteria you are using in order to be impressed. If you hold border collie standards (as most of us here tend to do), then just about any other dog is unlikely to impress.

Nothing too special just general and acceptable dog behavior. Also I am talking about the larger doodle breeds Aidan has met or we have seen in action with other dogs.

[Mark Billadeau]

Any one want to guess what the WHO used to prepare the WHO International Standard of Dog Hair Dander Extract used by allergy tests and research studies?

 

 

The first International Standard for Dog (Canis familiaris) Hair/Dander Extract consists of a freeze-dried extract prepared from an equal mixture by weight of dander from Alsatian and Poodle breeds.

[mum24dog]

Nothing too special just general and acceptable dog behavior. Also I am talking about the larger doodle breeds Aidan has met or we have seen in action with other dogs.

 

Ah - well I have to admit I haven't yet met a labradoodle that wasn't nuts.

[mum24dog]

Is that the fault of the dog or the fault of the owner/trainer? Just about everyone of these dogs I've met have been owned by someone clueless, and it might have been a lovely dog if raised with reasonable training and expectations. In my experience, those who buy them are gullible.

 

JMO.

 

I'm sure you're right. Most of the smaller poodle crosses I know belong to experienced people who do train them.

 

We have 3 cockerpoos waiting to start agility with newbie handlers though. I'm anticipation that they'll turn out no worse than a working cocker does if they are in the wrong hands.

[Tommy Coyote]

I don't know any doodles first hand although my very first dog was a cockapoo from the shelter. My little dog was very cute and very smart and I loved her to death. The only thing wrong with her was trying to keep her coat. She had go to a groomer every so often and that got expensive.

 

I do know that people who have doodles have a bad time trying to keep their coats from matting all over. I would just hate that. It's just such a nuisance.

[GentleLake]

Any one want to guess what the WHO used to prepare the WHO International Standard of Dog Hair Dander Extract used by allergy tests and research studies?

 

That's hilarious!! People often don't believe me when I tell them there's no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog, even when I cite my allergist as a source.

 

I wonder if this will be enough to cut through the "hypoallergenic" dog breeds myth . . . I'm guessing not for boatloads of people.

 

ETA: I'm sure some people will insist that dander from the 2 breeds is mixed and therefore people who test positive for the allergies are reacting to the GSD dander and not the Poodle.

[Mark Billadeau]

Can f 1 levels in hair and homes of different dog breeds: lack of evidence to describe any dog breed as hypoallergenic.

J Allergy Clin Immunol 2012 Oct;130(4):904-9

Vredegoor DW, Willemse T, Chapman MD, Heederik DJ, Krop EJ.

 

Source

Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

 

Abstract
BACKGROUND:

Certain dog breeds are described and marketed as being "hypoallergenic" on the basis of anecdotal reports that these dogs are better tolerated by patients allergic to dogs.

 

OBJECTIVE:

These observations were investigated by comparing Can f 1 (major dog [Canis familiaris] allergen) levels in hair and coat samples and in the home environment of various hypoallergenic (Labradoodle, Poodle, Spanish Waterdog, and Airedale terrier) and non-hypoallergenic dogs (Labrador retriever and a control group).

 

METHODS:

Hair and coat samples were obtained from dogs, and settled floor and airborne dust samples were taken from the dogs' homes. Can f 1 concentrations were measured by using ELISA, and results were analyzed by using multiple linear regression analyses.

 

RESULTS:

Significantly higher Can f 1 concentrations were found in hair and coat samples of hypoallergenic dogs (n = 196, geometric mean [GM], 2.26 μg/g, geometric standard deviation [GSD], 0.73, and GM, 27.04 μg/g, GSD, 0.57, respectively) than of non-hypoallergenic dogs (n = 160, GM, 0.77 μg/g, GSD, 0.71, and GM, 12.98 μg/g, GSD, 0.76, respectively). Differences between breeds were small, relative to the variability within a breed. Can f 1 levels in settled floor dust samples were lower for Labradoodles, but no differences were found between the other groups. No differences in airborne levels were found between breeds.

 

CONCLUSION:

So-called hypoallergenic dogs had higher Can f 1 levels in hair and coat samples than did control breeds. These differences did not lead to higher levels of environmental exposure to dog allergens. There is no evidence for the classification of certain dog breeds as being "hypoallergenic."

 

 

**************************************************************************************************************

My take on this issue:

Can f 1 is produced in a dog's mouth. Dog licks its body allowing the protein to spread across the skin in the same way Frontline spreads across the skin. When the dead skin soughs off (dander) the allergen, Can F 1, is now free to cause allergy problems in people. Dogs that produce less dander will cause less allergy problems in people; dogs with skin problems will cause more allergy problems in people.

[GentleLake]

OMG! That's even funnier!

 

Thanks so much for this, Mark. I intend to use it.

 

On a more serious note, my allergist told me that male dogs generally produce more allergens than females do (though there can be individual exceptions in both).

 

Sooooo, after I tested severely allergic to dogs, I made sure the next dog I got (yes, I added to the number rather than reduced it!) was a female.

[Mark Billadeau]

My allergist has asked me in the past, when I was having more problems, if I could have been exposed to more allergens.

 

I asked if +/- 1 dog when we have 7 dogs would really make a difference?

[GentleLake]

When I first tested positive to dogs, mine began to tell me that I should consider getting r . . .

 

I interrupted him and told him not to even finish the sentence because it wasn't going to happen. He just chuckled and said that's what most dog owners said.

 

My current allergist finds it rather ironic that I dog sit (often boarding in my home) in order to pay for allergy shots.

 

They must think people like us are nuts . . .

[Mark Billadeau]

They are correct; we are nuts.

[Sue R]

[Gideon's girl]

When I tested positive for dogs, cats, guinea pigs, ferrets, and every airborn pollen under the sun, I had no trouble banning guinea pigs and pollen producing plants from the house. I feel so much better now!

[GentleLake]

Yeah, I stopped growing orchids when I found out I was allergic to everything (how can a person be allergic to everything!?)

 

If this is nuts, then I don't want to be sane.

[Gideon's girl]

I thoroughly enjoy insanity too.

[Tommy Coyote]

When my allergist heard that I had 4 dogs and 4 cats he just assumed I was allergic to them.

 

Found out I was allergic to just about everything but animals and dust. Thank God. I have both in spades at my house.

 

I used to be really allergic to weeds but I think I have kind of outgrown that over the years. I don't have much trouble at all now and it used to be a real problem for me.