Having tried the dog experiment once before, and having horrible allergy problems, Bryan & I have been doing research and thinking about our family pet since we got married about 16 months ago. He knew I REALLY want a family dog, and since he hasn't really had one before, he did too. But what kind could we get that wouldn't make me sick? And would be great with kids a few years down the road? And that we could successfully train?
The answer we finally came up with was a Doodle. Doodles are a mixture of one breed mixed with a poodle. Poodles are VERY low to non-shedding, which is really important for allergy sufferers. We did not particularly want a Poodle, or any of tiny purse-sized dogs that are also better for allergies (like a Yorkie or Maltese), so the Doodle provided us with a great solution. We decided to go with a Goldendoodle - a mixture of a Golden Retriever and a Poodle. They look kind of like this when they're about a year old (depending on their color - either golden or reddish):
But then the question was where do we get a Goldendoodle? I've heard and read such terrible things about puppy mills, where untrained people have their dogs breeding all the time just to sell them, with no regard to the health of the parent dogs or the puppies themselves. I've done a lot of asking around and a lot of research. I found the breeders that come highly recommended by national associations, and paid close attention to what each breeder had to say about health, how they find homes, what happens to the puppy in their first few months of life, etc.
We finally found Safari Doodles. Here's the website if you're interested in how they do things:
http://www.safaridoodles.com/index.html. They've been great about answering questions and helping us make a decision.
We are SO excited!! Unfortunately it's more expensive to go this route, but we won't end up with a huge host of health problems, and we know where they came from (and what they've been through) and we know that they WILL be low shedding, it won't just be a "good guess." Safari also does temperament testing on the dogs to see how natural they are with children, other animals, different situations, dominance issues, etc, so we feel as comfortable as we possibly could as far as bringing home a new member of the family.
Some people may think we're ridiculous for trying to have an animal with allergies. They may think it's silly to pay for a puppy. I don't know what else people may judge us for .... several things, I'm sure. But I'm truly unconcerned about it. We're eagerly awaiting late April/early May when we can bring home our dog! (We did decide to wait until we were completely moved in to our house before bringing them home.)
One thing we found hilarious (maybe we have a weird sense of humor?) was that when we put the deposit down, it was through pay pal!! We did a screen shot of the situation because we thought it was so funny :)
Coming up in April/May, we'll be sure to post pics of the new little one!
The answer we finally came up with was a Doodle. Doodles are a mixture of one breed mixed with a poodle. Poodles are VERY low to non-shedding, which is really important for allergy sufferers. We did not particularly want a Poodle, or any of tiny purse-sized dogs that are also better for allergies (like a Yorkie or Maltese), so the Doodle provided us with a great solution. We decided to go with a Goldendoodle - a mixture of a Golden Retriever and a Poodle. They look kind of like this when they're about a year old (depending on their color - either golden or reddish):
But then the question was where do we get a Goldendoodle? I've heard and read such terrible things about puppy mills, where untrained people have their dogs breeding all the time just to sell them, with no regard to the health of the parent dogs or the puppies themselves. I've done a lot of asking around and a lot of research. I found the breeders that come highly recommended by national associations, and paid close attention to what each breeder had to say about health, how they find homes, what happens to the puppy in their first few months of life, etc.
We finally found Safari Doodles. Here's the website if you're interested in how they do things:
http://www.safaridoodles.com/index.html. They've been great about answering questions and helping us make a decision.
We are SO excited!! Unfortunately it's more expensive to go this route, but we won't end up with a huge host of health problems, and we know where they came from (and what they've been through) and we know that they WILL be low shedding, it won't just be a "good guess." Safari also does temperament testing on the dogs to see how natural they are with children, other animals, different situations, dominance issues, etc, so we feel as comfortable as we possibly could as far as bringing home a new member of the family.
Some people may think we're ridiculous for trying to have an animal with allergies. They may think it's silly to pay for a puppy. I don't know what else people may judge us for .... several things, I'm sure. But I'm truly unconcerned about it. We're eagerly awaiting late April/early May when we can bring home our dog! (We did decide to wait until we were completely moved in to our house before bringing them home.)
One thing we found hilarious (maybe we have a weird sense of humor?) was that when we put the deposit down, it was through pay pal!! We did a screen shot of the situation because we thought it was so funny :)
Coming up in April/May, we'll be sure to post pics of the new little one!
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