Are Doodle Breeders Ethical & Responsible?

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If everyone had someone like Stonie in their life the world would be a better place.

As a purebred poodle owner with a wonderful toy poodle I say, JUST GET A POODLE. As someone who’s first dog I trained was a cross between a cockerpoo and a mini-schnauzer I get it. I was fourteen, it was 1981 and that was the first dog I ever trained and he was one of the smartest dogs I ever had. I think a big part of his sucsess was I had just turned 14 in August and I had nearly a month to train him and all the free time aworking class latchkey kid in 1981 had. I literally rode my Schwinn Varsity over a mile to a horse farm where I did slave labor for an $8 a half-hour riding lesson. He was a pup and he stayed in that bike basket for a newly turned 14 yo kid. My mom helped and she was a decent amatuer dog trainer but Chester was still the best trained dog I’ve ever had. My other dogs have been breeds that practically trained themselves. Working-class NSD Aussies in the early 90s before they were AKC recongnized and very well-bred Great Danes in my older years (aka right now). They mostly trained themselves it felt like. I feel like some instinct comes into it. But since I’ve had a mini-poodle and two toy poodles I just feel like if you want the charactarkstics of a poodle just get w poodle. They are wonderfull

I am a professional dog groomer with 32 years experience in my community. Personally I don’t blame the dogs, I blame the people breeding and buying them. Breeders are telling their buyers not to get them professionally groomed until their adult coat comes in at 18 months. At 18 months you have a 60-120# bucking bronco teenager who would rather die than participate in this new terrifying experience. They thrash, they bite, they injure the groomer and themselves. The breeder sets the owner against the groomer by telling them groomers are lazy, shady and untrustworthy. Owners buy puppies because they want a statement dog. Or a shed free dog. Then they don’t train or socialize them at all. Big surprise when they aren’t welcome out in the community and are banned from every groom shop and daycare for 50 miles. This isn’t a problem so much with the individual dog, it’s about people being greedy for big money and buying dogs for the wrong reasons and doing zero actual research and putting in no work on the dog as it grows. I have two clients who purposely bought (off of Craigslist) standard poodles and golden retrievers just so they could breed 4 litters a year because they heard they could sell the puppies for $5000 a head and make $100,000 a year. Easy peasy, right? Except they wound up practically giving the puppies away in the Walmart parking lot and giving the adults away in rehoming FB groups, after confiding in me that the dogs bit multiple family members!!😮 We don’t hate the dogs themselves so much as the awful humans who operate with deception and greed and the buyers who see their dog as an accessory like a watch or a coffee table. Lay down and look pretty, darn it. The dogs are the victims in this situation. They are created by people, purchased and then neglected by people. Humans are the bad guys here.

The grooming requirements are maximum and most people don’t understand

Exactly my thoughts, Stonnie. I think a lot of people miss that a "doodle" is called that because it's got poodle in the genetics, and poodles are working class dogs. In the last video a lot of folks commented about how great their doodles are, and I can believe it! A working dog can really make being a handler rewarding, but it's work and you have to at least have a plan and some level of activity to keep that dog well adjusted and happy. I think Stonnie-watchers are more likely, as a population, to be good homes for that kind of dog. A family with a 'does not shed' priority for their future four-legged family member generally isn't even aware of what their part in raising a working dog entails, thus we see doodles acting up so often. "Responsible" would be for doodle breeders to be up-front with potential clients that they can't expect them to be like labs. But then, I'm certain many probably are and people may not listen because they've got puppies on the brain. I think the truth is, though, that after doodles, there will be another breed/breed-mix that becomes more popular and trendy, and then we'll see that dog show up as the 'generally problematic breed,' just because of the people-aspect of this equation, rather than the dogs themselves.

Most doodle breeders market them as 'accessories '... low maintenance, clean, friendly.. This lures a lot of amateur owners

❤ Wise words as always. As a groomer we saw A LOT of doodles and the ones that were treated as a substitute child were very often the more difficult ones. My sister has a doodle, she lives in central London and a cottage in the country and that dog could be riding a London bus one day and walking through a field of sheep the next and she’s absolutely great. I have a poodle and a field lab, you ask a poodle to jump, they ask “how high?” You ask a lab to jump they say “OK”.

We got our Goldendoodle @ 18 months old from a no-kill shelter & we’ve had him for 3 years. They said 9 other families looked at him but we were the only ones that qualified to adopt him & it made me feel special. After we had him a couple of weeks I started to think we were the only ones dumb enough to take him. He’d been kept tied to a tree & was leash reactive & fear aggressive. It took over a year to leash train him & many different collars, he’d choke himself & didn’t care & he gator rolled the 1st gentle leader & broke it. He walks real well now, I can take him past lawn mowers, cats, kids & other dogs. He notices them but doesn’t loose his mind & we can have a nice walk. It’s been such an improvement that neighbors driving by will ask if he’s the same dog. If I were to get another doodle I’d want it to be a puppy.

As a trainer I’ve had 6 doodles in 2024 alone. One Brittany doodle and the others were Labradoodles. All of them except 1 had an unexpected behavioral change that was expressed quite violently and without warning. The one exception was a persistent humper and jumped on people but otherwise did not have this Jekyll/Hyde syndrome. 4/6 were active people who did some basic obedience with their dogs and took them on park outings, played fetch and were generally active. The other 2 were with folks who lived a more work focused very busy people life but not very dog centric. Those two dogs both had very bad separation anxiety and quite “headstrong” disrespectful personalities which I equate to lack of boundaries and generally more love than leadership. At least they ALL sought help! The approaches were different with each dog because what worked with one might not have worked with the others. *Ethics to me is the breeder screens for temperament and does behavioral assessments and environmental exposure during the first 8-10 weeks of the puppies life. Also, recommends the appropriate pup for the living situation and skill level of owner and desired traits. *Ethics is truth and transparency with the studs/bitches. Allowing the prospective owners to meet/see the dogs and facilities. Not overstating or selling on trendy buzzwords and gimmicks. *Ethics is genetic testing so as not to breed deaf dogs (achieving some certain coat and eye colors) and to greatly reduce serious health and physical defects. *Ethics is also taking the pup back if there is an unforeseen issue that is going to be especially hard for the owners to resolve. Genetic roulette is real and sometimes you get an outlier, it’s important for the breeder to know of these things and perhaps that will adjust their future breedings. Many of these will end up at the shelter instead because the owner will feel like they failed or the dog so just a bad dog and investment. I applaud owners who seek professional training and or veterinary behaviorist help because that is also ETHICAL❤

As an avid outdoors person who especially loves to go on long, mostly solo, canoe trips in Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, but, who is also mildly allergic to shedding breeds, I'm definitely an exception to your "doodle owners typically buy doodles to be house accessories" statement. I'm on my 3rd schnauzer/poodle (schnoodle) mix now. The first was really my wife's dog and was acquired (taken off a friend's hands) far too late for us to do any early training but was still a great dog. Most of the time, he stayed home with my wife while I went out on my canoe adventures but, there came a time that my wife was out of town and I "had" to take him along with me. What an eye-opener that trip was! Even though he had no specific training for such an adventure and only weighed about 15lbs, he did great and was a great joy to have along. Over his 11 year life span, I only had a chance to take him on 3 or 4 trips but I sure enjoyed his company! He certainly did not like rain/thunder though and also did not like to swim (which isn't all bad when you want your dog to stay in the canoe!). When he passed, we decided to get 2 dogs -- another schnoodle for me and a shi-poo for my wife (yes, the latter was more as a house accessory). This time, we purchased from a "breeder". The schnoodle (Sam) was 5 months old with very minimal training but I couldn't have asked for a sweeter, more easy-going dog. I started getting him used to the canoe right away but waited a year before introducing him to camping and canoe tripping. As I said, he was very easy going, loved everyone he met but was very respectful of everyone too. We often thought he would make a great therapy dog but never followed up on that. In his all too short 13 years on this earth, he accompanied me on 28 overnight canoe adventures, many, just the 2 of us, and including a few 2 week long trips. He weighed about 25 lbs so was a very good fit in the canoe. He was a bit more tolerant of rain than our first one, didn't mind thunder one bit but still didn't like to swim... although he'd wade in up to his chest when it got hot. He was always the first one in and out of the canoe! After we lost Sam, we looked for another schnoodle -- this time, I thought 30 lbs would maybe be a better fit. The only ones we could find from breeders were all smaller... 10-15 lbs. And, expensive as well. We finally found a rescue, Ruby. Ruby weighs in just under 30 lbs, was about 2 y.o. when we rescued her last July. Being a rescue, she's had very minimal training although, she did know "sit" when we got her. She loves people but gets way to enthusiastic, jumping up at their faces to lick them. She's terrible with kids... doesn't know to tone it down a bit when she greets them so bowls them over. Always want to play with all the dogs she meets -- again, very energetically. She's a sweet girl, just too excitable! I've taken her canoeing and camping which she has enjoyed and has been fine on. Even took her on a 3 day canoe trip last fall... to an area I knew we wouldn't encounter many, if any, people. I've been trying to control her reactivity, have made some progress but still have a long way to go. At the moment, my biggest concern about taking her with me is the way she'll greet other people and dogs she'll meet on the portage trail... knowing that not all travelers are going to be very happy about a dog zooming towards them and jumping at them. From my experience, there's definitely a lot to be said for the nurture part of the equation as far as behavior goes. Again, my tendency towards doodles isn't because I want a dog that doesn't shed in the house (although that's good too) so much as it is that I want a dog who won't shed in my tent and make my allergies kick in. I just wish I could figure out how to rein Ruby in a bit.

"People that are really worried about dogs that shed alot, they don't go outside and do a lot." This was such a great observation. They want the dog they want (aussie, lab, golden, berner, etc.) that doesn't shed. For most big city folks, that is pretty much always what it comes down to when picking a doodle.

That golden is so great! Wants to be in the fun and is so willing to just follow along!

What I do not understand is if a person wants a dog that is hypoallergenic and does not shed, why they do not just buy a poodle? Breeding dogs for looks without taking into account temperament, biddability, desire to please, need to work, etc. is not that I personally approve of.

Mr. Dennis is a fountain of wisdom, I love this channel! Thank you Stonnie and company!!❤

Love this video. Great job and I agree with your logic. Extremely well said. I have a 95% chocolate lab rescue and a golden doodle. I get really tired of all the hate I see on golden doodles. He is such an amazing dog. Absolutely amazing and they get trashed so much.

Our standard poodle breeder that we got our youngest from is an RN and is extremely careful with her breeding and does not breed cousins. I have her papers and she has 6 generations to see who’s been bred to her. Thank you for a wonderful video and being so amazing !!!

My family has two doodles (my parents got them)… they are amazing dogs, very well behaved, easily potty trained, chill, laid back great dogs!

I have owned black labs, great danes, collie/shepard mixes and currently own a F1b labradoodle (¾ poodle, ¼ black lab). I specifically chose a labradoodle because I wanted the intelligence of a poodle and the loyalty, calmness, people-loving, and retrieve drive of a lab. I specifically chose the breeder because they were veterinarians, own a farm, provide health certificates, and temperament test the parents and the puppies. I did not care whether the dog sheds (she doesn't). I took Stonnie's online puppy training course only because COVID made flying to his Kentucky kennel difficult. From 8 weeks of age, I have taken her on outside adventures multiples times per day and in many different environments, including riding a chairlift at a ski resort. At 4 years old, she runs off leash beside my bicycle (sprinting 13 mph), runs/jumps her heart out off leash at the beach, and loves retrieving balls on the beach , in the forest, at a public park. I can and do take her everywhere, she loves everyone and everyone loves her. She is the center of attention at the park where other people comment on how athletic she is. My point for all of this, is that it is all about training and adventures. Using Stonnie's method, you can have the perfect dog. And mine is a doodle.

So glad you’re addressing these topics! I wish more people paid attention to channels like this before they buy. I’ve owned a lot of different breeds over the decades, mostly dumped in my lap and now I have a doodle, but they’re all raised the same because I’m a believer in nurture vs nature when it comes to temperament and so far it’s worked out. I learned everything I know from wolves but that’s another story and I’m an Irish granny so I’ll stop myself now lol. However you can miss me with the low coat maintenance non shedding doodle lol I’ve never had more work with any dog and I’ve owned lots of long coats but this girl requires daily combing out which she hates but tolerates and there’s not a single groomer with 100kms of me that will touch a doodle other than to shave it down, which I did to her once and she went into a deep depression and dog therapists are costly lol and yes you’re right, even with long time dog owners these dogs become froofroo puppies from the start. So spoiled I’m ashamed. So we go through a lot of detangling product and combs lol My biggest concern with breeding right now is the number of mixed gsd’s there are for sale and how cheap they are. I can only imagine the issues and glad I don’t fix messed up dogs anymore. When I used to train unruly dogs I used the buy and sell papers to watch the trends so that I’d know what breed my next wave of clients would be 😁 Thanks for listening to me drone on. Take care and keep making videos you’re a valuable channel, I’ve learned a great deal from you. Cheers!