Looking for Breeder - We live in MA

[DoodleConvert]

I am so happy to have found this forum and have appreciated reading and researching information. I have succumbed to the Doodle charm and blame my friends. I am interested in a F1b but I was looking specifically at Labradoodles and then started reading up on Goldendoodle, double and Australian doodles enough to make my head spin. I welcome any PMs on the subject and my questions.

Unfortunately we have a family where two of the three of us have allergies - I have environmental asthma (controlled, rarely effected usually related to pollen) and animal allergies (everything fur and feathers) and my daughter's is fur (1 child - she is 10). As an adult I have had cats (last one passed at 17 yrs old 2 yrs ago) which while I was used to mine I was very allergic to the dander of others. I grew up with dogs (never had allergy issues). We had a Standard poodle when I was younger and many German Shepherds throughout my youth and teen life which then moved to a room mate with a lab. The only person with no allergies is my husband who has never grown up with dogs. Up until last year I have not looked to have a dog in our family as I traveled for work. Travel now is only twice a year out of town (Feb & early May conventions), or local for 2 hours. I also work from home.

Two of my friends have Labradoodles. One used Yesteryear Acres (he is in that location and liked the breeder) and the other will be getting a puppy from Cedar Hill Labradoodles. I am curious about feedback regarding both of these breeders but also I have looked at info on breeders in ME and RI. I think I saw a name in Western MA as well Tangle Wool but not a lot of info and they seemed a newer breeder.

Also, I had a question on all of the testing. I notice some breeders put the results of the testing and some just say they passed it. Should I infer anything from that - for instance if I see one parent noted as excellent in hips but from the same breeder that a parent passed but not listing their score? From having Shepherds I totally get the concern on hips as we had that with one of our dogs. I also have an understanding on the poodle testing and fortunately I do not recall any issues with ours however that was so long ago. Are elbow testing common like hips or do you need to ask. I have read different things to scare me regarding bloating but since there is no test for things related to it - is this a standard question about parents or is this not something I should have as a concern.

Also I see so many warnings on puppy mills etc - I understand and appreciate all of the feedback on it and since there appears to be one in my area it was particularly helpful. A question I had on breeders was even in home environment is there an opinion/standard on how often dogs are bred and how many litters in general a breeder has a year regardless if its different dame?

Thanks for any insight. Sorry for such a long post. The more I read it seems the more I have for questions.

[Jac]

Hi, welcome to the forum.

With the history of allergies you have in your family, I would work with a breeder who is willing to let your family cuddle with the puppy before you buy...maybe even the parent dogs.

One big problem you may have is that even if the Doodle does not aggravate the allergies in your family, he may bring pollen in on his coat that will. Often I find that allergies are caused not so much by the dog but buy the environment that the dog lives and plays in.

Not every Doodle is hypo-allergenic. Not every curly coat is either. Many people think that a curly coat equals non-shedding or hypo-allergenic...not true. The most important thing you can do is find a breeder you can trust to be honest with you.

Here are two articles that I wrote that might help answer some of your questions:

http://labradoodle-dogs.net/ebooks/Find ... reeder.pdf

http://labradoodle-dogs.net/ebooks/Dood ... Basics.pdf

To answer your questions about testing, you are right...you want to find out what tests they have conducted, find out the scores and then research the test to see what the scores mean. OFA and Penn Hip are different so that is why you read different things; passing vs score.

Best wishes!

[DoodleConvert]

Thank you. I had not even considered the pollen on coat. With todays lovely 10.8 pollen level day it also prompts me to get back on track with our allergy shots. I walked the lake today and realized I had no issues wih the dogs there but whatever is currently In the air

Thank you also for the breeder tip on cuddle time and both articles. I had previously read the first but did not think to read the other.

[Jac]

You are very welcome! Please feel free to contact me personally via PM if I can help you answer any specific breeder questions.