tenortime

I am a new member. I currently am NOT a poodle owner, BUT I hope to be one around March of 2011. My wife and I currently have a havanese. She is great but needs a companion. I have always wanted a standard poodle but have opted for smaller dogs in the past. Perhaps it is mid-life (actually old life) crisis, but I really want a larger dog. We frequently walk around the lakes in the Twin Cities with Sadie (our havanese), and I get very jealous of the owners of the beautiful standard poodles we see. I contacted a breeder who breeds primarily brown poodles and a litter should be born this December if things go right. We want a female because all of the dogs we have owned in the past, which have worked out extremely well, have been females. We also want a dark brown poodle. I called our havanese breeder and she said that Sadie should get along very well with any breed including a standard and including another female. Any thoughts or concerns about me moving ahead with our tentative plans? My wife is not completely on board yet for this new dog. She has some concerns about having 2 dogs when one is already considerable work.

LuvPoo

Hi & welcome -

As an owner of 2 previous male standards and soon to be owners of a new male standard pup, I would say research the breed thoroughly. I would place the dog's color behind the caliber of the breeder, how thoroughly they test their breeding stock, whether they show their dogs (and what they show in.) We made a huge point this time out to look for breeders who don't just show for conformation, but for obedience, hunting, agility, etc. Even though it isn't always convenient, meet both the parents. Make sure both the sire & dam are social, stable dogs. If there are other relatives around, that's good too. If you have only looked at one breeder, I would seriously encourage you to meet at least 4 -6 more to compare. There's tons of good advice on this sight about how to assess a breeder. The "Versatility in Poodles" website also has a good check list.

Also, a good quality standard should be pretty calm indoors, but they need plenty of daily exercise to be good pets, especially when they are young.

Skye

There is a member on here that has 2 standards and a havanese....hopefully she will chime in!

BobD

My sister has an 8 month old Havanese and my male Standard (also 8 months) absolutely loves her. And She loves him. They play very well together despite the difference in size. I can not agree with LuvPoo enough; go through a good breeder that subscribes to (and understands) temperament testing. I let my breeder know that my Spoo would be living with two Russian Blue cats. She kept that in mind while raising and testing the litter. She then chose the best puppy-match for me, the puppy, the cats and our lifestyles. My Spoo's attitude towards the two cats is tremendous...now if I could only get the cats to see that. ;-)

Seeing my 50lb. Poodle playing with a small Havanese reminded me of a good book I'm reading, "Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know" by Alexandra Horowitz. It starts out describing a scene where a 140 lb. Irish Wolf Hound and an 8 lb. Chihuahua are playing together. I think just about any dogs will get along if there temperament is right.

Cdnjennga

Welcome! I don't think you will have any problem integrating a Standard Poodle into your home with your Havanese. As for having 2 dogs, we have had everything from 1 to 3. IMO 2 doubles the fun, while 3 becomes too much work.

Poodle Lover

Hi Tenortime,

I believe you and I have already met on the Havanese Forum.
I absolutely love having Spoos and Havanese and in my case the two breeds compliment each other and get along great. My Havanese has tought my spoos to be gentle with little ones and my spoos taught my Hav not to be afraid of the big dogs. As a matter of fact, my Hav is convinced he is a spoo. lol

Good luck with getting your new Spoo puppy. Just as a side, don't dismiss a male dog, they are fantastic and I much prefer males to females.

faerie

my friend has a havanese who is a love.

i have 2 cairn terriers who are 5. i brought in a lab x AND my spoo puppy both at the same time in a home w/ these 18 pound dogs.

everyone does fine and my female cairn is the alpha next to the cat.