I would like to add a word of caution to the glowing recommendations for Cabryn poodles. Unfortunately, I did not have the happy experience that some of you have had. I am strictly a pet owner--not a breeder myself. Nor am I a breeder basher.
This is what I experienced. In September of 2001, I had to say a last good-by to my 16-year-old mini poodle. In October of 2001 I contacted Cabryn about finding a new poodle. I wanted another mini, because that is what I had always had. Carolyn was quick to respond and invited me to see a 14-week-old black male that was ready to go. She also stated that she had a 4-week-old silver mini and a 4-week old black mini. I drove to Hackettstown to see the puppies. The older black male had just been groomed and fluffed. He was gorgeous. Unfortunately, he wanted nothing to do with me. I couldn't engage him in play. When I picked him up at Carolyn's suggestion, he tried to jump out of my arms. I put him down before he could hurt himself and moved on to look at the silver mini. He was so cute, and lovable, I thought he was worth the wait. There was no mention of health testing of parents, and I didn't question it as I had gotten my previous poodle 16 years before. Merlin, as I named him, was the only puppy in his litter. While I was there, I was also shown an apricot toy female who was probably going to be large. So there were puppies from at least four different litters there in the toy and mini size at that time. Again this was not a cause of alarm for me.
I picked up Merlin two weeks later, as it turned out that he was six weeks old, not four weeks. The only kind of health guarantee I got was, take the puppy to your vet in so many days and if there is any genetic fault your vet finds, you can bring him back. At first everything was fine. My vet pronounced him healthy. Merlin grew into a handsome dog--a good-looking poodle.
Unfortunately, there were other problems. I tried to get Merlin used to being brushed as a tiny pup. I set him on my lap and tried to take a few strokes with the brush. This bitty thing growled and bit at the brush. I thought maybe he was scared of it, so I put the brush on the floor to let him get used to it. He grabbed it by the handle and hauled it off. I tried treating while brushing. Eventually I could brush his head, his back and a little way down each leg, but never farther. When a bit of feces clung to his fur, there was no way he would let me trim it off. I devised a way, but he would bite seriously. Luckily he could not get to my hands. He fought every groomer I ever took him to and had to be muzzled to be groomed. I got my vet to prescribe tranquilizers, but that didn't work either. I was not a novice dog owner. I believe I was doing everything right. I took him to puppy kindergarten. I followed trainers suggestions. I do believe his temperament was part of his breeding.
When Merlin was just about a year old, he started coming up lame on walks. It was luxating patellas. I took him to a specialist and had surgery on both knees at a cost of over $2000. This is another genetic defect. He was a rotten patient during his recovery. I needed to carry him up and down stairs. I was as gentle as I could be, but he would fight me with teeth trying to do serious injury. Despite his many problems, I would never have given up on him.
At a little over three years of age Merlin developed immune mediated hemolytic anemia. In 48 hours he went from being healthy to a call from my vet saying he couldn't save him. I researched this disease and while there is no known cause, there are two suspect areas--over-vaccination and heredity.
I know there many Cabryn poodles that are champions. I hope all of you who have poodles from there, enjoy your dogs for many years. This is not a breeder I would ever recommend to a friend.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share this story. That is very important information! That is just heartbreaking.
We had a longhaired dachshund that we got as a pup, before we had children. Not knowing any better, I got her from a backyard breeder.
She just turned 8 years old, and she has had no major health problems or genetic defects. But, she was not well socialized with children. We got her at 9 weeks. I took her to obedience school, and had her "interact" with my nephew, and kids we would meet on walks. She has small dog syndrome bad with all the dogs in class. They were almost all lab or retriever pups. She even terrorized my husband's friend's bull mastiff pup!
She was pretty good after my daughter came along. But, once my son started walking last year, she was showing signs of aggression.
She was a very good dog and well behaved in every other way. My sister-in-law loved her, and has no little ones. She adopted her from us, and it has been the perfect solution. We can still visit, she gets a lot of exercise, and believe it or not, she visits a nursing home every week with my sister-in-law and does tricks for the residents. They love her.
I really want a dog that my children can play with. When I was young, I was able to teach my poodle many tricks. I do not want to break their hearts with an ill-bred, unsocialized dog! So it is very important that I do plenty of research and training.
I have time to really research breeders. I want a healthy/health tested, well socialized pup (one that is especially good with kids, since I have two young ones) that I groom myself most of the time.
I don't mind traveling some distance to get the pup. I would rather go to see the pup with my family, so that I know how it interacts with us. I know that there are some experienced shippers out there, which I may be open to. My husband really does not like the idea of shipping a puppy that we have never seen. It seems really important to see the pup in person.
I will keep doing my research, and contacting breeders. Thank you, everyone for your contributions! It is very helpful!
