Hi all!
I was wondering if I could get some feedback from some of the many poodle-experienced people here? Basically I'm trying to figure out what breeds would be the best fit for my next dog and standard poodles seem to fit really well with what I'm looking for. I was hoping you guys could tell me if I'm off base and maybe answer a few questions I have.
Primarily I want a companion, but would also like a potential obedience/agility dog. So not a show prospect. I'd prefer not white, but otherwise I'm not too picky about color. I'm very concerned with health, so I want a breeder who does good health testing. Overall, I want a dog who will be calm and laid back around the house, good with cats, and although trainable and smart also willing to be a total couch potato when we're not working/training/exercising. I want a dog who will alert bark, but not be prone to barkiness in general. My previous dog was a working-line german shepherd and I was hoping for my next dog to have the trainability and intelligence that I got there, but without the high prey drive.
From what I understand, poodles more than hit the mark on trainability and intelligence, but I was wondering how drivey they tend to be? I'm sure some lines are more so than others, but in general what could I expect? How about alert barking vs barkiness? Also, do they overall tend to be velcro dogs or more independent? No judgement (seriously), but what are the downsides of poodles?
Other basic info: my husband and I have acreage, a walled yard, no kids, and four cats (one who is an absolute jerk about dogs who get near his space). I'm home most of the time and would be with the dog, but would still prefer not to get a breed that's prone to severe separation anxiety. Let me know if there's anything in here that makes you think "oh god no, why are you considering poodles, are you crazy?!?" ("You didn't know that poodles are allergic to cats? Everyone knows that!")
On a practical note, what can I expect price-wise? When I google it, I get an answer of around $1000-$1500, which is basically what I had guessed at and which is exactly what I had in mind for a budget (conveniently), but it seems like there are a lot of breeders asking prices in the $2000-$3000 range. Is google totally wrong? I found an ten year old thread on this forum saying that those higher prices seemed unreasonable to a lot of people here, but that was ten years ago and maybe prices have doubled in the last ten years.
Also, I've read that a lot of people are moving to sending puppies home later than they used to. More like 10-16 weeks instead of 8. This is not a problem for me and the explanations I've read make sense, but I was wondering how common that is with poodle breeders? Is this a thing that I should expect?
Lastly, I'm in Arizona and would take any recommendations for breeders to talk to. I went through some recommendations I've seen on the internet, but as far as google would tell me many of those breeders were no longer in the business. I'd be willing to go anywhere on the west coast, though I did see a comment somewhere saying that CA prices are higher than elsewhere so maybe that's not a great idea. Anywhere in the southwest, through TX and up into CO and UT would be fine. I'd consider further for the right breeder/dog, but would prefer to stay in this general part of the country.
Thanks to anyone who reads all of this and I'd appreciate any info you guys can give me!
I was wondering if I could get some feedback from some of the many poodle-experienced people here? Basically I'm trying to figure out what breeds would be the best fit for my next dog and standard poodles seem to fit really well with what I'm looking for. I was hoping you guys could tell me if I'm off base and maybe answer a few questions I have.
Primarily I want a companion, but would also like a potential obedience/agility dog. So not a show prospect. I'd prefer not white, but otherwise I'm not too picky about color. I'm very concerned with health, so I want a breeder who does good health testing. Overall, I want a dog who will be calm and laid back around the house, good with cats, and although trainable and smart also willing to be a total couch potato when we're not working/training/exercising. I want a dog who will alert bark, but not be prone to barkiness in general. My previous dog was a working-line german shepherd and I was hoping for my next dog to have the trainability and intelligence that I got there, but without the high prey drive.
From what I understand, poodles more than hit the mark on trainability and intelligence, but I was wondering how drivey they tend to be? I'm sure some lines are more so than others, but in general what could I expect? How about alert barking vs barkiness? Also, do they overall tend to be velcro dogs or more independent? No judgement (seriously), but what are the downsides of poodles?
Other basic info: my husband and I have acreage, a walled yard, no kids, and four cats (one who is an absolute jerk about dogs who get near his space). I'm home most of the time and would be with the dog, but would still prefer not to get a breed that's prone to severe separation anxiety. Let me know if there's anything in here that makes you think "oh god no, why are you considering poodles, are you crazy?!?" ("You didn't know that poodles are allergic to cats? Everyone knows that!")
On a practical note, what can I expect price-wise? When I google it, I get an answer of around $1000-$1500, which is basically what I had guessed at and which is exactly what I had in mind for a budget (conveniently), but it seems like there are a lot of breeders asking prices in the $2000-$3000 range. Is google totally wrong? I found an ten year old thread on this forum saying that those higher prices seemed unreasonable to a lot of people here, but that was ten years ago and maybe prices have doubled in the last ten years.
Also, I've read that a lot of people are moving to sending puppies home later than they used to. More like 10-16 weeks instead of 8. This is not a problem for me and the explanations I've read make sense, but I was wondering how common that is with poodle breeders? Is this a thing that I should expect?
Lastly, I'm in Arizona and would take any recommendations for breeders to talk to. I went through some recommendations I've seen on the internet, but as far as google would tell me many of those breeders were no longer in the business. I'd be willing to go anywhere on the west coast, though I did see a comment somewhere saying that CA prices are higher than elsewhere so maybe that's not a great idea. Anywhere in the southwest, through TX and up into CO and UT would be fine. I'd consider further for the right breeder/dog, but would prefer to stay in this general part of the country.
Thanks to anyone who reads all of this and I'd appreciate any info you guys can give me!