[NamasteCyclin]

Mini Vs Standard

Hi all. 👋🏻

My family and I have been patiently awaiting bringing home our sweet girl towards the end of October. We have planned on getting a standard poodle. She will be on the larger side. Our breeder who is very reputable had an opening open up for a mini female. We are very torn now which size to choose and which will be best for our family. Any advice or opinions would be great. A bit about us. . . We have four little ones (13, 4, and twins who are 3). My husband works from home and I stay home with our younger ones so it’s very rare our new puppy will ever be alone. We don’t leave much. We own a home, have a fenced-in backyard on a 1/2 acre lot, go on daily walks. We are just torn on which size will be best with our children so any advice is appreciated.

 

[AliFenrisMom]

Hello! I'm pretty new to poodles so I don't have any advice, just wanted to welcome you!

Well, except maybe a question, did the breeder temperament test the mini available and think she will be a good match for your family? I think that would be more of a consideration than size alone.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Hi! Lovely to meet you.

Assuming her temperament is a good fit for your family, and she's expected to be a nice sturdy size, I'd probably lean towards the mini.

My reason for this is that adolescent spoos are....a lot. Lol. Adolescent minis, too, but their size makes them much more manageable and less likely to scare or knock over a child. Even I—a full-grown, relatively mature adult—had some real EEK!! moments during Peggy's puppyhood.

Of course, her larger size also means she's more resilient. So if you don't trust your little ones to be gentle, the spoo might be a better fit. But just know that poodles (and baby poodles especially) tend to mirror human energy.

 

[Happy'sDad]

I have a 4 1/2 year old boy (which is why we went big) and 5 mo old SPOO. The pairing has been great. Even when they get carried away roughhousing, I don't worry about either causing /sustaining permanent damage to the other.

 

[NamasteCyclin]

Hi! Lovely to meet you.

Assuming her temperament is a good fit for your family, and she's expected to be a nice sturdy size, I'd probably lean towards the mini.

My reason for this is that adolescent spoos are....a lot. Lol. Adolescent minis, too, but their size makes them much more manageable and less likely to scare or knock over a child. Even I—a full-grown, relatively mature adult—had some real EEK!! moments during Peggy's puppyhood.

Of course, her larger size also means she's more resilient. So if you don't trust your little ones to be gentle, the spoo might be a better fit. But just know that poodles (and baby poodles especially) tend to mirror human energy.

So my initial thought/worry was would the mini's size be ok with little ones and when I mentioned it to our breeder they didn't seem concerned regarding the mini’s size with little ones. They said the great thing about mini’s are they are actually pretty hardy and aren't super fragile as a toy would be. That got us really debating then which one because in general, our little ones are not rough and crazy hyper kids. & the dogs they have been around are small (7-12 lb dogs). In general, they tend to be timid around bigger dogs so that made us question maybe the smaller would be better with our younger ones because they wouldn't be scared? But that also said I am sure that if we get the standard they will warm up and get comfortable with each other when they get used to each other. Ugh, such a hard decision and now we have to make it so quickly. The mini's mom is 9 lbs and the dad is 13 lbs. & the breeder said that although she is only 5 weeks right now (almost 6) she is a total love bug so far. She loves giving everyone kisses up and down. They said in general she will be a higher gear than a standard, they naturally are overall but that isn't all bad either with the kiddos.

 

[NamasteCyclin]

So my initial thought/worry was would the mini's size be ok with little ones and when I mentioned it to our breeder they didn't seem concerned regarding the mini’s size with little ones. They said the great thing about mini’s are they are actually pretty hardy and aren't super fragile as a toy would be. That got us really debating then which one because in general, our little ones are not rough and crazy hyper kids. & the dogs they have been around are small (7-12 lb dogs). In general, they tend to be timid around bigger dogs so that made us question maybe the smaller would be better with our younger ones because they wouldn't be scared? But that also said I am sure that if we get the standard they will warm up and get comfortable with each other when they get used to each other. Ugh, such a hard decision and now we have to make it so quickly. The mini's mom is 9 lbs and the dad is 13 lbs. & the breeder said that although she is only 5 weeks right now (almost 6) she is a total love bug so far. She loves giving everyone kisses up and down. They said in general she will be a higher gear than a standard, they naturally are overall but that isn't all bad either with the kiddos.

& thank you for your reply! Nice to meet you too!!

 

[Rose n Poos]

Strictly relating to size alone, here's a link to a recent post showing my 14lb/14" mini, Neo in relation to some things. I'll add below a photo showing relative size between Neo and his slightly smaller brother, Remo.

What kind of activities down the road are you all hoping to share with you poodle?

Link to other photos Why that size?

Neo and Remo together

 

[NamasteCyclin]

Strictly relating to size alone, here's a link to a recent post showing my 14lb/14" mini, Neo in relation to some things. I'll add below a photo showing relative size between Neo and his slightly smaller brother, Remo.

What kind of activities down the road are you all hoping to share with you poodle?

Link to other photos Why that size?

Neo and Remo together
View attachment 470027

Thank you for sharing those! That is helpful. & they are adorable! As far as activities down the road when the weather permits we walk a lot. Less in the winter but still daily. We have a big fenced in backyard so we are able to go outside and play with our future dog! We are a fairly active family outdoors when it is nice but aren't always on the go.

 

[Michigan Gal]

We got our 60 pound standard when he was one year old. Never had a problem with the kids, 8 of them, with the youngest age 3. While your children may be respectful of a small dog, their friends may not be.

I think what is important is that you begin training the moment you meet your new guy. He should sit when he greets people, not bounce around or jump on them. He should sit at the door before he exits the house always. This keeps him from bolting out. He should sit and wait for his food dish to be put on the floor and a command given (okay, eat, dinner...) I would also have the children take turns feeding the dog.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

I think then I'd probably make my decision based on lifestyle. I personally really wanted another mini for travel. But we live in an area with a lot of predators, and I ultimately felt a spoo was a more responsible choice.

I think, too, if my kids were more comfortable with smaller dogs, that's the route I'd go. But....the spoo "off switch" is pretty great. Peggy is already the ultimate couch potato at only 16 months.

What are YOU most comfortable with? If you've trained a larger dog before and feel good in their presence, I'm sure your kids will follow your lead. Snuggling with my 45 lb girl is rather delightful.

Then again.... Being able to scoop up my 12 lb mini was extremely convenient.

Am I making this harder for you?? Lol. That's because they're BOTH wonderful choices.

 

[Mfmst]

I went through our son’s childhood with Scottish Terriers, a heavyweight mini size. They were portable, easier to travel with, given hotel size restrictions. The big plus was they were less intimidating to the multitude of my son’s friends who didn’t have dogs. Smaller dogs are likely to live longer. Our first Scottie passed when our son was in college. I’m not sorry I supersized to a Spoo, but when my grandson visits, I wish Buck was a mini.

 

[Raindrops]

I think either could be fine depending on temperament. My mini would not have been a good fit for a family with young kids. He was much too mouthy and was always getting under foot. Children running around him would have been disastrous. But a spoo as mouthy as him would have been even worse! With young children you will want a calmer puppy that isn't too mouthy. If you do get the mini you will need to really work on making sure it is safe around your children. They may be sturdy as adults but as puppies they are very small and easily injured. With a spoo you need to make sure the children are safe around the puppy. Good manners are very important for any dog, but especially larger dogs.

 

[Asta's Mom]

Just wanted to pop in and say welcome. I have a standard so I am prejudiced.

 

[NamasteCyclin]

Thanks to everyone for their advice and input! So we are leaning towards a standard. Still not 100% but if we do get a standard we thought we finally decide on which one. Then found out the first pick family would be willing to switch us if we still wanted a brown and white vs black and white as this is what we did want initially. Problem is now we can't decide between them because we love both! Both personalities are essentially the same. I'm going to attach a photo... Top pics are brown and white. Bottom are black and white. I'd love to take a vote to help us choose if we go for the standard.

 

[Dianaleez]

What imput are you getting from your children? Mine would have preferred a larger dog but would have loved the smaller one if that's what we had.

 

[Pytheis]

I vote for the black and white! Purely because I have a solid black German shepherd so I love black dogs.

 

[fjm]

Brown is likely to fade; black will probably stay black - I don't know if that makes any difference to your thinking.

 

[Mufar42]

I have a standard and no experience with mini. I love my standard but he doesn't love children , in his defense he hasn't been exposed. My standard took a good 2-1 1/2 years to mature. With a mini your children could probably handle walking it and playing, with a standard he would be much stronger and play will be a bit tougher, mine can leap 5 ft into the air if he wants too though I have always discouraged it, one I don't want to get hurt, and 2. he could easily hurt himself. Whatever you decide , I am sure you will be happy with. PS I like the b/w parti color, if you go that route.

 

[PeggyTheParti]

If their temperaments really are that similar (I hope the breeder is waiting until 7 weeks to make a final assessment) I'd choose the black...but I'm a little biased.

We'd originally planned to get Peggy's sister, an apricot parti. In fact, the one colour I didn't want was black. Ha! We made our final decision based on our interactions with them. Peggy very much chose us.