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Hey all!
I posted on PF a while back with an old account while I was in the process of determining how to move forward in my search for a service dog. I received some thoughtful and helpful replies here that I took to heart, and lead me on a bit of an adventure.
Last time I was here, it was 2018, and I was still neck-deep in the search for a new prospect, and incredibly lost in how to proceed. I was eventually able to find a program local to me that occasionally takes on civilians with PTSD rather than just veterans. For the past year I have been training my dog received through the program. We graduated from our weekly classes in March, and my girl will be two in the next few months! Quite a whirlwind adventure to be sure.
Despite how sweet and lovely my girl is, I still have my heart set on her successor being a Standard Poodle. The dog I have is a Labrador/Golden retriever mix.
For a handful of reasons, I am looking to train her successor a little earlier, and hoping to find a puppy or young adult in mid 2022-2023. This would also give the dog several years to mature before my girl reaches retirement.
That being said, what are some standard poodle breeders you all would be comfortable recommending?
Any thoughts on preferences I should add to what I'm looking for?
These are my preferences:
Breeders that:
I posted on PF a while back with an old account while I was in the process of determining how to move forward in my search for a service dog. I received some thoughtful and helpful replies here that I took to heart, and lead me on a bit of an adventure.
Last time I was here, it was 2018, and I was still neck-deep in the search for a new prospect, and incredibly lost in how to proceed. I was eventually able to find a program local to me that occasionally takes on civilians with PTSD rather than just veterans. For the past year I have been training my dog received through the program. We graduated from our weekly classes in March, and my girl will be two in the next few months! Quite a whirlwind adventure to be sure.
Despite how sweet and lovely my girl is, I still have my heart set on her successor being a Standard Poodle. The dog I have is a Labrador/Golden retriever mix.
For a handful of reasons, I am looking to train her successor a little earlier, and hoping to find a puppy or young adult in mid 2022-2023. This would also give the dog several years to mature before my girl reaches retirement.
That being said, what are some standard poodle breeders you all would be comfortable recommending?
These are my preferences:
Breeders that:
- Are willing to work with me to find the best match for this work. I am starting this search very early, and am willing to wait several years. I would like to follow the breeder for the next few years.
- Are willing to place one of their dogs as a service dog prospect. I know this is not every breeder’s cup of tea.
- Are upfront about the behavioral pros, neutrals and cons they have noticed in their dogs.
- Are upfront regarding medical issues they have observed in their dogs, and willing to help me understand what to look for and how to mitigate them. I know that there are uncontrollable surprises; I just want a clear heads-up on what the breeder knows I should expect.
- Will let me meet the parents of the litter.
- Have published OFA scores for the parents of the litter, and preferably only breeding with other tested dogs.
- Are using tools like betterbred to mitigate inbreeding.
- Is confident
- Is sweet-tempered
- Is not dog aggressive, people aggressive, nor protective
- Has drive to work, but the ability to settle comfortably. This dog will experience long periods of activity (walking around in many different types of scenarios, doing various taskwork…), and sedentary (settling while I am in a long meeting, commuting in the car…).
- Has a decently high threshold for stress. My base level of stress (comfortable, sitting around the house) is a little higher than the average person, so some extra resilience will help this dog. I also experience periods of heightened anxiety due to PTSD.
- Is a puppy, or a young adult that has been well-socialized and exposed to many sights/sounds/people/stimuli. I am very open to young, retired show dogs providing they have been very well socialized and fit the above criteria as closely as possible. 😊
- I am a little tall, so I’m looking for a taller standard poodle rather than a smaller one. I would love a dog closer to 24 inches. My current dog is a about 20” at the shoulder.
- I prefer black, brown, silver, and blue as colors. I know some AKC breeders are also UKC breeders; I am not opposed to parti. I have seen some white or cream poodles I like, but I tend to prefer the ones I mentioned. 😊
- I am located in the Southeastern US, so a close breeder I could visit would be nice, but my highest priority is just finding a wonderful companion and suitable service dog prospect.