[themissingpen]

Hey poodle fans,

I posted in the Members Intros over a year ago about my dog plans. I've had a lot of health ups and downs since, and right now I'm looking for a standard to train (with a professional KPA certified trainer who has a Master's in Animal Behavior) for seizure alert/response, respiratory "alert"/response, and retrieval work. I know seizure alerts are not considered trainable; I can elaborate if you're interested. I happen to be a huge fan of reds, but color is definitely far less important than health/temperament.

Anyone have any breeder recs for my situation? I'm currently located in NYC. I'm willing to travel, but I can't drive, so I would need Lyft/Uber access, or the breeder might need to give me a lift from somewhere. I'm not currently allowed to travel much thanks to COVID-19, but would like to get started with my search.

On my list:

Arreau (not sure how importing puppies works though, could someone give me some insight?)
Farley's
NOLA
LCM

Thanks y'all!

 

[lily cd re]

There won't be reds for these breeders but they are closer to NYC but you may want to look at Madela in Connecticut (my boy Javelin's breeders) and Scheherazade in New Jersey. Both have line with great temperaments, mostly whites from Scheherazade and Blacks, silfers from Madela.

 

[Mfmst]

Best wishes on your search. Your first three breeders would be on my list, not familiar with LCM.

 

[themissingpen]

There won't be reds for these breeders but they are closer to NYC but you may want to look at Madela in Connecticut (my boy Javelin's breeders) and Scheherazade in New Jersey. Both have line with great temperaments, mostly whites from Scheherazade and Blacks, silfers from Madela.

Hi Lily! Thanks for your recs! Would you happen to know if either of these breeders have produced working service dogs in the past? I've always been hesitant to go with whites/blacks because (1) I have OCD (also bipolar, my brain is just all sorts of crazy) and EVERYTHING shows up on white dogs, and (2) I'm very night-blind and anticipate stumbling over a black dog in all shadows/dim lighting/dark flooring. I've had the 2nd problem with a friend's black lab mix at all times of the day, and it ranged from extremely annoying to borderline unsafe. Silvers could work though!

 

[lily cd re]

A silver might be good for you then. Delana and Mark produce well built pups with great temperaments. She had a detailed description of what I was looking for and gave me updates on development of the boys in the litter and I ended up with the pup I needed for the work I wanted (which BTW now includes service work). If you reach out to her on FB or through email she should be able to tell her what her plans for upcoming litters is and what she thinks in terms of whether she could produce a pup that would suit your needs.

 

[farleysd]

I am not sure if Connie from LCM has any puppies at this time. She is always on my list of recommendations, and has worked closely with us.

 

[Asta's Mom]

I was lucky to get Asta. He came from a BYB who thought he might be a good match as he was a most confident puppy. Helps me out tremendously with my bipolar disorder - everything from going to get me help when I need it, staying close to me when I am depressed, alerting me that it is time to take medication, etc. We are currently working on a bottle command to get him to bring me a bottle of water. This is going along better than I hoped for. Anyway, he still is a confident dog and very attuned to my needs. Good luck with your search and I sure wouldn't be fussy about color. Asta is black and I have had no problems with him at night. He will move out of my way if he sees me walking about the house at night and at night he just wants to go out to take a poop or so and then it is back to the house. He doesn't like being out in the dark and we have reinforced this with training. Altough he likes my DH, I am his focus and he is never really far from me. He has got a job and he knows it.

 

[themissingpen]

You're right! Color is definitely my last priority. Temperament is much more important. I'm just really worried about accidentally stepping on my puppy or doing other damage by accident. I think my OCD brain just keeps coming up with more and more catastrophes, but there must be good solutions! Maybe a lot of body awareness training with my puppy, and light-up harnesses, being strategic about crating/penning my puppy to places where I definitely won't be stepping...

 

[PeggyTheParti]

Have faith that your poodle will be a nimble athlete, and also able to anticipate your movements as if by magic. These are just some of their super powers.

Wishing you the best of luck in your search!

 

[themissingpen]

Have faith that your poodle will be a nimble athlete, and also able to anticipate your movements as if by magic. These are just some of their super powers.

Wishing you the best of luck in your search!

Ahaha thank you! This iis definitely helping to put my mind at ease.

 

[Raindrops]

My black mini was particularly prone to running under foot as a puppy. My boyfriend would constantly almost step on him, and it was dangerous. We attached a cat bell to his collar which greatly alleviated the problem. He has matured and is better about keeping away from feet now, but we still keep the bell because he is a silent walker and it's nice to know where he is going all the time. I highly recommend using a bell if you have any fears about keeping track of your pup.

I know of somebody who has a service mini from Windswept Poodles, but they mainly breed standards. Lots of different colors, but I know they do silver. They happen to have a silver female pup available right now so that's how I know lol. They seem like a really excellent breeder and do UKC conformation but also put other titles on their dogs (and of course complete all health testing). I would consider them if I was looking for a standard. They are not local to you but do meet people at the airport.

 

[themissingpen]

My black mini was particularly prone to running under foot as a puppy. My boyfriend would constantly almost step on him, and it was dangerous. We attached a cat bell to his collar which greatly alleviated the problem. He has matured and is better about keeping away from feet now, but we still keep the bell because he is a silent walker and it's nice to know where he is going all the time. I highly recommend using a bell if you have any fears about keeping track of your pup.

I know of somebody who has a service mini from Windswept Poodles, but they mainly breed standards. Lots of different colors, but I know they do silver. They happen to have a silver female pup available right now so that's how I know lol. They seem like a really excellent breeder and do UKC conformation but also put other titles on their dogs (and of course complete all health testing). I would consider them if I was looking for a standard. They are not local to you but do meet people at the airport.

Ohh thanks for the suggestion! I was always curious if bells or dog tags affected our animals, especially since they have even more sensitive hearing than we do (now that I think about it, I wonder if light-up harnesses annoy them at first), but I guess they must get used to it eventually?

 

[themissingpen]

I was lucky to get Asta. He came from a BYB who thought he might be a good match as he was a most confident puppy. Helps me out tremendously with my bipolar disorder - everything from going to get me help when I need it, staying close to me when I am depressed, alerting me that it is time to take medication, etc. We are currently working on a bottle command to get him to bring me a bottle of water. This is going along better than I hoped for. Anyway, he still is a confident dog and very attuned to my needs. Good luck with your search and I sure wouldn't be fussy about color. Asta is black and I have had no problems with him at night. He will move out of my way if he sees me walking about the house at night and at night he just wants to go out to take a poop or so and then it is back to the house. He doesn't like being out in the dark and we have reinforced this with training. Altough he likes my DH, I am his focus and he is never really far from me. He has got a job and he knows it.

Thanks a ton for your advice! If you don't mind sharing, did you train Asta yourself? Do you by chance have any training advice for me? Did you get Asta with the goal of making him a SD or did it just happen?

 

[Raindrops]

Ohh thanks for the suggestion! I was always curious if bells or dog tags affected our animals, especially since they have even more sensitive hearing than we do (now that I think about it, I wonder if light-up harnesses annoy them at first), but I guess they must get used to it eventually?

Hmm I don't know. My dog likes squeaky toys that squeak so loudly I cannot put them near my ears, so I think the little jingle of his bell must be quite insignificant to him. He never showed any annoyance when we attached it. As I type this he is outside, and I can vaguely tell where he is in the yard by the bell. It is nice to know he is still around and what he's doing. If it goes silent for a while I go out to check and make sure he's alright. I don't keep tags on his collar, just the bell. He has a name plate with my number that's riveted on.