Interview with a Dog Breeder..Doodlesville.com

 

This was published WAY before I ever even considered becoming a breeder myself, I was just a huge Doodle lover and owner at the time. I asked Nancy from doodlesville.com if I could interview her for my Doodle blog which is all Dreamydoodles.com was at the time, she said Yes and this is the interview.. I think it deserved to be re-posted.

Note: Some of the info below may have changed for Doodlesville since then.

I recently did an exclusive interview with Nancy from doodlesville.com. Nancy has been breeding Goldendoodles, Labradoodles and Aussiedoodles since 1999. She’s a very easy going, down to earth woman who was very knowledgeable and easy to talk too. 

How did you become a breeder?

I started showing dogs when I was in high school, and I also started working as a Vet Assistant in a local vet hospital. I worked as Vet Tech most of my adult life, then started Grooming Full Time.
I started breeding dogs when I was around 22yrs old, Collies ( I showed) ,Poodles, then Aussies, then Border Collies. I also worked with Poodles and Aussies as therapy dogs in nursing homes. We began raising Doodles in 1999.

How did you decide that Doodles were the right breeds for you?

I feel in love with a Labradoodle at another breeders home, I thought raising and training them for service and therapy would be wonderful idea, so we started breeding with therapy and service dogs in mind and it has blossomed from there.

What kind of Doodles do you breed?

Aussiedoodles, Goldendoodles and Labradoodles

You have a lot of Moms and Dads on your website..

Actually most of the dogs pictured are retired, and looking for new homes, I am probably more particular on who gets the older dogs then I am the puppies.

Do you personally own all the dogs or do you use a sponsership program?

Yes, I own all dogs that are on our site and in our breeding program. They are all like my kids. I do not farm out my dogs, we have 100 acres and several grandkids, to play with them. We occasionally bring one or two in the house for a week or so at a time.

How many dogs do you currently have that your breeding?

I have 15 that i am currently breeding , We are raising 5 Golden Retrivers Puppies that I bred here with my Top Golden Retrievers that were just retired,, they will be our up and coming Goldendoodle Lines, The Father to these is my New Golden Male, Chester, he is from a Top Kennel in New York , both his parents are in top % of pennhip ratings, he has checked out perfect ! I am hoping his offspring as good or better!

How many liters per dame is considered healthy?

Breeding Back to Back is recommended due to the possiblities of Cancers later if not bred, we retire our Breeding Dogs at 4-5yrs old, if all is well, Sooner if problems arise,(is. csections, smaller litters)

Can you tell us a bit about the history of your breeding program and your facilities?

We moved to North Carolina and Virginia Border due to the fact we were able to find such a large property for the Dogs as well as being close to our families. The dogs are having a great time and I am thrilled to be here as well.

On your website it says your full breeding goals are for service and therapy Dogs. What does that mean exactly? How do you achieve this goal?

Puppies are ear marked for therapy in each litter. I donate numerous dogs per year for therapy/service use. We also donate money to deserving organizations throughout the year, typically 10% of the profits from every litter.

How man litters do you produce a year?

Depends on the number of age females I have

Is your family involved in your breeding program? How? Is this your full time job?

Everyone Works together here including my children and Grandchildren who come over alot to help in all aspects. We are downsizing at this time. My husband and I have a Marketing Business as well with Eco Friendly products. Neither of us work outside the home, Thankfully or I could not do what we do. Breed Exceptional ,Well adjusted puppies, and assistance after pups go home, Our orientation when pups are picked up last 1 to 2hrs, we go thru everything including training, food and how to keep puppy healthy, etc. Our phone lines are open 24/7

When your looking for a puppy to introduce into your breeding program..What qualities do you personally look for in your dam and/or sire?

We normally get our breeding dogs as pups and raise them ourselves. Personally I go by looks of the pup. Puppies personalities mold as they mature depending on the training and environment they are in. Anything can be created and corrected if need be.

How do you test for these qualities?

SEE Above

When looking online for my Goldendoodle I noticed that the Father dog always seemed to be a Poodle and the Mother always seemed to be a Golden Retriever or Lab is this always the case and if so why is it that way?

Now maybe the case, but that is not really a preference of mine. It truly makes no difference which one is the mom.

Choose a few words that best describe the goldendoodle breed.

Sweet, Laid Back, Big

Between the Goldendoodle, Labradoodle and Aussiedoodle which one is your personal favorite?

I’d pick the Aussiedoodle.

Do you think the Goldendoodles will ever be considered their own breed by the AKC?

I hope NOT, lets remember why the doodles were created in the first place, Because people wanted a hypoallergenic service dog that was easy on allergies, that had few health issues, AKC registered breeds have been line bred Inbred to the point that there became a need to create this breed, do we Really want recognition from AKC for them? I think NOT , breeders are already popping up everywhere, to breed doodles and ruining them. Do we want even more breeding for the wrong reason if akc got a hold of any of our doodle breeds? This is what happened with the Australian Shepherds (in my lifetime) when AKC recognized them, in breeding line breeding breeds the health and brains right out of them.

What are 3 misconceptions about Aussiedoodles?

Aussiedoodle, **herds anything** hyper, NON of which is the case

What are 3 little known facts about this Aussiedoodles?

Dedicated loving that will just break their heart for you if they understand what you want them to do

What should people who are interested in this breed know before they bring one of these dogs into their homes?

They are VERY Smart!! Group Training for Socalization is VERY important, EVERYONE that interacts with the dog, needs to learn how to train it, if one is not training properly it can confuse the pup. A Conused Doodle is a doodle is a distructive doodle..just like children.

Is there anything interesting that the breeding community (for this breed) is collectively working on?

I hope they are working on keeping the breed as orginally intended, Awesome Therapy/Service dogs and Great family pets! I try not to get involved in too many of these breed clubs , most have hidden agendas that come out later, would rather just work on keeping My good reputation, and leaving the rest to god

Are there any breeders that you personally recommend besides yourself?

There are a Couple. Unfortunatly, I have to go by what I hear or how they present themselves online. My experience is that some breeders I thought I “knew” ended up being nothing more then puppy mills, so it is not just the general public that gets caught up in all that… it’s breeders as well.

Do you have any tips on how people can go about locating good, quality breeders?

Interview, this will give YOU a feeling if this is the person you want to work with for the life of your pup, a good breeder is always there to answer any questions you may have in training health etc for the LIFE of you dog, I have families that still call me to say hi or ask my opinion, this is I think is the MOST important, you dont want one that just takes you money and says, “Great, have a nice day”.

What questions or measures would you say to take to weed out a bad breeder?

There is little we can do, Pray for them to realize what they are doing is wrong, we can all try to educate, and several have changed with others kindest and prayers. My first thought is education of the general public “cheap is NOT better” You Get What You Pay For!!! price of a pup in most cases speaks for itself, if lower, people should question why is it lower? People are not stupid, if they chat with the breeder for any length of time they will “know” ……it’s important to NOT go by flashy web sites, that say only what you want to hear! Its up to everyone to become informed on everything, what testing means what especially, the research I  have done over the last 2yrs has been eye opening in the least and some (genetic) testing is not worth the paper its written on. Please visit this page on my website for more information on Health and Testing.

What do you think about this whole “Designer Dog” craze that seems to be going on?

I cringe at that phrase! It does not do anything to truly shed light on the Breed in general. Our main Goal for this breed is THERAPY & SERVICE. Sure they are cute, but there is so much more to them then that!

Do you feel that Doodles are overpriced? Some might say it’s completely crazy to pay 2-3 thousand dollars for a “mutt” without papers. What do you say to those people?

We Strongly Advise you to be wary of any breeder selling Pups for low price! This is very often the sign of a less then quality breeder, backyard Breeder or a Puppy Mill!! Remember the old saying “You get what you pay for”

There are numerous puppy mills out there that have only one thing in mind, Making money and Taking Yours!!!! They take little care in what they breed, how they breed or raise the pups and you end up paying for that in Thousand’s of $$ later in Vet bills.

Have you ever sold a puppy to a Celebrity? Who? How was that experience?

A couple. My favorite is Ricki Lake, her doodles name is Joey (its a girl, I dunno.. lol) She was just wonderful to work with and I still hear back from her occasionally.

Do you show dogs?

I used to show Collies in my younger days. I also trained Border collies and Aussies for Herding Trials.

If someone wanted to become a doodle breeder what would you recommend the steps they take to becoming a responsible breeder?

Raise your own Puppies to Adult hood, Dont Buy older Breeding dogs and expect all to go well, those breeders got rid of those dogs for a reason! 2nd DNA Test them as early as you can, to make sure genetic problems are not present.
Third, OFA Certify at 2yrs old, this is the tried and true method. I hold little merit in PennHip at an early age, too many great breeding dogs have been spayed due to false readings. Keep all your dogs on the Nuvet supplements this will ensure healthy dogs with large litters.

Is there a product you’d like to endorse or recommend for other doodle owners?

YES, NUVET supplements

Labradoodle: Comprehensive Owner’s Guide (Kennel Club Books)

The Labradoodle on the cover of thie book was from Doodlesvill.net.. I thought that was pretty cool because I’ve seen this book at Pet Smart!

Visit the Pet Store!

Visit Bocker the Labradoodle’s Website (The Infamous Doodle from Doodlesville)

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