Miriam Fields-Babineau - Doodle Dogs For Dummies

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A Doodle is the result of the intentional breeding of a Poodle with another purebred dog or, sometimes, a Doodle with a Doodle, or a Poodle with a Doodle (say that ten times fast!). Doodles are popular canine companions, and it’s easy to see why: They’re cute, sweet, athletic, and excellent family dogs.

Poodles are the perfect parent breed to create Doodles because they’re intelligent, versatile, and social. In fact, Poodles were parent breeds for many of today’s current purebred dogs, such as the highly popular Labrador Retriever, who in an earlier version of its evolution was a Curly-Coated Retriever. When looking at a Curley-Coated Retriever, you can easily recognize the Poodle genes: It has a lanky, athletic body; long legs; narrow head; and, of course, a tight, curly coat.

Doodle Dogs For Dummies explores the reasons for the popularity of Doodles, from their origins to living with them, and it helps you decide whether a Doodle is right for you and your family (and if so, which one).

To narrow the choices, I explain which purebred dogs, mixed with a Poodle, might best fit in with your lifestyle. Awareness of the characteristics of each purebred parent will enhance your understanding of the possible appearance and behavior of their offspring.

When you’ve made a choice and brought your new Doodle puppy home, you’ll need to ensure they quickly adjust to their new environment. I fill you in on everything from feeding and grooming to housetraining and health considerations.

Keeping your Doodle healthy is only part of what it means to own a Doodle. These designer breeds require clear communication and consistency, which you can get through obedience training. Doodles are highly intelligent and active, so you need to know how to guide them in the right direction and stimulate their brains (in order to keep them on the straight and narrow). Socialization is also important — Doodles are very sensitive and aware of their environments.

In this book, I explain how to address behavior problems before they occur and how to handle them if they become bad habits.

When you have a well-behaved Doodle companion, you may want to continue to spice up your lives with fun dog sports and activities. Doodles love action! The more you train your Doodle for activities such as agility, dock diving, or retrieving games, the happier and better adjusted they’ll become. Engaging in these activities with your Doodle will enhance your relationship in so many ways.

In this book, I’ve gathered all the information you need to find, obtain, raise, care for, and train your Doodle. I also help you understand the needs of your senior Doodle and how to integrate a second dog into your family.

Doodles are unique and fun! When you understand them inside and out, you’ll have years of great experiences ahead of you.

Although you’ll find all kinds of useful information in each chapter of this book, you don’t have to read it from cover to cover to benefit from it. Each chapter contains all the tools you need to accomplish specific goals. I know you’re busy, so in this book, I tell you only what you need to know and nothing you don’t.

If you’re short on time, you can safely skip the sidebars (text in gray boxes) — the information they contain is interesting but not critical. You can also skip any paragraphs marked by the Technical Stuff icon (see “ Icons Used in This Book, later in this Introduction, for more information).

Within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If you’re reading this book in print and you want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as it’s noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesn’t exist. If you’re reading this as an e-book, you’ve got it easy — just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

Because you’ve picked up this book I assume you’re not a dummy. You’re either thinking of getting a Doodle or you already own one. Plus, the fact that you want to find out more about your dog makes you exceptionally intelligent. I make some other assumptions about you:

You have, or are about to get, a Doodle because you wanted a unique individual to love and live with.

You want just the facts; you need to make sure you accomplish your goals. You don’t want all the scientific jargon and terminology explaining the background of each topic.

You have a big heart to take on a dog and give them a happy home.

Icons are those little eye-catching pictures in the margin of this book. These icons are eye-catching for a reason: They flag important information. Here’s what they mean:

The Tip icon helps you solve problems faster or explains an easier way to approach an issue.

The Warning icon prevents you from doing something dangerous to your dog, yourself, or others. Heed this icon!

The Technical Stuff icon marks information that’s interesting, though not vital to your Doodle’s well-being. Although you really don’t need to read the information marked by this icon, you won’t lose much time doing so, and it may help you understand your dog better.

The Remember icon flags anything you should commit to memory.

In addition to the book you have in your hands, you can access some extra content online. Check out the free Cheat Sheet for questions to ask when adopting a dog, tips on temperament testing, and a checklist of supplies to have on hand. Just go to www.dummies.com and type Doodle Dogs For Dummiesin the Search box.

Because this book is written in a modular manner — with each chapter a stand-alone unit — you don’t have to read everything in order. In fact, if you already have a Doodle, you won’t need to read the chapters on where to find a dog, nor will you need the information on making sure a Doodle is right for you. If you get a Doodle, you might want to find out more about how to train them than solve problems that they likely haven’t developed. Or, if you’ve had a Doodle for many years and you’re curious about the changes they’ll be going through as they age, you may want to skip to the chapter about senior dogs. Use the Table of Contents and Index to find the chapters that appeal to you now, and come back to this book as your needs and interests change.

Regardless of where you begin reading, you’re sure to discover new things that inspire you to spend time with your Doodle and enhance both of your lives.

Yours is a partnership for life. Have fun together!

Part 1

IN THIS PART …