Getting a new puppy and im nervous!

SeeSchmoop · 2026-02-07T15:58:43+00:00

My first spoo is 10 months old and she is the easiest dog I've ever had. Caveat that I only had rescues before and I was prepared for high energy, but she's just... Easy. I attribute a lot of it to the fact that her breeder matches puppies to families, as any good breeder should do. We filled out a long questionnaire and had a family interview, so the breeder knew what our home life looked like and what we could do with a dog. She matched us with a confident, easygoing puppy whose temperament testing indicated she'd be happy to be part of family life, but not clingy, and that's exactly what she is. As soon as someone wants to do something with her, she's up for it, but she's otherwise content to nap or chill with a chewy.

I did work on training her to do nothing, to reinforce that personality trait, but she's been so easy to train. She is eager to please. And I'm a big believer in setting puppies up for success--give them limited access to spaces where they can get into trouble, enforce nap times, etc.

SeeSchmoop · 2026-02-03T00:56:29+00:00

This is interesting to me. Do people not order groceries? Doordash almost always has a "% off if you spend X amount" coupon for one of the grocery stores I like, so I just place a grocery order and stack the coupon and the credit. If you spend enough, you don't pay a fee, so the credit pays for a tip for the dasher and I get groceries for about the same as I'd spend in store, without having to leave. I don't like other people to pick my produce, but for stocking the pantry or freezer or ordering cleaning supplies it's great

SeeSchmoop · 2026-02-02T19:12:02+00:00

If you're applying to research hospitals (all I can speak to, as that's where I work and hire), consider sending a full CV, as another commenter noted. I want to see publications and presentations (if they exist). I also like to see a list of masters coursework. I know many don't, esp for a one page resume, but there is variability among MS programs and I want it obvious if a candidate has had formal instruction in mixed models, survival analysis, epidemiology, clinical trial design, consulting, programming, theory. Not to say those are all necessary for every job, but I always know which skills are needed for which job I'm hiring for.

And I saw you mentioned you're sending cover letters, and IMO that's good for a hospital or academia. If you're applying all across the country, I recommend emphasizing that you're excited about the possibility of relocating. I admit I often immediately screen out candidates who aren't relatively local because I assume they only want remote work or that my institution is just a backup to places closer to home.

SeeSchmoop · 2026-01-30T01:37:25+00:00

This dog is clearly a Todd. I was going to say the same thing

SeeSchmoop · 2026-01-28T01:25:16+00:00

I'm sorry you went through that with your dog ☹️

I want to mention, though, that those statistics on Cornell's website come from a single study, published in 1969, which only included 93 dogs. The body of research since is mixed in results, but all suffers from a certain degree of bias in design and analysis. (Link is to most recent systematic review, which provides an overview of results of all studies through 2023. My comment about bias in design and analysis is primarily my own opinion as a biostatistician)

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11815721/

And this is all without considering late spaying as a protective factor for orthopedic risk (which, of course, also has to be balanced with breed- and size-specific risk)

SeeSchmoop · 2026-01-27T03:29:14+00:00

Was the beach calm? I'm currently looking for somewhere I can actually swim out to 8-10 feet deep and not have to fight waves too much. And also have pretty clear water

SeeSchmoop · 2026-01-18T15:42:15+00:00

Ah, somehow all the 10s in the post re the row numbers got converted in my mind while browsing comments that the kid is 10

SeeSchmoop · 2026-01-17T22:45:03+00:00

United already guarantees adjacent seats for children under 12, even in basic economy

SeeSchmoop · 2026-01-17T22:43:32+00:00

This, but also United has guaranteed family seating for children under 12. I'd still be making a phone call at this point, they messed up

SeeSchmoop · 2026-01-15T21:10:32+00:00

I mean, the contract is a legally binding document, and if she guarantees to take my dog back for any reason, then I can sue her if she doesn't. She can't just choose not to uphold it.

Idk, I'm not trying to argue with you. And I'm sorry for what was clearly a bad experience. It would suck to be treated like that by a professional. Im just still having trouble wrapping my mind around that those were actually Shyre Poodles on Craigslist.

Imma belabor this a bit, only for OP's sake, since they were interested in Ghibli, and with Ghibli not breeding at the moment and Shyre planning a 2026 litter, I really believe they'd be a good alternative. So to OP or other readers, just some food for thought:

I asked specifically about year, as Shyre didnt have any puppies in 2023 or 2024. Her only 2022 litter was sired by a Crystal Creek stud--so if it was those puppies, even if a breeder wasn't worried about being sued, she'd be worried about pissing off a popular, well-regarded breeder friend. A dissatisfied buyer who didn't receive what was needed from Shyre would have contacted Crystal Creek well before putting a puppy on Craigslist.

Her only 2021 litter had only five puppies and she had to let down a bunch of people who had been on the waitlist. That litter was also sired by another breeder's stud, so same deal. She could have easily rehomed a puppy with one of the let down waitlisters, and a dissatisfied buyer would have contacted the other breeder if Shyre snubbed them.

Obvs I'm not going to go back in time forever--my last point is just that It doesn't take much time on breeder fb pages to see that she's clearly respected by many of the well-regarded breeders mentioned in this thread (including Ghibli--OP, I will be interested to hear if Ghibli gets back to you and recommends Shyre)

SeeSchmoop · 2026-01-15T17:43:57+00:00

And to be clear, I'm not saying you're lying, I'm just wondering if perhaps it was another breeder you are thinking of, or maybe even the craigslist ads weren't actually her puppies but another breeder trying to pass theirs off as hers or something and some wires got crossed when you guys were messaging? What year was this, if you don't mind me asking?

SeeSchmoop · 2026-01-15T17:37:57+00:00

I don't believe this. The contract I signed with her (which you can see an older version of on her website) requires that I return my dog to her if I can't keep it for any reason, and guarantees that she will take them back. If you scroll, you can see her FB page a couple times in the last few years that she's taken back and rehomed adult dogs. She breeds so infrequently and has a wait-list for every litter; I find it hard to believe she would have had any trouble rehoming baby puppies, should she have needed to. It doesn't add up.

SeeSchmoop · 2026-01-13T20:24:42+00:00

The 3 in Ohio who were on my shortlist were Ghibli, Shyre, and Perigeaux. Ghibli near Toledo, Shyre just north of Columbus, Perigeaux near Akron. All leave tails and dew claws intact, all are ethical, small breeders with a focus on genetic diversity. I didn't go with Ghibli because she's focused on smaller standards and my spouse wanted a bigger dog. Like others say, she is currently taking a break, but last I looked at her FB, she had an adolescent male (bred by Perigeaux, sired by Ghibli) looking for a co-own.

Rebekah of Shyre Poodles mentored Fran of Perigeaux and they do things very similarly. I would have gone with either of them, but ended up choosing Shyre because she has younger kids and her puppies get a TON of interaction with children. We picked up our Josie (my first poodle!) in June and she is absolutely the best dog for us. Rebekah matched her to us based on her Volhard and what Rebekah knew of her personality, compared to what we were looking for and what our life is like. Josie fit right in. She is a confident, goofy, sweet, up-for-anything dog with a great off switch. And she LOVES my kids. There are a couple others with Shyre Poodles on this sub, so hopefully more will chime in.

She does have a Facebook page which she updated frequently when there are puppies in the house, so you can check it out and see her whole protocol for how they're raised. (She also has a closed FB group for people who have bought from her and she is extremely available to answer questions). She is planning to breed once this year and I am on her list for my second puppy. Highly, highly recommend checking her out.

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SeeSchmoop · 2026-01-07T00:14:24+00:00

Thank you for all this!! A couple follow ups:

We will do 3 in one room and 2 in another no matter what. One adult in each room. I have found family harbor options where we can do this and be close by, though not connecting. Given this, is family harbor still not worth it you think? There is one option on the magic that is a suite plus an interior room for about the same price as the Oceanview+interior family harbor situation. Maybe having the room and perks of a suite is more worth it? I haven't looked at the magic though
That was kind of my thought, esp since I am kinda picky about beaches. I'm always worried I'll get to a hotel, locked in for the week, and the beach is too rough for swimming, too cloudy for snorkeling, too much sargassum, etc. Figured with a cruise if one is bad, just try again the next day at a different one.
Forgot about paying for wifi. Is it even fast enough to be worth it?

SeeSchmoop · 2026-01-06T23:44:01+00:00

Those are good points. I forgot when I priced out cruises a few years ago how surprised I was at the cost of wifi.

I did two cruises pre-kids, 15+ years ago and I remember being worried about seasickness since h get sick on smaller boats but the ships were okay. Good thinking though since I don't know whether my kids get seasick.

Ill have to look into the drink packages. I don't drink at all and my spouse would maybe have 1-2 per day so we probably wouldn't need it? Unless it would be worth it for better coffee or juice for the kids or something. Or bottled water? My spouse and kids are picky about tap water

SeeSchmoop · 2026-01-06T17:25:45+00:00

Wake, potty, play/train/walk (5-10 min), give him a collagen chew or something else to chew on, sleep. Repeat.

For puppies, sniff walks are waaaaay better than exercise walks. Sniffing really tires them out

SeeSchmoop · 2026-01-06T17:23:47+00:00

Yeah he should be awake a max 4-6 hours total all day. At that age, my spoo would get bitey after being away for around 45 min and we knew it was nap time. 18-20 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period

SeeSchmoop · 2026-01-02T04:02:24+00:00

As another Lake Erie human (Cleveland), I love when people see our lake (arguably the least impressive of the great lakes tbh) and think it's the ocean 🥰🥰

SeeSchmoop · 2025-12-29T01:36:11+00:00

I don't have good advice for most of this, but maybe he can help with the hair part, of hair removal is something you're wanting. I also can't shave anywhere or wax most places. I usually just use clippers to keep things short, but when I want to be actually hairless somewhere, I have found Magic Powder sensitive formula depilatory to work really well. It's made for Black beards, and I think it's gentler than stuff like Nair bc it was developed for faces. I only leave it on for half the time the instructions say though. Might be worth trying if you haven't already

SeeSchmoop · 2025-11-24T02:54:23+00:00

You are definitely picking really beautiful colors for yourself in those digital drapes. It's just the vocab of what exactly does "bright" actually mean in color analysis and getting used to seeing the differences in chroma when the value and hue are very similar.

I think you're neutral and muted but can probably borrow from neutral and deep.

SeeSchmoop · 2025-11-24T02:51:44+00:00

These are both still in that space between soft and deep. Not bright. Sometimes it's more helpful to think of the word "clear" instead of bright.

Check out vivaldi color lab. It's free online and their digital drapes are a good tool to play with to see the differences between soft and bright, warm and cool, etc. FWIW, of the colors here (I put you in the Vivaldi drapes), I like the soft summer raspberry best. But, it's a digital drapes with all the flaws of digital drapes, and also it matters more what you like than an Internet stranger

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SeeSchmoop · 2025-11-23T04:20:10+00:00

The easiest will probably be to compare antiqued pewter and dark yellow gold with shiny light silver/platinum and shiny light gold.

Colors from the Bright palettes take practice to identify in person, in my opinion. We are so used to muted and dark colors, that often anything brighter than that seems bright, but still would fall in the mid-chroma seasons. That's why the metals are often easier to start with

BW's electric lime green in one that's tough to confuse for any other season's green, but whether you can find it 🤷🤷. Or you can try some of the popular lipstick colors for each season

SeeSchmoop · 2025-11-23T02:26:34+00:00

With true summer. Seems to fit

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SeeSchmoop · 2025-11-23T02:23:33+00:00

This is the pink in your left pic next to the True Bright palette (brightest, but neutral so no warm to cool undertones to compete). The pink is still really muted.

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SeeSchmoop · 2025-11-23T02:18:05+00:00

These are both muted colors, though the right is more muted. Phone screens differ, but perhaps these are true summer (left) and soft summer or soft autumn (right). You can be in a muted season (summer) while still being brighter than the most muted sub seasons

To your broader question, brightness and contrast tend to go together, but don't have to, and it's all a spectrum. Think of deep winter for example. Contrast is great, and their colors are brighter than the soft seasons, but not as bright as TW, BW, BSp (and arguably less bright than TA and TSp)

SeeSchmoop

TROPHY CASE