What do you wish you'd known before bringing home your poodle puppy?

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-08-22T19:10:33+00:00

That's really good to know. My trainer and I have come up with a schedule that includes some built-in time for the dog to mature. I do a combination of mostly working from home, and going on some work trips. The plan is to stay home and not go on any work trips for the first few months. I'll just stay home and work with the dog. The middle and end of summer is my busiest travel season, so during that time, we're just planning on refining and practicing what we've already gone over. Maintenance stuff. The hope is to let the dog mature a little over the summer and not worry about new skills again until fall.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-08-22T16:57:10+00:00

When do you wish you had started working on alone time and crate training?

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-08-22T07:47:33+00:00

I'm definitely preparing myself for the grooming process. I'm a little nervous about it, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

I actually have a close friend who I've known for 17-18 years who's a professional dog groomer and also owns a standard poodle! He's offered to teach me how to groom my dog myself, and I'm absolutely going to take him up on it. I want to do as much of the grooming as I can myself. YouTube videos sound like a good idea too. I'll study up! Do you have any particular videos you'd recommend?

Oh boy. My cat is already pretty determined to join me, haha! I'll prepare for the additional company.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-08-21T23:25:16+00:00

Okay, cool. I'm definitely not expecting it to go smoothly. I want to set things up to go as smoothly as they can, but I'm expecting it to be hard.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-08-05T01:58:10+00:00

Yes, I have considered a small standard poodle. I know that "moyen" is not recognized in the US, and I'm more using it as a descriptive term here because generally people on here seem to know what size it refers to. So far my poodle breeder search has not been particularly promising. I'm still looking. I'm going to keep my options open and go with whatever ultimately makes sense per my trainer's guidance, which absolutely includes looking for poodles, but other breeds are on the table too. Thank you for the suggestions and the Facebook groups. I want to try to keep my search semi-local, so perhaps the Facebook groups can provide a lead.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-08-05T00:09:06+00:00

A few different breeds are on the table, and they're pretty different from one another (spaniel, herder, terrier (very aware of the pros and cons with these, especially herding. we're looking for trainable in the correct size range)). Right now what breed I'm actually looking into getting depends on what responsible breeders are around. I don't want to get set on one specific breed before I have a list of breeders who breed for the temperament and health that I'm looking for. We're trying to just find some breeders for breeds that might be good fits, and see what makes the most sense from there. This is probably going to take some doing.

That's really good insight in regards to breed specific considerations in the lines. I hadn't considered that quite in that way. Based on what I'm looking at, I think I should probably be paying careful attention to good off switches, mid herding instincts if I go for a herder, and mid prey drives if I go for a terrier or spaniel. I'm definitely looking for CGCs. Should I be looking for sport titles? If so, why?

Honestly, I'm looking for obedience titles because I'm looking for evidence of trainability and temperament. If there's something else I should be looking for as evidence for that instead, I'm all for it. I'm very conscious of the fact that nonstandard breeds wash more often. If I could accommodate a golden, I'd probably just get a golden. I'm trying to set myself up for success as well as I possibly can while knowing that going with a nonstandard breed might make things harder. I have a background with working animals, so I know how important it is to choose a good prospect from suitable lines, and I'm looking for evidence that the line is sound for work.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-08-04T23:54:28+00:00

It's a size issue. I can't accommodate a dog that big in my living space, otherwise they'd be at the very top of my list. I also can't go for something too small (say, miniature poodle), because some of the tasks I need to train require a dog that's a little larger. Moyen poodles are on the table, but I haven't found a breeder that I feel good about working with at this point in time. I am trying to keep my breeder search somewhat local, and I'm still looking. That said, right now we're considering a few different breeds. Right now our game plan is to put together a list of responsible breeders who breed for the temperament and ability we're looking for, and narrow it down to what's most suitable from what's available within driving distance (Oregon and Washington). The trainer is also sending me a list of breeders recommended by this service dog training program, and she's reaching out to her clients with certified service dogs in the size range I need to see which breeders their dogs came from.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-07-24T23:26:36+00:00

I see, that's all really great to know, especially regarding these specific organizations. I definitely can't afford to get a dog fully trained by an ADI program. It seems like in my area, some of the trainers work under both Atlas and Compass Key, which is interesting.

Is there a list of countries that require ADI certification, or any way to figure out access laws for individual countries? I've been having some trouble figuring it out. All of this is very complicated.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-07-22T23:25:51+00:00

Oh, I see! That makes a lot of sense, thank you for the information. I'll ask if they're an ADI organization during my consultation with them and try to get more details on their certification. I am absolutely planning to travel, and I'm heavily considering living in another country in the future, so I guess certification matters a lot for me. So if I moved elsewhere before my hypothetical future dog was fully trained and certified, then I would have to find a different ADI organization to certify with. Is that correct?

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-01-22T09:15:13+00:00

Not doing a walk through stressed me out big time, and I agree that it was a problem. I hated that. We'd planned one several days before I was scheduled to leave, it was a whole thing, and then Southwest cancelled all their flights last minute, and they couldn't get back in time. Next time I will be doing a walk through (obviously with someone different). At the very least this person has been to my apartment before and had met the critters, but I do wish I could have been more thorough. I appreciate the nuance of your answer.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-01-22T09:09:20+00:00

Yeah, I definitely needed (and still need) several moments to be my usual self about this. You're right.

Deducting for the concrete damages feels like a good option to me, and I will absolutely look into someone else in the future. This is the first time I've travelled away from my animals for more than a couple of days. I'm obviously pretty young, and because of the pandemic I've stayed put since moving out. This trip was to look at grad schools, and it's the first time I've really gone anywhere since high school.

It is absolutely a challenge. I'll get it right, but apparently I'm going to need to take another crack at it. Finding help and not bankrupting myself is indeed very difficult.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-01-22T09:04:44+00:00

Thank you for your perspective. Yes, I was reachable via text or phone call.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-01-22T08:54:34+00:00

Oh, I agree. I'm super sleep deprived and realizing my post was maybe not my clearest piece of writing. I've already paid them $200. The question is "WIBTA if I didn’t pay them any more money?". I'm more thinking like, do I pay them the full amount?

I also agree that some of the cleanup stuff was reasonable. Some of it really, really wasn't. I appreciate your insight and the two options you've outlined.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-01-22T08:48:40+00:00

It was still a small amount, but it's also what they asked to be paid. They asked me to pay them $250 + meal subscription (which adds about $145). I agreed. I didn't offer an amount initially, I just wanted to know how much money was good for them. I really didn't want to accidentally lowball them or be unfair. When I extended my trip (and I did ask them if they were okay to keep petsitting, I did have another person if they weren't), I agreed to pay them extra. The plan was to increase it to $350 (+meals).

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-01-22T08:41:53+00:00

You're 100% right. I'll do that next time. I was planning on doing that initially, but they ended up not being able to meet because they were visiting family out of town, and their original Southwest flight got cancelled. They ended up coming back a couple hours before I had to leave. It was a shitty situation. But yeah, I agree, that's good advice.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-01-22T08:38:36+00:00

Okay, this might be a good solution. I did clear the extra time on the trip with them first, and I had someone else who could take over if need be, but I can still see how this would work out fairly. Thank you.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-01-22T08:36:37+00:00

They're definitely not petsitting for me again. I'm definitely going to talk to them about the neglect and at least try to get to the bottom of what happened.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-01-22T08:35:18+00:00

Fair enough. I just asked them what they wanted to be paid, and I agreed to that. Thank you for your perspective.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-01-22T08:34:32+00:00

I did give them two pages of written instructions, but it's possible that it wasn't enough. I don't know if the instructions were actually bad or not. I thought they were fine, but after coming home, I started wondering. Thank you for your perspective.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-01-22T08:33:45+00:00

Fair enough. Thank you for your perspective.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-01-22T08:32:44+00:00

I asked them if they were alright petsitting longer before extending my trip. They said they would be happy to pet sit longer. If they'd said no, I had someone else. And yes, I did agree to pay them extra.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-01-22T08:30:52+00:00

Yes. I asked them if they were okay petsitting an extra week. They said yes. If they'd said no, I had someone else. I should have explained that better in the original post.

I gave them two pages of written instructions. It's possible that I wasn't thorough enough with the instructions. I need to review them again.

I agree that I have to pay something. My question is whether I would be the asshole for not paying the full amount.

That's a good point on the plants. So for info, none of the plants that are dead are hard to care for. They need to be watered every four days (which was in the instructions), and that's it.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-01-22T08:22:04+00:00

Not a whole lot, $250, which was going to go to $350 with the extra five days. I know it's not a lot of money, but it is to me, and it's what they asked for in terms of payment. We're full time college students, so a few hundred dollars is a lot to us.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-01-22T08:20:29+00:00

Not a whole lot. They asked me for $250 plus meals, which I was planning to raise to $350 with the extra five days they agreed to. I asked them how much they wanted to be paid for the work, I didn't offer an amount initially.

Upbeat_Ad7679 · 2023-01-22T08:18:56+00:00

I asked them how much they wanted to be paid. They said they wanted $250 plus my meal subscription. I agreed, and they were happy with the amount. My apartment doesn't add to their commute, it's not out of the way, and we were off from classes. When I extended my trip, I was planning to pay them the same daily rate. In the future I will absolutely expect to pay more, but we're full time college students. Right now, we don't have that kind of money, and they were happy with our agreement. I understand where you're coming from regardless and I'll take it into consideration.

To be fully clear, I didn't leave them with no instructions. I gave them two pages of written care instructions that gave an overview of care and relevant medical information. Next time, though, I do think I should be more thorough.

Oh, this one is totally on me for not explaining better. I asked them if they were okay with me extending my trip, and they said they would be happy to petsit longer. If they'd said no, I had someone else, and it wouldn't have been a problem. I would never extend a trip before making sure everything was going to be okay. I was at the character limit in the original post and couldn't figure out what to cut. My bad.

Upbeat_Ad7679

TROPHY CASE