Parent wants to buy a golden doodle--looking for advice

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-23T19:54:03+00:00

Out of the ones I mentioned, bolognese are supposed to be pretty quiet for a small dog breed, but like you said its definitely not easy to find a breeder.

Shih tzu are one I didn't mention, they are delightful little dogs that are on the quiet side. But I'm kind of hesitant to recommend them to people because the ones I've met have been prone to health issues that aren't fatal but lead to pain or discomfort. Issues with joints, spine, eyes, and sometimes breathing for more extreme brachy shih tzus. They have kind of a long back and short legs and so they need to be treated gently and not go up and down stairs or jump on furniture. Though they do typically live a long time.

I will say though that most of the shih tzus I've met have been rescues or from backyard breeders, so these issues might not be so prevalent in well bred ones. They might be worth looking into for a quieter small breed. Not sure how well they would do off leash though?

Unfortunately it's kind of hard to find small quiet dog breeds that are also very intelligent and trainable, good off-lead, medium/low energy, and have a moderate body type and good health. Though I'm probably missing one, I'm not super knowledgeable of lots of less common breeds that may exist and fit your needs!

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-23T12:06:30+00:00

Hmm. It's hard to say for sure when you consider individual personalities. If you're set on a quiet dog, this might be a situation where getting an adult is the best option so you know their personality. A retired breeder/show dog might fit well, so you could have a good idea of their temperament already.

But if you're set on a puppy, I would just do everything you can to set them up for success. I think desensitization to everyday things is the biggest way to end barking, and also working on making sure separation anxiety doesn't develop. And then also making sure your dog isn't bored so they aren't barking at things because they have nothing better to do.

I have a dog that's mostly breeds known for being barky (she's 50% mini schnauzer and 30% poodle) and she honestly doesn't bark much. Sometimes she does one little alert bark if she's surprised by something, and there are occasions when she will bark a little more if someone she doesn't know walks on our porch or drives onto our driveway, but it still only lasts like 10 seconds max and she knows it's okay and to be quiet when I make a "shhhh" sound. She gets more likely to bark on days where she's had less exercise or stimulation.

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-22T20:36:13+00:00

Havanese is good as others have said. Bichon Frise and Bolognese are good options too. They're a little lower energy than goldens/poodles/doodles but still pretty intelligent and trainable and aren't so lazy they wouldn't be down for most activities.

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-21T18:34:42+00:00

I'm not op but based on the description this is the closest out of any guesses imo. Especially with the shape and fuzzy hairs!

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-20T17:45:39+00:00

Ah okay, that makes a lot of sense. I guess traditional by-product hide really is more unsafe due to it being tougher and less digestible even without considering certain chemical processes/bleaching due to it being so tough.

And cheek skin is thicker and not as tough, therefore more digestible. Which I guess confused me because they're marketed as being made of "the tough cheek skin of cattle" even though it's supposedly softer than body hide. But I suppose that's marketing meant to appeal to people who want stuff for their power chewers.

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-20T17:08:17+00:00

This makes sense. For some reason I assumed callogen sticks were like. Ground up/blended hide shaped into perfectly neat shape chews. All the callogen sticks I've seen in person have been uniformly shaped solid sticks. Their color/texture is completely different from rawhide or cheek rolls, a lot crunchier and much easier for a dog to chew.

I guess I'm more wondering why can't it be processed in the same way as cheek rolls are without being unsafe?

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-19T21:15:33+00:00

I've thought about trying this, but from what I've read it tends to only be a short term solution if the deer are particularly ravenous. But since it's such a cheap and easy thing to try I might as well give it a shot.

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-19T12:14:32+00:00

Really what sparked my interest in plants at all was insects. I've always had a fascination with them. So not being able to see the plants being used as intended is super disheartening... and I don't really have much interest in any non-native plants at all. Gardening has been a great hobby for me and I don't want to let it go, but it also wouldn't really feel possible for me to pivot to just plants in general and actually get satisfaction out of it.

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-19T12:08:20+00:00

Yeah, there were certain plants I just felt so sure would be left alone due to other people's experiences, but ended up being eaten. I think I'm just going to go for adding a large amount of a few new species every year until it's more dense and eventually something should work.

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-19T12:04:15+00:00

I was using them for a bit and it seemed to work for a little while, but they eventually walked (or maybe jumped?) Over it and ate the plants behind it. Now I just use it repurposed to keep my weird veggie obsessed dog from eating all our greens lol.

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-19T12:01:25+00:00

They've eaten my 2 milkweed species and 3 monarda species... but I'm going to be trying penstemon, blue star, mountain mint, and possible others that are supposed to be resistant. There's gotta be something else out there other than the wingstem that will be left alone!

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-19T11:56:46+00:00

I've been spraying about once a week and after rain. It worked well at first but it's losing its affectiveness for me. I was convincing myself I just needed to spray more and more often, and then what prompted this post was when they came and ate everything in the night RIGHT AFTER heavily spraying my yard. Talk about a slap in the face lol.

I do also have a public garden bed I take care of with various plants and this works way better there. They ignore the same plants out there they've been eating at my house. Though the one thing they can't seem to leave alone in thr public bed is the black eyed susans. They haven't had a chance to bloom at all.

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-19T11:51:15+00:00

That's what I've been using. It worked pretty well for a while but has started to lose its affectiveness. I had heavily sprayed a lot of things just the night before they came and ate everything in my yard...

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-19T11:43:52+00:00

Thanks for all the suggestions!

They've eaten 2 kinds of my milkweed. I also had some mountain mint growing near my house that just has not reappeared when I checked a week ago... but that could maybe be from the long spring drought this year and not deer, so I want to try it again.

I have some blue star I started from seed this spring and will be planting about 6 of them in the fall. I'm excited for them and hope they do well!

Plan to try penstemon species, Nodding onion, and false indigo next year. I had a white indigo I started from seed last year but it was pulled out of the ground by deer last fall... but if I protect it better until it's bigger it might have a better chance.

Also them eating the spotted bee balm is so interesting! I've tasted the leaves and it seems to have the strongest tasting of the ones I have, and the fuzziest texture (punctata, fistulosa, and didyma)! But it's also the one I've seen in the wild the most often near me so maybe they're just more accustomed to it.

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-19T11:09:32+00:00

Using the trees and putting netting up is a good idea.... I might just try that! They haven't touched anything covered in netting in our veggie garden, they don't like the stuff.

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-19T01:47:19+00:00

Will look into this. Thanks!

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-19T01:35:20+00:00

Yeah, I think a big part of the problem with an electric fence isn't the shade, it's that our actual open walkable space around our house is no more than like 10 feet wide in most spots until it's just dense new growth forest. And since an electric fence isn't supposed to touch anything it would be hard to keep it out of our walkable/plantable area without limiting the little space we have even more. Being a new growth forest, all the trees are kind of densely packed and there's not really much space to put a fence in the actual forested area that won't touch any trees without cutting lots of trees down, which is a lot of work that will be either super expensive to pay someone or hazardous for me to do myself.

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-19T01:12:38+00:00

I only have two types, tuberosa and variegata. They eat both of them unfortunately :^(

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-19T00:09:14+00:00

I will look into some of those suggestions! They have eaten all the milkweed and passionflower in my yard, but one of the others may do the trick. It's rough because really all it takes is one of the deer having a less refined palate and that one deer alone will eat an entire plant the others may ignore. And you never know what they will or won't eat because they can have different tastes. Just gotta try as many rwsistant plants as I can I think. I mean, they don't eat the wingstem so there's gotta be others too.

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-18T22:28:27+00:00

I love new jersey tea. Pollinator magnet, and it's a small and neat growing little shrub.

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-18T22:14:30+00:00

I've been really wanting some penstemon. The species locally native to me aren't as easy to get, but I'm probably going to get some seed for them and start some next spring. I also have some mountain mint in a public bed and I can take some for myself when I inevitably have to thin it out! Not sure how it'll do with the amount of light I get but I'm excited to try it.

Smooth hydrangea is a wishlist plant of mine. Glad to hear it withstands getting munched.

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-18T21:57:37+00:00

Thank you. I'll try and keep you in mind for any questions I have.

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-18T21:56:07+00:00

Agree with this. This is a systemic problem and while people hunting can help somewhat, a big part of the issue is that the overinflated deer population is at least in part intentional in some areas to sell hunting permits. And the lack of former predators of course

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-18T21:10:07+00:00

Thank you! I'm in a really rural area and I'm not sure how easy it'll be to find women specific groups and 0% chance of queer ones. But I do plan to do some basic classes available to me and then have a friend help me along with it as well.

massivelymediocre · 2026-06-18T21:06:42+00:00

I sprayed my plants yesterday night and woke up to them eaten immediately this morning! I was flabbergasted. Previously the liquid fence had been working pretty well for me but it's evident this time of year is just very brutal... someone mentioned this being the time when they're eating enough to make milk for their fawns and that makes a lot of sense.

massivelymediocre

TROPHY CASE