# Wanted: Canadian young adult oversized mpoo



## VancouverBC (Sep 9, 2012)

Thanks to all who focused me on the size question. After a hiatus of 3 years from search, it still is an oversized mpoo. Pls let me know if you have leads.

Needs (random):
1. Keep up with a very sweet 7 year old Viszla who lives with me 7 to 10 days a month when my son travels.
2. Not black, brown, or white. We frequent an off-leash "forest" that is a mile around a salmon creek. Not the darker colours cause I will lose sight of it in the underbrush and not white cause it gets muddy when it rains.
3. Well bred by standards of this forum.
4. Calm and social cause the mpoo will go to doggie daycare twice a week. Hope to be trained as therapy dog.
5. Housebroken, not counter surfer cause I already have a counter surfer Viszla.
6. Not a cling-on needy dog, Velcro is ok.
7. Likes to walk cause there are miles of paved trails just out the front door.
8. Eats Dr. Meg Smart's diet (Google Dr. Meg Smart DMV, PhD, small animal diet specialist, just retired USask, Western Vet school) ie NO kibble
9. A chuck-it fanatic cause my former GSP was one, the V not so much 
10. Some manners, basic training, ok leash handling, good recall

Wants (negotiable)
#9 above

My experience:
1. Spoiling the dogs
2. Helped a reactive, resource guarding, I ain't gonna listen you GSP become a sweetie girl always looking for cues to what I want.

Community
Urban, lots of dogs here. We avoid the untrained yappy dogs, hang out with retired or active conformation and herding trainers. 

Future:
1. Maybe agility, Flyball, dock diving. Maybe just a house pet. 
2. Therapy dog

Please feel free to answer ad or pm me if you are shy.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Following - it would be so nice to see a real life miracle happen!


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

People have gotten their dogs through this forum but I hope you are contacting breeders yourself because you are listing the qualities of what I consider the perfect dog. It really would be a miracle for you to get all those qualities in a dog that is available for adoption. Most people have to work to develop them in their dog.

When you say not black, brown, or white, does that mean any other color? Apricot, red, cream, cafe, silver, blue, parti? All these ok?

Good luck with your search.


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## sophie anne (Feb 17, 2015)

MiniPoo said:


> People have gotten their dogs through this forum but I hope you are contacting breeders yourself because you are listing the qualities of what I consider the perfect dog. It really would be a miracle for you to get all those qualities in a dog that is available for adoption. Most people have to work to develop them in their dog.


Yes, I agree with MiniPoo that it's a long shot that you'll find a pre-made dog that fits all of your "needs"... Not to say miracles don't happen!

Any well-socialized young adult will be able to fulfill your "needs" list within a couple months of training. Diet can be changed over a matter of a few months (ideally starting after the new dog is otherwise settled in to avoid explosive diarrhea... coming from experience unfortunately lol). Ari runs in the Maine woods daily and I've never lost track of her because of her color! She does still get muddy in the rain, they've yet to breed a teflon-coated poodle so far as I know :wink:

Further, even if a dog satisfies every item on the list at the breeder/previous owner's house, some the things like housebreaking, recall, leash walking and basic manners may disappear for the first month or two after the move and will need to be re-trained as though from the beginning.

I hope you find what you are searching for, but at the same time I think to expect the perfect dog is to set yourself up for disappointment. There is joy in the journey, and even a dog that checks many of the boxes but not all of them will (probably) be a much easier case than your pointer.

:clover:


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## VancouverBC (Sep 9, 2012)

Thanks for all who replied. 

I'm not looking for the perfect pup. I'm looking for one with some basics that I can work with. I did say we chill with retired trainers and handlers. 

Under the guidance of trainers, experienced dog owners, and behaviourists, I worked with a reactive GSP rescue. She was a trained hunter but gun shy. She was left out there to survive or die. She went through three other families by the time she was a year and half. She was rescued on her last day and brought to Vancouver. 

Still she had some manners, housebroken, and played catch all day if you let that ball of energy. She was 28 lbs when she came to us. Bared her teeth, resource guarding, pulls GSP hard on the leash, and has the "you talkin to me" stubbornness. I worked with her for three years and she is a most responsive dog, great recall, aims to please, 50lb GSP.

I know dogs (like people) need help in being the best they can. 

BTW. The dog I described is pretty much the Viszla and GSP. I hope to add a mpoo.


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## Critterluvr (Jul 28, 2014)

Sometimes you just have to accept the dog (you are hoping for) for whom he or she is, and love them for their own (special) traits, or you will be setting yourself up for a disappointment. And that is totally unfair to that dog.


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## VancouverBC (Sep 9, 2012)

Absolutely right Critterluvr. 
Acceptance leads to understanding leads to support so the other can be the best possible. 

I don't know what a perfect dog is. I don't know if there is such a dog. 

I do know the Viszla, the GSP, and the environment we live in. I do know they are the dogs described above, just happy dogs. 

I do know the mpoo I'm looking for will be a happy dog.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Honestly it sounds like you need to find a really good breeder and find a puppy with the right qualities and raise them as you like. 
I cannot envision any circumstance other than utter disaster where a person would go through the time, effort, love and money to raise the dog that you describe and then look to give it up as a young adult. Dogs just don't become like that without a very caring and committed owner, and that kind of owner does not re-home a dog unless an extremely devastating thing happens. And even in such a case, such a person usually has plans in place for their dog's care. 99.9% of the time young adult dogs who are offered for adoption are given up because the owner failed in raising them and they have major issues. Sometimes you can get a young adult from a breeder if for some reason they don't pan out as a show dog, but again, there will likely be issues.
You sound like you have the experience and resources to raise a puppy well, so why not do it?


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

I agree with what has been said. The needs you put down are for a dog who's already trained and housebroken, and fits the standard.

Very hard to find, if not impossible. It takes about 10 days to housebreak an adult (I just did it with my new 16 months old) and a few more months to 1 year to bring the dog up to your own expectations, if he has the right temperament for it.

IF you don't want to raise a puppy, like me, then focus on finding a good breeder who has an adult to place, with the right temperament for you. Then, work on developing him as you would like. 

No dog will come to you pre-packaged to the exact way you want it, IMO.


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## sophie anne (Feb 17, 2015)

One thing that you did not include in your ad is what you're willing to pay for your dog.

You can expect to pay more for a dog that has had obedience training, a full series of vaccinations, nearly a year of TLC with their previous owner, _and_ spay/neuter surgery than for a puppy that has only stayed at the breeder's house for 8-12 wks.

Going price for a well-bred mini poodle puppy in the U.S. is $1,200 to $2,500 which is what a breeder charges to cover the costs of testing and titling parents, stud fee, and other breeding costs plus raising the puppy till it's ready to go home. Add on the costs of nearly a year of care, and you're looking at a dog that has an investment of at least an additional $1,500 to $2,000 put into its training, food, vaccines, and spay/neuter. So it wouldn't be unreasonable for a breeder to ask US $3,000+ just to break even.

Maybe prices and costs are very different in Canada, although the Canadian mpoo breeders I talked to during my search quoted me similar figures.

So at some point you may have to compromise... do you want the perfect dog (which will move to your house and become imperfect for at least a while anyway), or do you want a less trained or younger dog with the temperament to _become_ your perfect dog that you can afford.

In any case, this website lists litters and a few adult dogs looking for homes that may be further leads:
List of litters/Puppies & Adults available
Horizon currently has an oversized blue boy available.


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## VancouverBC (Sep 9, 2012)

Thanks for this Sophie Ann.

My budget is around $2500 plus transportation.

I made an inquiry and found THE pup that would fit in to my home. It felt right to me and felt right to the breeder. However I forgot about the $0.76'exchange rate between the Canadian Loonie and the US$. The pup would have been $3311.12 plus paperwork plus transportation.

Around $4000 to bring the pup here would take a big chunk of his "care" budget. I have put aside another $2500 for "care". I'm not willing to bring a fantastic dog here just to stare at over the winter months. Not fair for the pup. 

I still ache for Mardy, the pup but with the reality of that exchange rate, I have look on my side of the border. 

Tyramara (Sunny's breeder) had older pups last year and early this year but I wasn't looking. 

Poodle fancier club of BC execs don't have websites and specialize in black mpoo. I thought about calling Lynn Galloway for leads. 

Any leads will be appreciated. 

Minipoo - not a dark colour cause the dogs like to go off leash into the "forest" that has a ravine down to the creek. The liver coloured GSP use to go hunting, thus disappearing into the brush. She would stay close but I wouldn't be able to see her. We worked on her recall and emergency recall till she was good. Then she was free to explore. I imagine that a smaller dog would be harder to see in the forest so no black or brown (although Mardy is brown and I was ok with that for a great dog).

Shout out to CountryBoy. Still here amongst us women folk, eh?


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

sophie anne said:


> One thing that you did not include in your ad is what you're willing to pay for your dog.
> 
> You can expect to pay more for a dog that has had obedience training, a full series of vaccinations, nearly a year of TLC with their previous owner, _and_ spay/neuter surgery than for a puppy that has only stayed at the breeder's house for 8-12 wks.
> 
> ...



Yes, prices are a bit higher here, but I have put way more than that into to Timi so far!


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## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

VancouverBC said:


> Shout out to CountryBoy. Still here amongst us women folk, eh?


Oh, ya.... this place is the Hotel California. 

And I couldn't leave Sunny all alone with all these 'Merkin dogs.


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## lisasgirl (May 27, 2010)

I think where I'm getting a little hung up is that you seem to be conflating temperament with habits/training, unless I misunderstand. Things like countersurfing, recall, basic manners, diet, etc. are not intrinsic type of issues. Any highly trainable dog has the potential to learn those things without too much of a problem, so I don't quite understand why they're on your "needs" list and not your "wants" list. Do you see what I mean? Especially with your training background.

Just so you see where I'm coming from, I adopted a young adult poodle (most likely a mix, but leans heavily on the poodle ancestry) from a shelter about three months ago. His temperament is stellar and has been from the beginning - he's eager to please, very social, never fearful but not aggressive, doesn't guard anything, can be touched or handled anywhere, etc. But he was almost completely untrained, and it showed. I have a similar background to yours, in that I rehabbed a crazy ACD mix a few years ago into a sweet, family dog. But it was still a big adjustment, mostly because I'd imagined myself bringing home a solid, near-perfect dog right off the bat. I just happened to fall for this wild little munchkin by accident (I actually turned him down when we first met, then went back the next week because I had to have him).

Three months and a couple training classes in, though, and he's fabulous. Not perfect, mostly because he's still young and very high-energy and that's how things go, but he's housetrained, he's not prone to stealing table scraps, his recall is great, etc. He stays with dogsitters and dog daycare without any problems.

I just think when you're doing your needs vs wants list, you might want to focus more on the things you can't train so easily - stuff like whether they like strangers, how they handle stress, breeding background, etc. - and maybe be a bit more flexible on the trained behaviors and house habits. Of course you can hold out for that perfect puppy, but you may be waiting for a bit longer than if you opened things up a little bit, that's all.


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

In Canada pups will start at 1500$ for a non-breeding quality pup up to 2500$ for a breeder and 3000$ for a show prospect. These are the prices for toys, I imagine they would be avout the same for the miniature and standard.


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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

the canadian kennel club has no leads? maybe not to existing litters, but to breeders? breeders often know about other breeders, too...

all right, a quick search for ckc mini poodle breeders in bc: http://www.ckc.ca/Choosing-a-Dog/PuppyList/Breed.aspx?breedname=Miniature+Poodle&breedcode=POM


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## Tabatha (Apr 21, 2015)

Have you checked any poodle rescue organizations? They often have amazing dogs available for adoption. I found my mini puppy at Standard Poodle Rescue, they rescue all sizes and poodle mixes and all ages. Sometimes dogs are placed in rescue because their owners went into a home, passed away or fell on hard times. Not all dogs are given up because the original owners turned them into psychological messes.


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## Tabatha (Apr 21, 2015)

Have you checked Paris Poodles? They're CKC registered, breed Standards as well as large Minis and train search & rescue dogs located in the Fraser Valley.


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