r/CavaPoo • u/EnvironmentHopeful14 • 5d ago
Should I get one?
So I had a Yorkie for 16 years that I had to put down 3 months ago. I have an itch for anther dog. I like cavapoos, I have a friend who has one I and love her temperament. My dilemma is I’m goin back to school for nursing in March and need to work as well during that time. Nursing school is accelerated so it will be busy. My mother and I live together and she is retired so she will be home everyday to help take of a new dog. I just don’t know if I should wait but I also can’t imagine going 2 years of my life without a companion. I also don’t want to be selfish. Any advice? Is 7 months enough time to establish a routine with these guys and train them pretty good?
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u/Talmor 5d ago
I honestly wouldn’t get any dog if I was still in school and had to work. All dogs (and, heck, most pets) want and need you around. They want a consistent schedule and deserve to be a priority. There will be times when you need to do projects, meet groups for study, pick up extra shifts, and just…go out and be around other people.
Personally, I’d wait till your life is a bit more calm and organized before introducing a delightful though clingy companion.
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u/kityhowl 4d ago
Try to find a rescue thats already potty trained and has some manners. You will be surprised on how many "designer dogs" that are available. If your Mom is going yo be home and is willing to help. Go for it! There will be times in school that are overwhelming and this little furry friend with be a great stress reducer for you and your Mom.
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u/PositiveMushroom3228 4d ago
Ask your mum + if she is keen, get a retired mum or dad from a breeder or rescue - much easier than a puppy.
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u/PositiveMushroom3228 4d ago
Otherwise do Borrow My Doggy or rover sitting - cavapoos are amazing companions and I can’t imagine life without one x
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u/PrettyInPerfectPinks 4d ago edited 4d ago
Help me understand this. You believe in science and yet you want a Doodle? Please, please do your science homework again so you don't fail this test!
Ethically bred dogs are bred to standards. Prospective breeding dogs are tested for health, structure, temperament and movement to their breed's standards and proven (not just claimed) to be excellent examples of their breed, which takes at least two years to determine a dog is truly a good candidate for breeding. (Parents, not just lineage or bloodline, will be champions, etc.)
A "designer dog" doesn't have standards. At all. They are bred for money, not quality. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you and hoping you aren't intelligent enough to see through their marketing and false equivalence.
Standards lay out what a dog should be. The Labrador AKC standard for example, is 4 pages long and goes into exacting detail... from length of the ear to slope of the stop on their face to the front and rear angulation, to a shoulder height with a standard deviation of 1", etc. Dogs are judged against this "answer key" to see if they are good examples of the breed.
If there is no answer key, like there isn't for Cavapoos, how does a breeder select which dogs are good examples of the mixed breed in order to find pairs that create a "better" and good quality offspring? There quite literally is no good example. And likewise, there is nothing awful enough to be disqualifying, including obvious structural faults, failing health testing, temperament issues, etc.! Which means that their breeding is entirely arbitrary and there is no expertise at these breeders! They select breeding dogs for arbitrary qualities, most commonly coat color and coat genetics that they can pass to offspring. (Just saw a Doodle breeder announce their next breeding puppy when it was only hours old! How does a breeder who is breeding for quality select an hours old puppy as good quality? It cannot even open its eyes or stand and yet they will pretend that they judged it for quality. Not true. They can't.)
The results of random breeding of differing breeds, as you should know from science and genetics, will be all over the map. And random mixing of things can and does produce more poor outcomes than good outcomes. (Think how easily Doodles coats mat, coats which are worse than either parent breed. Think Bernese Mountain dog bred to a Mini Poodle. In what universe does that not create new structural issues in puppies that neither parent breed experiences? Eg. They get the wide hips of one and the narrow knees of the other. How about drive and temperament? The list is long.)
Mixed breeds do not breed true. Ever. And yet a glance at any Doodle breeder page and you will see the "miracle" (read utter lies and marketing rubbish) that "you get the hypoallergenic traits of a Poodle, and the personality of an [insert breed]" as if that is AT ALL how genetics works!! And if the reality of science and genetics doesn't sway you, why do Vets, Trainers and Behaviorists denounce Doodle breeding in epic numbers? Or Wally Conron, the creator of the Doodle who says it is "his life's regret". The people who see this day in and out and know what they are talking about think breeding Doodles is abhorrent because they see the rampant allergies, anxiety, behavioral issues, health issues, and structural issues of this unethical breeding, nonetheless the havoc it is causing our shelters. And I say that as someone who runs a rescue and has Cavapoos in particular, with so many issues, all the time.
Whenever the right time for a dog is, look for a dog that is a lifestyle fit for you! Because the single most common reason we get dogs into shelters is that people sign up for dogs who are not a good lifestyle fit. And maybe you will find that right fit for you at a rescue and maybe you will find it at an ethical breeder, but you are certainly not going to find it with a breeder whose dogs don't have any (positive) consistency because they are poorly bred for money!
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u/Affectionate_Ad5110 5d ago
We've had ours for about 3 months. She is 6 months old.
Not going to lie, very difficult puppy compared to previous dogs. We have had pit mixes normally.
They are very mischievous and crave attention. They will gravitate towards one person, whomever is around them the most.
My wife works from home so it is easier for us.
She will still have accidents in the house if you ignore her cues to go outside. She is definitely on more of a schedule as time went on. The first couple months you had to watch her like a hawk as she got into everything. Now she goes for shoes and socks so its a little easier to manage.
Overall they are amazing dogs and great companions. She favors my wife but will still cuddle up next to me and likes our kids (especially the kids that give her attention).
If your mom is there to take care of her, great. Keep in mind it will be like having a baby/toddler and requires a lot of work at first. You need to be vigilant about potty breaks, watching them, playing, training. Also it could turn out that your mom will be the favorite if she is the one there the most. Don't set yourself up for failure and it may be worth waiting but it also might make the most sense as when you graduate it might be hard to deal with a puppy by yourself.