POODLE MIXES

Question
I am interested in getting a dog we wanted to wait to the kids were old enough so this will be the first for us, we have 2 kids 12 & 8. We are interested in Yorki Poo, Golden Poo or Labradoodle, malit-poo not sure which of these to really look into. We want small dog not a toy size about 15-25 lbs, non shedding and trainable and sociable. Any suggestions? There's not much info on poodle mixes re: weight. My kids love the Yorkie-Poo but I heard yorkies are not great with kids and arent very trainable. Thanks
Any suggestions would be great we have a house with a yard.  

Answer
First, dogs vary widely within a breed.  Mix 2 breeds, and you have an even wider variation.  Buy a mixed breed puppy, and there is little telling what it will be like as an adult.  The one advantage is that if you bring any puppy into your home at 7-8 weeks, it will grow up accepting your children and other elements of the home.  Many of the xpoos or xdoodles come from puppy mills.  Don't expect much of one you pay through the nose for at a pet store. Those delibertly breeding crosses, may be more interested in money than quality puppies.   

Consider the animal shelter.  There are many nice dogs, and you can see how
they look with little or no grooming.  You can also see how they behave.  The product of an accidental breeding may be a higher quality cross than an intentional breeding. Look
for dogs that want your attention, but are not going wild. Leave the ones that
retreat to the back of their cage.  Look at their teeth.  Look for ones that
still show a 3 lobed, clove like pattern on the front ones.  Leave the ones
that fight letting you look at their teeth too much.  If the points are worn
off the teeth, it is an older dog that may break your heart by dying too soon.
Pinch the web between its toes.  It hurts.  It is OK for the dog to pull away
or whine, but it shouldn't growl, snap or show its teeth.  Think about size.
In a small apartment, a Golden might knock over the lamps when it walks
through wagging its tail.  Since the shelter likely will kill most of the
dogs, you may as well pick out a nice one.

Finding a good breeder and purchasing a puppy that will make a good pet is very difficult.  Almost nobody is intentionally breeding dogs to be nice pets.  Most of your so called reputable breeders are breeding for show or something.  They may say the puppies they don't keep for their purpose make great pets, but the truth is that the parents were selected for other than health and temperament.  Often they keep the puppies in the kennel too long and they miss the important early socialization puppies need to live in the house with people.

Next are the disreputable breeders.  They breed any 2 registered dogs they can lay a hold of looking only at the money they can make selling them to pet stores.  Pet store puppies are easy to find, but difficult to socialize into nice pets, perhaps difficult to even keep alive.  You will not get what you pay for at a pet store.

One of the best sources for dogs with a predictable personality is the rescue
dogs.  These are dogs that lost their home, but were taken into a foster home
to be retrained as necessary and placed in the right home for them.  You may
find a rescue near you starting at
http://www.akc.org/breeds/rescue.cfm  The rescues charge a fee to help cover their expenses, but is much less than the price of a puppy plus all its medical expenses the first year.  

If you don't find what you are looking for at your local shelter or a near by rescue, try www.petfinders.org.  They are not as good as a good rescue, but have a wide varity of dogs all over the country.  

With somebody the right age in the family, 4-H dog training is a great idea.
In my area, clubs form soon after the first of the year.  Even many urban
areas have 4-H.  For info look in your phone book under government listings
for extension or cooperative extension offices.  Ask specifically about a dog
or canine club.  The dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a
pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog.  Life is much
easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones.  You can learn
to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience
class.  A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/