A few weeks ago, I felt compelled to write a blog regarding the issues a person might face when purchasing a Doodle breed. I have bred Bordoodles [BD] (Border Collie/Poodle mix), and I have one female from our, one and only, time of breeding this combination. I have come to realize that from MY professional and personal experience, this cross-breed has been wonderful.
We own Poodles and Border Collies. I have found that the Poodles are very willing to please and desire to be around their humans. Whereas, the Border Collies might want to be around their humans if there’s something in it for them (i.e., playing ball, herding etc.), but it’s not a big deal if they don’t interact with them - they WILL find something to get into.
Olivia, our BD, was very easy to train and can retain information quickly. We’ve noticed that even if we haven’t worked on something for a few weeks, I can actually reintroduce the activity and she’ll remember right where we left off! She stays right next to us (Poodle trait), and is very affectionate, but can be quite mischievous (Border Collie trait). She doesn’t have a strong prey drive at all, which has surprised me since both Poodles and Border Collies have this strong drive within their breeds.
We are in the process of reassessing our breeding program. I will not breed Border Collies any longer, but we are considering a doodle combination that might work for a dog owner that has had minimal dog training experience. It might take me a while to put a combination together, and it’s NOT a designer breed, but I’m taking the approach of a dog breeder who is trying to provide a cross breed of dog that will make clients happy and feel proud to have a lovely dog in their life.
Happy Tails 🐾