(...) I love goldens. I think they are the most beautiful dogs with the best kid-friendly temperament for my 7 yo daughter. However, I also love having a clean house. I do not exercise every day. I have a large back yard with a creek behind it and a medium sized fenced in area that is currently overgrown, but could be re-worked to be a play area. I'm in constant inner conflict. I am leaning towards a golden and hoping that bathing once a week, doing the forceful blowing thing, and buying all the brushes will help offset the shedding.
If you love having a clean house, you might want to consider some other aspects of dog ownership, in addition to shedding. For example, when it rains, your dog is going to come into the house with wet feet and will track mud through your house. It will roll in dead leaves, then come in and shake them off all over your floor. It will swim in the creek, then come and shake water droplets all over your kitchen cabinets. It will occasionally eat stuff that will make it throw up on your nice clean floor. When its anal glands become itchy, it will scoot its butt on your best carpet. If you live in an area where there are ticks, it will bring them into your home on its coat. Not least, puppies are like human infants, in that they have no control over the muscles that regulate elimination. So, regardless of what you do, your new puppy is going to pee and poop in your house for at least two months, until it develops enough control to wait until you take it outside. Most dogs are not reliably clean in the house until they are five to six months old, so you will be cleaning puddles of urine (and worse) for a certain period of time.
(...) Could you give me your feedback on a particular doodle breeder? I'm just curious after reading so many posts about crosses on here. A doodle breeder I researched and am considering, Moss Creek Goldendoodles, has beautiful golden parents on their website with all the major health clearances. They report that a lot of their dogs go on to be therapy dogs and their Owner's FB Group members validate this claim. They seem to produce at least some calm, even tempered dogs according to the owners (There are 5000 members in the FB group). I know that the ppl on this forum say that no reputable golden breeder would ever sell their dog to a doodle breeder. So I'm curious if this is true, how they would have obtained their golden retrievers? (None of the moms that they actually proposed to me were on their website and I did not see their health clearances. However, the owner said that it was because they had not had a chance to add these moms to the website yet.) The puppies are $3500.
Short answer: this website made me want to cry.
Long answer: I own a purebred golden retriever and a purebred toy poodle and I can't for the life of me imagine why any sane person would ever want to combine these two breeds. My golden is an amazing dog. He's funny and intelligent and energetic and enthusiastic about whatever I want him to do. He's highly trainable, incredibly eager to please, extremely focused, has a nice wash-and-wear coat and loves every living creature. Sure, he can be messy in the house, but he's a sweetheart and my constant companion and I wouldn't trade him for the world. My toy poodle is also an amazing dog. He's smarter than any non-human I've ever met. He's calculating and manipulating. He can be snappy. He can't be trusted alone anywhere in the house, because he will steal whatever is there, even if it's in a tin box. He has to be with a human or in a crate; there is no middle ground with him. He's also highly trainable, once he has understood what's in it for him. He was my daughter's agility partner and they won literally everything there is to win in the sport, including several national championships. He doesn't shed, but requires six-weekly trips to the groomer ($50 each time) to keep his coat nicely trimmed, as well as daily brushing and frequent baths (otherwise he smells). When it suits him, he's a cuddly lapdog. He's hardly a sweetheart but he's such an amazing character and I love him dearly.
If you mix these two breeds, it doesn't mean you'll end up with a smaller dog that has the golden retriever personality and a non-shedding coat. That's not how it works.
My daughter was a dog training instructor for several years until she left to go to university, and some of her worst students were doodles. Incapable of focusing, poor temperaments, uncontrolled energy, etc. And most of them cost double what I paid for my lovely golden retriever.
Now, to the website you mentioned. Why did it make me want to cry? For a start: English goldendoodles? Have we really sunk that low? Are people really dumb enough to believe that doodles descended from "English cream" golden retrievers (imported from Romania in this case) are somehow superior to doodles descended from other goldens? And to pay $3,500 or more for them? Next: There is absolutely no way for prospective buyers to check any of the claims made about the health of the breeding dogs (of which there are many). Obviously the golden-poodle mixes can't be registered because they aren't purebred, but pedigrees aside, there are no links to OFA records or any other records for any of the dogs listed. Also: There are so many "immediately available" puppies on that website. These people must produce a whole lot of litters to have that many "left-overs". It's heartbreaking ... And: Schnoodles? Quote from the website: "We want the same blocky, teddy bear look as we get in our Goldendoodles, so we choose our parents carefully for that winning combination that will give us those square heads and short little noses." Note that there is no mention of choosing parents because of their nice temperaments or because they are from healthy lines with good structure, or because their trainability has been demonstrated ...
A whole website dedicated to mixed-breed pups with unpredictable traits on sale for astronomical amounts of money, able to be shipped wherever you like, at your convenience ... Beam me up, Scotty.
I'm sorry if this sounds harsh. But as someone who owns purebred dogs of the two breeds used to produce these doodles, I'm offended by the whole commercial doodle thing. I have nothing against mixed breed dogs; I've owned several wonderful ones in my lifetime and my daughter will be looking for a rescue/shelter dog as her next agility dog, when she finishes university. My problem is with the people who produce mixed breed dogs commercially.
Anyway. I hope you find a dog that will fit nicely into your household. I second the suggestion above that a miniature poodle (not a toy poodle) might be a good choice, if you don't mind the extensive grooming needs of its non-shedding coat.