03/15/2026
I am heartbroken to share that Monte will no longer be a part of our breeding program. I have released many dogs from the program due to not meeting my standards, but this is one of my hardest losses.
I kept 2 boys from Monte’s litter from Vegas and Marvel. Unfortunately, Monte’s brother passed away at only 9 weeks old due to an illness (not hereditary). I’ve never lost a dog that young and the grief was absolutely overwhelming. This experience made Monte even more special to me as he grew up and he only became more amazing with time. He has an incredible temperament. He passed all of his health testing with flying colors. Literal perfection.
He’s perfect, except Monte has food allergies… He has to eat an expensive hydrolyzed diet, use special shampoos and is more prone to skin infections. He is still healthy, happy, and thriving, but this has bigger implications for him as a potential papa. Allergies are highly hereditary in nature. It’s not one for one, but breeding a dog with allergies drastically increases the chances that his puppies will develop allergies too. Neither Monte’s mom or dad has ever shown signs of allergies, so it feels even more unfair.
I know many breeders would choose to breed Monte because of his other attributes. There are no perfect dogs, so it’s reasonable to breed dogs with a single fault. But this one is a deal breaker for me. I know better. As a veterinarian, I see allergic dogs every single day in practice. Allergies impact the quality of life of the dog and the owner. They cause painful infections and some dogs require expensive life-long monthly injections or daily pills. Luckily for Monte, his humans have the financial ability to give him the best quality food and care. He will always be taken care of and will never suffer. But not all families can afford that. Doodles are already expensive to maintain. Adding allergies to the monthly coat care makes it unfeasible for some famlies to have a doodle.
While I can’t promise that every puppy I produce will be free of allergies, I do promise to do my best to avoid it any way that I can control.