FAQs

Yes. Dustin is KC Registered and has no *endorsements. You will be given a copy of the relevant 5th generation KC pedigree document along with his health certificates. Dustin has a COI of 3.1% which is well below the breed average.
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*Not having an endorsement against the dogs is only important if you plan to register the puppies with the KC, so only applies to miniature poodles. If your girl has an endorsement against her then any puppies they made could not be KC registered. You can see if she has any by checking her paperwork. If you find you have a miniature poodle girl with an endorsement then you need to contact her original breeder who can instruct KC to remove it.

There are many factors that determine the size of the litter, the age of the girl and the stud, the timing of the mating and how healthy the dogs are.  If two healthy dogs mate at the correct time, then the girl will carry the correct number of puppies for her. Dustin has recently fathered a litter of 9 Cockapoo’s so he is certainly firing on all cylinders. Dustin has mated with a variety of small / medium breeds, for example breeds such as Cockapoos, Cavapoos, Cocker Spaniels, King Charles, Bichon Frise, Miniature Poodles, Lhasa Apso, Maltese, and terriers. He has also mated with a larger breed, a Labradoodle, by standing on a box! Where the girls are taller we would need to position your girl so that Dustin can reach her, but he is also pretty good at standing on his tip toes! Dustin doesn’t seem to have a problem with the smaller ladies either, I think he must have been a limbo dancer in an earlier life!

It is Dustin who determines the sex of the puppies, he seems to favour an even split between males and females! Both dogs contribute to what colour / characteristics the pups have. Dustin has produced litters with reds, apricots, creams, and black puppies but so far no brown! Dustin has also had his first parti puppy! I am so excited to see what he looks like, and when he is a bit older I will put his picture up in the gallery. Determining the colour of the pups is really complicated, I have read loads of stuff about it but it is really complex, the only thing I can be really sure of is black is the dominant colour! But saying that Dustin was mated with a black Cocker spaniel called Fleur, she had three black pups and six red! I think it is hard to second guess what Mother nature has lined up, so best to just look forward to the surprise!

There are currently over 40 different types of Poodle mixes—or Doodles, as they're lovingly called. These dogs are born from Poodles with other purebreds like Labradors, King Charles Spaniels, Jack Russells or Cocker Spaniels to name a few. Since the 1980s, doodle dogs have increased in their popularity—and it's not a wonder why. Doodles are wonderful pups, they hardly shed and so are ideal for people with allergies. As Poodles are super clever, affectionate, children and dog friendly, sociable and charismatic then doodles tend to be the same!

Take a look at LoveYourDog to see all the different poodle crosses.

Dustin’s fee is £250 payable at the first successful tie, by cash or bank transfer.

As much notice is best so I can plan my diary, if you can estimate your girl's season dates, then I can put them in the diary or call me on day 1 of your girl's season and we can decide which days suit you best.  We can sometimes take bookings at short notice, so please get in touch.  I never overuse Dustin, so it is always best to call in advance or on the first day of your girl's cycle and then we can block out his diary. I also advise getting your girl groomed before the date, it is better if they are tidy in the nether regions as sometimes if there is too much hair it is difficult to know if things are going well, also it can hinder Dustin's progress 😉

From research and my experience this is what I have found;  As a general rule the fertile days for the girl are between days 10 and 14 of her cycle. Day 1 is the first day you see her bleeding / spotting and she will usually be ready to mate around day 10 /11. Around this time her blood will have changed from quite red in colour to a much paler pink, a bit like straw. In some cases no colour at all, more like a whitish / clear discharge. It is a good idea if you check her colour every day, about the same time so you can see the colour changes. Other signs to look for are her vulva will become swollen and sort of protrude, she might move her tail to the side when she sees other dogs and become flirtatious in general! If you would rather have a more exact result you can take your girl for a Progesterone test (sometimes called bloods). If you don't like the idea of your dog having a blood test then you could also go down the Cytology route. Cytology is where a swab is taken from the dogs vagina wall and then examined under a microscope. You may want to have this done at your local vet or I can recommend Canine Scanning in Seaforth Liverpool. They are a professional family run business and can help with all aspects of dog mating! Billy and his team have a wealth of experience and I have a learnt a great deal from talking to him and his daughters. They have a website as follows https://caninescanning.co.uk which has details of their services, their contact number is 07936460605. But you know a lot of people book a date with Dustin based on what day of the cycle their girl is on and her blood colour and behaviour. Dustin is good at knowing when the time is right too, if there is a lot of stop / starting and half heartedness about the date then it is best left till the next day!

After the first successful meet then a second meet is arranged, there is normally a day of rest left between the two dates. So as a guide the dogs would meet on days 10 and 12, OR days 11 and 13 OR days 12 and 14. Sometimes if the girl has had a blood test / cytology the owner might decide to bring the girl on subsequent days. If you are unsure just get in touch and we can talk it through.

I have been asked in the past if a third meeting would be considered, one mating it usually sufficient for a successful pregnancy. The second mating is included in the stud fee and usually takes place after 48 hours. If a third mating is requested then as long as Dustin is available and not on a rest day then we can arrange this. A third mating would be an extra £50 on top of Dustin's stud fee.

If this does happen, a free mating will be offered when your girl next comes into season and I would recommend a progesterone test (blood test) OR cytology in this instance for extra accuracy.

A slip mating means there is no tie at the end. A girl can still be pregnant from a slip meeting but until the pregnancy is confirmed no stud fee would be paid.