Apple Creek Doodles review
Originally written: 10/1/16
Today is our goldendoodle’s first birthday, so we figured, why not celebrate by writing a review on the breeder that helped bring her into this world a year ago today. If you are considering getting a goldendoodle, labradoodle, or sheepadoodle, we hope this Apple Creek Doodles review will help you decide if they are the right breeder for you.
As dog lovers that both suffer from dog allergies, a poodle-mix, also known as a “doodle” by some, was our best bet to be able to have a dog in our home. After doing a lot of homework, we reached out to over fifteen different breeders throughout the eastern half of the country. We ended up narrowing our list down to four breeders and finally chose Apple Creek Doodles due to the timing and availability of one of their upcoming litters. Our goldendoodle, Evie, was born on October 1, 2015 and we brought her home two months later on December 5th.
communication and customer service
Apple Creek Doodle’s website is very informative, covering just about everything you need to know. If you are following the dog buying guides on what to look for in a breeder, Apple Creek Doodle’s website (www.applecreekdoodles.com) will answer the majority of your questions and concerns. Tara Mitchell, the owner of Apple Creek Doodles, also provides many other helpful information on her website, including differences among various doodles, grooming tips, and doodle allergy questions.
Tara responded to all of our emails in a timely manner, sometimes hours later, but never more than a day later. As mentioned on her website, she offered to speak with us on the phone and had a very flexible schedule. We first spoke to her early on as part of the interviewing process, and a second time in November to go over our questions about a few particular puppies in the litter (more about this later) and bringing our puppy home. She never made us feel like she was rushing on to the next thing on her checklist.
We received an email the day our litter was born and pictures were posted on the website the following day. Each litter has a dedicated page that is updated on a weekly basis. This was, hands down, our favorite part of the whole experience. You get to watch your puppy grow up from the day they are born until the day you get to meet him or her on pick-up day. Around week 5, Tara started posting up weekly videos of the litter, which are incredibly helpful and fun to watch. It gave us the chance to observe and learn about each puppy’s personality from the comforts of our own home. She will tell you that most of her customers know exactly which puppy they want by pick-up day. We had our doubts… “how could you really get to know the puppy without actually playing with them in person?” In the end, it happened exactly the way Tara said it would.
And the other great thing about the videos? They are a great pick-me-up or if you just need a good laugh. Who doesn’t love watching a bunch of month-old puppies playing, jumping, and tripping all over each other.
In the two weeks leading up to the pick-up day, Tara starts preparing you for your pick-up day by sending an email with some helpful information on what to expect. These included directions, checklists, tips for our long road trip (yep, we drove 12 hours to pick up our girl), and some other really helpful articles.
facilities
Apple Creek is located on some beautiful open country an hour north of Detriot, just outside of Port Huron. Their facility for the puppies is located in a separate building right next to their home. There is a very large enclosed area outside of the building where the puppies are let out to play, weather-permitting. The “puppy greeting” room was very very large and clean. When we arrived, the puppies that we could choose from were placed in a caged area in the middle of the room. Both the mom and dad of the litter were there in a separate area so that we can meet too. Everything was extremely clean and well-kept, both inside and outside. During our visit, it really seemed like Apple Creek makes it a priority to ensure that the puppies are raised in a nice environment.
visiting
One thing that just about every puppy buying guide states is to visit the breeder, and to move on if the breeder does not allow you to visit. We nearly skipped over Apple Creek Doodles because of their visitation policy. Only those picking up their puppy can visit Apple Creek on the day of pick-up, and this is all part of their effort to prevent their dogs from catching Parvo and other diseases. This made sense to us and we could only find positive reviews about Apple Creek and their facilities, so we made the educated decision to overlook this advice.
We understand that this is an immediate red flag for some people and we completely respect that. However, for those of you who are like us and willing to overlook this limitation, we can verify all the other great reviews about Apple Creek’s facilities.
final thoughts
We highly recommend Apple Creek Doodles to anyone looking for a goldendoodle, labradoodle, or sheepadoodle. We are probably going to get another dog in a few years and will likely only consider Apple Creek Doodles. Yes, we could find another breeder that is signficantly closer, but our first girl reminds us every day just how important it is to find a great breeder, and we have found them. We know exactly where the puppies are coming from, who is raising them, and what to expect.
remember to consider adoption
We learned during a puppy training class that a large number of puppies are left at animal shelters within the first 8 months of their lives. Raising a puppy is not for everyone. It takes a lot of time, patience, and commitment to raise a well-behaved dog. Without this attention early on, it will possibly be more difficult to correct any non-ideal behaviors later on in life.
If you are unsure if you have this time but still really want a dog, please consider adopting an adult dog from a local rescue or shelter. There are a lot of beautiful dogs out there that need a loving family. Not to mention, adopting a rescue is significantly cheaper than buying a doodle puppy, which should cost a minimum of $1500.
And please, do not buy any doodles from local pet stores and “mall” pet shops.
