Testimonials

Hi Mick and Alex,

I wanted to share an update how things are going with 7 month old Bear!  I’m sorry this is long.  I can reduce it but I wanted you to read the full account.

After always saying the one thing I’d never do in life is get a puppy, when our 11 year old autistic son hit rock bottom we began to desperately search for anything that might support him.  He connects deeply with animals, and so after much soul searching we began to feel that a therapy or assistance dog could be life changing for him.  Still hoping we could get a ‘ready to go’, fully trained dog, I began our search.  I stumbled upon the Dachshund and Doodles website and immediately connected with their ethos and felt encouraged by their obvious passion for what they do and their particular focus on breeding dogs that have the right characteristics to become great therapy dogs.  After a chat with Alex, I realised that raising a dog from a puppy actually helps foster that deep emotional connection you need in therapy dogs.  I therefore did a complete 180 and we took the plunge!

We have never owned a dog before and were warned by friends that life would return to the newborn baby stage for a while with 3 hourly wake ups and constant indoor accidents.  That didn’t happen.  We followed Mick and Alex’s advice and used a crate from day 1.  Within 3 days Bear was sleeping solidly through the night and after a week the vast majority of toileting was outside (we’re still working on the ‘I’m so excited to see you!’ wees however!).  Since day 1 Bear has been confident, sociable and outgoing.  He loves children, he is well behaved when meeting other dogs, he’s extremely bright, but by far the biggest impact on our family has been the difference he’s made is to our son’s wellbeing.

From the start of the process we felt confident that Alex and Mick had taken the time to get to know our family and would successfully match us with the best dog for us.  Our biggest worry was how our son would adjust to him, and if he would make the difference we hoped for.  

We had nothing to worry about.  Bear just ‘knows’ when our son is upset and will come and sit as close to him as possible until it’s passed.  He copes amazingly well with our son’s moments of dysregulation and has never been unsure of being close to him after a meltdown.  He’s extremely patient and adores our son.  Since getting Bear, our son’s world has opened up in ways we couldn’t have imagined a few months ago.  Our son struggles to travel due to anxiety, but he recently completed a two hour car journey with Bear next to him.  This was frankly miraculous.  With Bear by his side, he then sat happily with the rest of the family in a new and busy cafe without becoming overwhelmed.  The frequency of his meltdowns has reduced and he repeatedly says how much he feels ‘Bear is exactly the right dog for our family’.  He has even started taking him on walks around the block on his own.  Watching Bear enabling our son to grow in independence is incredible.  

When I asked our son what the biggest difference Bear has made to him was, he answered ‘I love how Bear has really helped me feel connected to our community.’  On every dog walk, strangers and fellow dog walkers stop to talk to us.  Previously this would have been too much for our son, but Bear has become a bridge that enables him to talk to and connect with others in ways he couldn’t have before.  He’s growing in confidence and social skills simply by having Bear by his side.

Raising Bear hasn’t been all plain sailing.  A dog isn’t a simple ‘fix’ and they take hard work, but for us it was definitely the best thing we could have done.  As he’s a very confident dog we needed a bit of extra behaviourist support to help us set clear boundaries for him and deal with some overly enthusiastic puppy-nipping!  But he learned very quickly and those behaviours are now well in the past.  Mick and Alex have been incredibly supportive and I feel like they are genuinely invested in our journey with Bear.

I’ll finish with my son’s response to the question, what would you say about Dachshunds and Doodles?  His answer was ‘if you want to buy dogs here, I highly recommend it!’.  Enough said!

Emma x

Dear Alex and Mick,

I wanted to give you a quick update/recommendation after an incredible two weeks with Paddy. 

After losing our first dog in 2021, we struggled to take the leap of faith to buy our next. Now with two small children, I felt a lot of pressure of how to pick the “right” puppy. After speaking to Alex and Mick in 2022, they gave me some great advice, and I knew they were genuine breeders. Fast forward to 2024, after much deliberation, we decided to join the cavapoo waiting list. When our litter was born on New Years Day, we had a mixture of excitement with a pinch of anxiety. After googling, life with a new puppy, I realised quickly to turn off google and follow the incredible advice given by Alex and Mick. When we came to meet the puppies with the whole family, I did what I promised myself I wouldn’t do, and I fell in love with one. Even though each of the five were just so wonderful and playful, one inevitably fell a sleep on me and I thought could he be the one? There was a tiny doubt in the process at this point of them picking our puppy, but I am so glad they did. We didn’t end up with ‘the one’ but a puppy I didn’t actually spend much time with. He was slightly smaller, and much more interested with my 6 year old son. The night before collection, I didn’t sleep a wink. Preparing myself for lots of poo and many a sleepless night, I wondered whether I had made the right decision. But I am so glad we did. Paddington had a 3 hour journey to our house, which he made with little to no fuss. Then descended on by a 6 and 3 year old home from school, I was amazed by how calm and playful he was. I’m touching wood as I write this, but every night since he’s arrived he’s slept through without a peep. He hops into his luxury cate, with his little lamb, and they spoon happily until I wake up at 6.30am. He also does this for all of his naps ranging from 2-3 hours throughout the day. When I have left for longer than an hour or two in the day I’ve left a monitor on to check he’s ok, again not a peep. That’s not even the best bit. His personality is absolutely perfect for our family. He’s a gentle soul who adores playing with my kids. He’s so bright he’s learnt to sit, lay down, come and is now learning to heel. He’s been carried on the school run, been to a karate lesson and has come with me to work. Even just before bed, when he becomes slightly mad, he’s entirely manageable. I didn’t know how much I needed him, but now he’s here I can’t imagine life without him. He’s been an absolute dream, and I can’t thank Alex, Mick and Buttercup enough, for picking the right puppy for our family. I cannot recommend them highly enough as a breeder, Paddington is perfect. 

I chose D&D as breeders because of their commitment to raising puppies with the right temperament to become assistance dogs. As someone with C-PTSD, I require an assistance dog to help me navigate daily life, including my work in a noisy London university - an environment that could easily overwhelm the wrong dog.

From the moment we picked up our Cavapoo, it was clear that he was something special. My husband and I are first-time puppy owners, and while we didn’t fully know what to expect, we were immediately struck by how well-raised, confident, and human-focused he was. Within just a week, he was crate-trained, sitting on command, and even sitting to get our attention. His ability to take in new experiences with such calmness has been incredible - he has already encountered cars, buses, trains, classrooms, elevators, and escalators, all from the safety of his carrier, and he remains unfazed.

To ensure our puppy gets the best start, we hired a professional assistance dog trainer with over 30 years of experience. She met him just five days after we brought him home and was immediately impressed by his temperament. She praised D&D for raising such a trainable, human-focused, and sweet puppy, and she even said she will be recommending D&D to her future clients.

Training a puppy certainly comes with its challenges, but I truly feel that we have been set up for success thanks to the exceptional start our puppy had with D&D. We are so grateful for their dedication, and we can’t thank them enough for bringing this wonderful pup into our lives.

Thanks,

Lia

Hi Alex and Mick,

We have meant to email you an update on so many occasions but as always life got rather busy.

Otis is a complete joy and fully integrated into the whole family.

It took a moment for Alexander in particular to relax around him but now he just wants to hug him and as you can see from one of the photos he just lay with/on Otis and feels comfortable doing that.

There are so many positive things we could tell you about Otis but it’s hard to sum this up in an email.

We have had so many people both professionals (like vet and dog trainer) to people with their own dogs just say how calm he is. What a sociable fellow as well, he just loves to play with other dogs so much. He has made dog training look easy because he picks things up quickly and retains them. He is as you described, not reactive, and that’s just so helpful for the whole family!!

He even won best puppy at the Chiswick House dog show which is quite a big thing in West London. They described Otis as “uplifting!!”

I could go on and on but I am sure we will send more updates as time goes on.

Thank you for giving us such a wonderful family pet.

I have also sent some other people your details which I hope is ok.

Best wishes,

Lara and Mark

Mick … Alex what can I say… it brings tears to my eyes. Beauford has stolen our hearts. I never thought it would be possible after losing our beloved Teddie. He is an absolute dream. So calm… so friendly… well behaved. (Slept through from night one without so much as peep from him) It’s only day 3 and I’m sure we have plenty of puppy behaviour coming our way…. But just wanted you to know from all of us… you couldn’t have given us a more perfect pup. We are soooo in love with him!! Thank you. He even asks to go outside to go for a pee!! Not one accident so far 💙💙💙💙

Hello Alex and Mick,

We just wanted to drop you an email to let you know how Rupert aka orange is settling in.

He is a beautiful puppy with such an amazing temperament, perfect for our lifestyle. He is super smart and has picked up toilet training, sleeping in his crate, walking off lead and tricks super quickly – we have been complimented so much on how quickly he has picked everything up. He has taken to new experiences so quickly such as camping, large gatherings, children and other dogs of all ages and sizes. He’s fitting into all aspects of our life, from working from home to out exploring with absolute ease.

Thank you so much for picking us the perfect puppy, he is honestly everything we could have dreamed for!

Hey, I just wanted to say a huge thank you in raising an incredible puppy before we got Archie. You were absolutely right he has such a calm kind nature and is so good with training. Archie has settled brilliantly and the kids are slowly building a relationship with him. It’s like he has always been here