I am searching for an article in the New York Times on small dogs that
are very trendy to own. The article described and had pictures of
about 5 breeds along with contact information for kennels. One dog in
particular was a very new breed with, I believe, a kennel located in
California...it was described as very small, but sturdy. I've searched
the NY Times site without luck. The article ran within the past
year...it was a feature story. Can you locate it for me so I can
purchase it from the New York Times archives?

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 30 May 2003 18:37 PDT

Here's a New York Times article about "fashion dogs." Does this look
familiar?

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20B11FE3B5C0C708EDDAB0894DB404482

Another article from the NY Times, about shiba inus, "a Japanese breed
that has become quite chic among a small but apparently fast-growing
group of dog aficionados":

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30E12F93C5A0C768CDDAE0894D0494D81

---

Clarification of Question by stu-ga on 30 May 2003 21:15 PDT

I bought both of these stories and they are not the one I'm looking for. Thanks.

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Clarification of Question by stu-ga on 31 May 2003 09:34 PDT

No, none of these articles are what I remember. However, yes, it could
have been from the Wall Street Journal, as I do read it as well as the
NY Times. I did a search on the WSJ site, but still can't come up with
it. All the dogs were rather small and the emphasis was on their being
trendy. Definitely not hairless. Thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 01 Jun 2003 13:54 PDT

Just for the heck of it, here's another long shot:

Los Angeles Times, May 16, 2002 Thursday, Home Edition Cover Story

Having Their Day; How is it that Los Angeles has become such a good
place to be a dog of leisure?

by CHRISTOPHER NOXON

Could that be it?

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Clarification of Question by stu-ga on 01 Jun 2003 14:07 PDT

Perhaps it was, in fact, the Schnoodle...though I really think it was
something else. However, for all your work, I'll consider this
answered. Thanks.

Stu-ga,

Very magnanimous of you to accept an answer when you're not 100% sure
this is the article you are looking for.  In case you haven't read the
on-line version, I'll describe it in more detail, along with some
excerpts:

The article is:

Having Their Day; How is it that Los Angeles has become such a good
place to be a dog of leisure?

The Los Angeles Times
May 16, 2002
CHRISTOPHER NOXON

Several features of the article jive pretty well with your
description:

--It was a feature story (a cover story, in fact, with lots of photos
and such)

--Appeared in The Times (just not the *New York* version!)

--Ran within the past year

--Featured lots of small, cute, trendy dogs

--Named lots of doggie-type establishments, including cafes, therapy
centers, even "dog whisperers"

But not everything hit the nail on the head:

--not *all* the dogs were small -- in fact, there's a Great Dane in
there!

--no singular focus on *the* hot new breed.

--not much to speak of regarding kennels

So maybe this is it...maybe not.  If there's another article of the
one's mentioned that comes even closer, by all means, let me know and
I'll make sure that researcher receives some compensation.

As for the LA Times article, here are a few of the pithier quotes that
will perhaps jog your memory:

 
--Everywhere you go, dogs and people are doing things that a few years
ago would have seemed bizarre and sometimes downright rude. Dogs are
scrounging for scraps at outdoor cafes, trotting happily into doggie
day spas and massage parlors, snoozing underfoot at dog- friendly
offices and romping ecstatically at one of the several new leashless
dog parks. Some are even curling up at patio bars: "A gin and tonic
for me and a bowl of water for the blond at the end of the bar."


--I realized I'd crossed over into a strange new world the weekend my
wife and I checked Rufus into a "canine country club" in Sun Valley
called Paradise Ranch. Complete with four-post beds, playgrounds and a
wading pool, it turned out to be a notch or two nicer than the B&B
where we were headed.


--Today there are doggie day cares all over L.A., each with a cutesier
name than the last-- the Loved Dog, the Grateful Dog, Camp Happy Dog,
Chow Bella, Hollywood Hounds, Chateau Marmutt and Bow Wow Bungalow.


--we've seen the arrival of dog boutiques and dog bakeries, dog
masseuses and dog acupuncturists, dog portrait artists and dog
perfumes.


--Dogs wander around like the savviest of shoppers, some hopping in
and out of sleek vinyl "doggie bags" or curiously nuzzling a display
of wool dog sweaters. Co-owner Penelope Francis says she began
creating swank dog fashions three years ago, when she went searching
for something to keep her pet Chihuahua, Peanut, warm.


--Certainly there's a long Hollywood tradition of treating pets like
royalty. Everyone from Audrey Hepburn to Halle Berry has traipsed
around town cradling well-coifed toy breeds with tummies quivering
beneath snug sweater vests.


--Part of the reason we Angelenos have become so infatuated with dogs
is that they're just so darned sincere....doggies don't air-kiss.


That's certainly helps explain typical L.A. love affairs like the one
between Claude Dauman...and a half-Pekingese, half-poodle named Mallie
Munchkin.


--I'm sure the owners of the supermodel Weimaraners and spunky
springer spaniels I see parading around the dog park feel genuine
affection for their animals, but don't you sometimes suspect that the
real appeal for the owners is all the attention they attract?


--Regan has perhaps the cutest dog on the face of the planet: Mr.
Winkle, a Pomeranian mix with a permanently lolling pink tongue. In a
modern twist to the old Hollywood fairy tale, Regan plucked Mr. Winkle
off a roadside in Bakersfield and made him a star, attracting a cult
following on a Web site (www.mrwinkle .com) and parlaying his fame
into the sale of calendars and T-shirts and a book deal with Random
House.


And there's much, much more, but alas, a limit to how much I can
reproduce here without running afoul of copyright.  It's all available
right on the LA Times website, however, at:

www.latimes.com

Hope this is what you were looking for.  If you need more information,
just holler (via a Request for Clarification, of course).

Air kisses all around,

pafalafa-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by stu-ga on 01 Jun 2003 16:02 PDT

No, the LA Times article is definitely not what I had read - but
thanks for all your help. I think I'm going to end up getting a
Manchester Terrier. I prefer a French Bull Dog, but they tend to have
too many health issues. It's for an apartment. I've no other pets. And
will be able to spend a lot of time with the dog. Any thoughts?

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Clarification of Answer by pafalafa-ga on 01 Jun 2003 16:41 PDT

Hello Stu,

Hope I didn't misread your remark earlier about considering the
question answered...I thought the LA Times article might have been it,
but apparently not.

As for the Manchester Terrier, I have no direct experience with the
breed myself, but they do have a reputation as good "apartment dogs". 
There's a nice write up about them here:

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/manchesterterrier.htm

Have fun with your new companion, whatever breed they turn out the be.

paf


P.S.  Just want you to know that I plan to share the compensation for
this question with the other researchers who commented...as soon as I
figure out how.

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Request for Answer Clarification by stu-ga on 02 Jun 2003 14:49 PDT

Perhaps what I'm thinking of is a mixed breed combination of poodle
and labrador retriever. Know if that has a name or if there are
kennels selling it?

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Clarification of Answer by pafalafa-ga on 02 Jun 2003 19:06 PDT

You're not going to believe this, but it's called a Labradoodle! 
Here's a good description of the breed:

http://www.labradoodle-dogs.com/

This should help you decide if this is the type of dog you're looking
for.

All the best.

paf

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Request for Answer Clarification by stu-ga on 07 Jun 2003 16:07 PDT

Thanks everybody. I have decided to work with Prime Labradoodles
(www.primelabradoodles.com) and am looking forward to my new puppy.

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Clarification of Answer by pafalafa-ga on 07 Jun 2003 20:10 PDT

Good to hear it, Stu-ga.  All the best, and give the pup a smooch from
pafalafa-ga and the rest of the gang here at GA.

Stu --

I guess this falls in the category of wild guesses, but the only
promising fairly recent article I have been able to find on the
subject (after a variety of searches) was in the March 9,
2001,"Weekend Journal" section of the Wall Street Journal.

It is called "Fido Without The Fuss."  I have read the article online
(it is available free to subscribers, and I am one).  The online
article does not contain information on five specific breeds or
specific kennels, but Weekend Journal articles often contain
"sidebars" with such content, including pictures, which are not
preserved in the online archives.

Here is a link to the headline of the article, as well as a headline
for a subsequent letter to the editor.  That letter (which I have also
read) discusses the article's references to a particular breed (a
"Basenji") that is not mentioned in the online text, leading me to
believe that there may indeed have been a sidebar to the article:

http://nrstg2p.djnr.com/cgi-bin/DJInteractive?Search=Fido+without+the+fuss&cgi=WEB_ST_QUERY&page=st%2Fresults&Sort=Sort0&View=View1&Heads=10&DOption=DOption1&Date=Date0&IS=st%2Findex&grp1=on

If this link does not work, just go the Journal's home page, click on
"advanced search" link at the top of the page, then choose "archives"
for "all dates" and enter "Fido without a fuss" in the search box. 
Here is the link to the Journal:

http://online.wsj.com/home/us

markj-ga

Stu,

Here’s an article from the Wall Street Journal dated February 15, 2002
about a new breed of dog.

Our Hottest Four-Legged Friend,
The Xolo Is Hairless, Happening


“Gordon Gray recently decided to give his two daughters a birthday
present they wouldn't forget. So he forked over $800 for a hairless
dog with a wrinkly face and a tongue-twister of a name -- the
Xoloitzcuintle. "It stops traffic," says the Redwood Shores, Calif.,
father.”

(..)

"Now it's an arty, cool kind of dog to have," says Washington state
breeder Patty Hoover, who has about 50 of them in her kennel.”

(..)

“That, of course, leaves just one problem for would-be Xolo owners:
Pronouncing their new breed's name. (Try "SHO-low-EETS-queen-tlee.")
http://www.xolo.com/patty/WSJ_xolo.html


Could this be the article?

Thanks
Bobbie7-ga

Neither of these is likely to be the article you seek, but you may
find them interesting reading:

http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/radio/more/breedtrends.html

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/5685654.htm

Stu --

This has been a very frustrating search, although I have learned a lot
about dogs, trendy small ones in particular.  At a trip to a local
library this afternoon, I took a look at the microfiche archive of the
WSJ article ("Fido Without The Fuss") that I cited in my previous
comment. The subheading of the article is, "Owners Swap Big, Messy
Dogs For Low-Maintenance Pups; Meet the No-Shed Schnoodle."

 
Tantalizingly, the printed article does include pictures of three dogs
and a "box" containing information about the size, "low maintenance
factor" and "hassle factor" of five very popular dogs, including four
that easily qualify as "small."  The four small breeds listed are
Havanese, Schnoodle, Basenji and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
However, it does not include contact information for breeders,
although breeders of some are quoted in the article.

Since I used some of these breeds as search terms in further research,
I am guessing that the particular breed that interested you was the
Havanese, (described as "stocky" and "little" in the article), which
is described by the American Kennel Club as "small" and "sturdy." It
has been included in the AKC registry only since 1995, and it is bred
by at least one kennel in California.

Sources:

American Kennel Club: Havanese
http://www.akc.org/breeds/recbreeds/havanese.cfm

Puppyshop.com
http://www.puppydogweb.com/kennels/kennels.htm


markj-ga

This excerpt was in an article from NYT dated November 2002, by Anita
Gates (1216 words).  It was a write-up in conjunction with the Macy's
Thanksgiving Day Parade.  The National Dog Show sponsored by Purina 
aired on TV directly after the parade.  The story mentioned the films
"As
Good As It Gets" and "Best of Show," but contained nothing about
trendy canines or a breeder in California.

"I now know that Helen Keller had Akitas, not as seeing-eye companions
(she had German shepherds for that) but strictly as pets. French 
bulldogs were once the pets of choice for Parisian streetwalkers. 
Roger Caras, the author and former A.S.P.C.A. president, considers the
West Highland white terrier ''as near perfect a small dog as you could
have.

It may be helpful if we knew if the breed was a part of the toy group
or just a small dog.  The latest dog accepted by AKC is the Toy Fox 
Terrier.  http://www.atftc.

Most terriers are quite sturdy dogs and on the smallish side, but a 
toy variety might fit in a very large handbag if that's a 
consideration.

Also, here's a link to rare breeds.  "Rare" doesn't always translate 
to "trendy" but a name might leap off the page.

http://www.rarebreed.com/breedlist.html

Some of these are larger breeds and not all links contain a photo but
all include a description.

It might also be helpful to know if you're looking for that particular
breeder in California or just the breed of the dog if we're unable to
find the actual article.  Also, do you recall if the breed was long or
short-haired?

I'm sure a lot of us dog people wouldn't mind helping you further. 
Let us know if we can be of service.

Best wishes,
V

Correction for the Toy Fox Terrier link:
http://www.atftc.com
http://www.akc.org/breeds/featured_breed.cfm

I think they can pretty much cross-breed anything you like.  Those
dogs are called Labradooles but I wouldn't want to carry one around in
a bag. ;-)  I can check on some breeders for you if you want to
specify a location.  Here's a link to get you started:
http://www.labradoodle.org

It's the labradoodle of which I was thinking! May I ask you what
credentials you have about dogs and, particularly, finding a healthy,
multigenerational miniature labradoodle puppy? I've checked all the
Web sites found on Google - both Australian and US kennels. Given a
choice I'd travel to Australia to pick one up and bring it home under
a 1st class seat (I have frequent flyer miles). But the Australian
research kennels (there are two) don't seem to have anything available
until, at least, mid 2004. I'm looking for one late this fall or early
winter. With the US breeders it's hard to know which are really
professional, selective and caring - and which are just amateur or,
worse, puppy mills. If you can help me in working something out with
Australia or, second, choosing a US breeder, I'd pay you up to $150
additional. If you are not the one, can you refer me to an
intermediary whom I can trust? Thanks. stufalk@earthlink.net

Hi again Stu,

Nope, no credentials here.  I've just been to hundreds of dog shows
and know some folks on the circuit.  Thanks for the extra information.
 I'll kick this around with the other researchers and get back to you
with the name of the best possible person for your inquiry.  Just give
us a couple days and I'll post the information here.

Regards,
V

Greetings Stu,

Sorry for the delay but no researcher has stepped forward in the
"expert dog breeding" category.  I doubt anyone could guarantee any
success in finding a miniature multi-generational Labradoodle within
your time frame.  Like dog breeding, Google Answers may be a bit of a
hit-and-miss undertaking, but as with any reputable service we still
aim for satisfied customers.

As you know, this relatively new breed of dogs is in high demand and
finding a miniature double-doodle has proven doubly difficult.  I did
want to give you this additional information that hopefully will
assist you in your decision-making process.

Labradoodle Organization of Australia
http://www.labradoodle.org/welcome__to_the_laa.htm

Primetime Labradoodles (Bellingham, WA)
http://www.primetimelabradoodles.com

Tegan Park (Australia)
http://www.labradoodle.com/labradoodlenews&Adoption.html

Kate's Pets (New South Wales)
http://www.family-pets.com/index.html

Sunset Hills (Australia)
http://www.sunsethills.biz

Valley View Breeders (Australia)
http://www.valleyviewdogs.com/labradoodles.htm

Article in Fortune Magazine (link redirect)
http://tinyurl.com/bb79

Labradoodle FAQs
http://www.labradoodle.com/labradoodle.html

Happy 10th Birthday, Sultan
http://www.guidedogs.asn.au/Upload/gdt3.htm

Yahoo Labradoodle Group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/labradoodles/message/283

Eliminating Genetic Diseases in Dogs:
http://www.goldendoodles.com/id247.htm

Breeding Information on Golden/Labradoodles:
http://www.homestead.com/prosites-pawpad1/goldengallery.html

Breed Standards:
http://www.thedogkennel.com/dogs/review/labradoodle.shtml

Doodlesville (Virginia)
http://www.labradoodles.us

Q/A Labradoodles:
http://labradoodles.homestead.com/QuestionsAnswers.html

Q:  What are the differences between first generation and
multi-generation?
A:  First generation's hair coat can range from smooth, (like a lab),
wirey (like an Irish wolfhound) to wavy,(like Cole  on my page).
Multis have a more shaggier look. Another advantage to the first
generation is hybrid vigor. Although we are raising multis we still
feel that first generation is  generally  a stronger, healthier mix.
The more you breed back in to a  breed the more chance that genetic
faults will reappear, or will be created. The multis (eg. crossing
back, F1 bred to poodle) are most likely to be hypoallergenic. This
breed is just a hit and miss kinda thing, we all try the best we know
how to produce the wanted qualities, that is why no breeder can
guarantee you a hypoallergenic doodle.
 
Q:  What is the cost?
A:   Labradoodle and Goldendoodle prices are $900.00 and up,females,
chocolates and multi are higher.  Multi generation planned for 2004
(list already started) Deposit is 200.00. I do require a signed
questionaire/deposit agreement to be placed on the waiting list.

Bunches of great photos here:
http://www.goldendoodles.com/Labradoodles/index.htm

Best wishes in finding your pup!
V

Search criteria/terms:

Google, AlltheWeb, Vivisimo, Turbo 10, and Teoma search engines
miniature Labradoodles + double doodles OR multigenerational +
Australia OR U.S.

I forgot the Doodle Database (round the world stats as of November 2002):
http://www.goldendoodles.com/dooddatabase.htm