About Labradoodles

The Labradoodle as a dog breed is still developing, and does not yet breed true, i.e. the puppies do not have consistently predictable characteristics. While many Labradoodles display desired traits, their appearance and behavioral characteristics remain, from a breeding standpoint, unpredictable.

As such, Labradoodles’ hair can be anywhere from wiry to soft, and may be straight, wavy, or curly. Some Labradoodles do shed, although the coat usually sheds less and has less dog odor than that of a Labrador Retriever. The color range includes white, cream, gold, apricot, red, brown and black, and most of the other colors seen in Poodles.

Like most Labrador Retrievers and Poodles, Labradoodles are generally friendly, energetic and good with families and children (although as with any dog the temperament may vary between individuals). Labradoodles also often display an affinity for water and the strong swimming ability present in both their parent breeds.

 Labradoodles make wonderful family pets.  Labradoodles love to be a part of the family.  They are always willing to be on the go.  It doesn’t matter if the family is going to the market or to the park for a day of fun, they are ready.  A Labradoodle puppy is also happy just hanging out at your feet at the end of the day. 

But like all dog breeds, you will have a better Labradoodle if you train them and teach them what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior in the home and outside.

The Pure Fleece Coat
The ultimate coat is easily maintained. It is soft luscious with a big to small wavy curl to crimpy curl that is easily brushed thro and light weight, not wooly or thick like a poodle and definitely non-shedding.

The Fleece Wool Blend
This type is definitely non-shedding. This coat is preferred by many. This texture should be quite similar “to a Angora goat, appearing to contain a silky lanolin.” It should be wavy and forming light loose spirals. The coat is usually 3 to 5 inches long and doesn’t tend to mat. The Fleece coat has distinctly soft, loopy spirals it feels like no other dog coat.

The Wool Coat
This is somewhat poodle-like which requires regular grooming is non-shedding and allergy, asthma friendly. This is a thicker tight curl coat. A wool/fleece blend is a distinctly nice unusual coat as well.

The Hair Coat
This coat is soft, silky and flat-to-straight with medium waviness. Has a cute fluffy longer coat look. Regular brushing is recommended and is minimal to non- shedding.

The Multi-gene Australian Labradoodle always has the ultimate coat. Due to many years of breeding and the uniqueness of the Australian doodle produces a usually textured coat. It should be silky-soft waves and or light loopy spirals. The fleece coat or fleece/wool mix is usually 3 to 4 inches long and is easy to maintain.

Room training is imperative when raising a labradoodle puppy.  Select a safe room that when visitors come over whom are not “dog people,” the dog would stay while the visitors are there. It should contain a pee pad and toys. Bedding is typically used to pee on so do not use bedding until later. Some puppies pee in their space at first and some don’t, have patience. The point of the room is to discourage peeing for a period of time and keep them out of trouble – first an hour or two and at night, then gradually longer. The point is to take the dog out before it has to go to the bathroom and as time goes by it can hold it longer and longer. Never more than 4 hours except at night when I recommend you get up twice during the night and let the puppy out; after two days wait and let the puppy out once in the middle of the night, gradually extend the wait time an hour until finally they have gone all night.

The room should be used up to a year when you are gone and at night. The sooner the puppy is trained and you can trust them the sooner they have free roam of the house. Remember to remove food and water an hour or more before leaving the dog, the puppy should be let outside and empty when left in the room. At night take food/water away by 5pm so the puppy is really empty for the night.

A friend of mine inquired the other day whether my labradoodle was a barker.  I realize that most people have this misconception that smaller dogs are firecrackers when it comes to noise.  These people tend to be misinformed, as it’s the not breed of the dog, but rather how they were trained.

Because I live in an apartment in the city, I trained my dog well enough to only bark when she needs to, suffice to say, she doesn’t bark very often – only when the pizza delivery boy is knocking on the door.  Then again, she does love the garlic breadsticks.

When getting a puppy, especially if you are a new owner yourself, you may not be aware of the eating habits of a puppy. We have been mixing dry kibble with 1 to 2 tablespoons of canned food per cup of dry food and then covering with warm water to soften it up. 

You can feed this 2 or 4 times daily. If the puppy leaves food after about 15 to 30 minutes, feed a little less next time. If the puppy eats it immediately, add just a little more at the next feeding. Your Australian Labradoodle puppy is used to the food slightly warmed up with hot water. Some other foods your Australian Labradoodle puppy has had mixed in with their daily foods are: organic whole milk goats’ milk and organic whole milk yogurt. We would also suggest adding the goats’ milk or yogurt at different feedings during the day, such as two tablespoons of yogurt at one feeding and two tablespoons goats’ milk at another.

If possible, always have dry kibble (in addition) as well as fresh water available for your Australian Labradoodle puppy at all times.

Ask any dog owner and they’ll tell you there are six general commands to teach your new puppy. Those six are: Heel, Come, Sit, Stand, Stay, and Down. And with any dog, it doesn’t matter which one you choose to start your training.Practice Time
The important thing to remember about practice time is to not be in a hurry and practice every day. Remember, you don’t set the pace for learning, you puppy does.

Your training sessions should last for only two to five minutes, that way you’re matching the attention span length of your Labradoodle. If you push them longer, they may stop paying attention to you.

As you work each session, make sure to every one with a near-perfect performance. This could be as simple as a one or two-second sit, or three little “heeling” steps next to you. When they do it successfully tell them how “perfect” it was. Really let them know how pleased you are they got it right.

When Not To Practice
Don’t start training right after your Labradoodle puppy has eaten because they’ll be sleepy and the treats you use as rewards won’t be as enticing. However, you can practice at any time throughout the day, even if it’s a three-second “stay.” They will love the attention.

One thing many owners don’t realize is the motivation for them to do anything is rooted in their desire to please you. Verbal praise has a range from ecstatic (for the first few correct responses from a very young pup) to a calm “good dog” as they grow up and become better a performing the lessons.

After my daughter turned 8, we felt that she was responsible for a pet, so we got her a cat that she subsequently named Klaws.  Her younger brother turned 8 this past February and my wife and I felt that we should bestow upon him the same responsibility.  Naturally we urged him to get another cat.  He had other ideas.  I’ll spare you the parental softy details and that instead, we wound up with an Australian labradoodle. 

At first, we were a bit apprehensive.  We have a very temperamental cat and I doubted that Klaws would be okay with our new dog friend taking away her attention.  After a week, we noticed that the cat and the dog were playing with each other.  Astonished, I brought over my friends just to make sure I wasn’t seeing things.

A little while ago, our family pet, Myrtle the Turtle, passed away.  I had Myrtle since I was 9, but my son absolutely adored him.  It took a few months before we were ready for another pet, but when it was time, we opted for a dog.  We spoke to many of our friends to see which breed would work best for our family, though my son took an instant shining to labradoodles. 

He liked them because they looked like stuffed animals come to life.  We researched their care and ultimately, we adopted our new pet, Stan.  Now Stan and my son are inseparable and though this story began tragic, it truly has a happy ending.

Labradoodles are a very unique breed of dog; not only in their look, but also in their intelligence and social skills.  Dogs, in general, are not like cats, that can be left alone after leaving a shelter or adoption agency.  Dogs require far more care and attention than fish, turtles or the aforementioned cats.  Labradoodles are no exception to this notion.

Labradoodles require a proper amount of attention when they are being trained since they need to be stimulated intellectually.  If they are left uncared for, then they will act, not unlike a child.  The point is that as intellectually superior canines, labradoodles will benefit from being challenged by their owner; it’s up to you decide how much time you want to devote to your dog.