MICRO doodle & which breed best Labradoodle, Golden, Austrailian for my preferences?

[a.k.a. Rodney]

hi, i have been advised this is the best way to get great feedback on my questions..

i am looking for a Mellow, highly intelligent, easy to work with doodle. That also must fit a size requirement as i travel frequently on planes, and would want the dog with me.

i have been in contact with a few breeders that claim they are producing MICRO doodles now 

9-15 lbs. multigenerational 14'.  Some breeders are saying they have worked for years to produce this dog. Am i naive to accept this as fact?

i am also  possibly interested in a dog that i can train for therapy work, probably working  with seniors at a care center.The dog needs to be 14' or less & between 9-15 lbs. I have 8 grandchildren ranging from 1 yr. to 11 yrs. old. The dog will be socialized well, but i prefer a non shedding dog..some kids have allergies as well as i have asthma.

Dogs generally don't affect me..Cats do!!

Big question is difference between labradoodle, goldendoodles & austrailian doodles for my preferences. Which would fit best for my needs?

Any helpful thoughts, suggestions or tips..very welcome and of course breeder recommendations

thanks in advance

[Rita and Fazzy]

Karen, I absolutely agree with you.  I can't imagine getting a dog and just because in the end it doesn't meet all of your "requirements", they can just be handed off only to try it again with another dog.  Very sad.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

West Highland White Terriers might be another good choice. They are typically less stubborn and bark-y than most of the other terrier breeds, and they are sturdier in structure than most of the other small breeds..

Whatever breed you choose, though, be sure to only buy from a breeder who can document the breed-appropriate genetic health testing done on the parents. With purebred dogs, you have the benefit of having access to an AKC National Breed Club for breeder referrals, so you can be sure you are dealing with a reputable breeder and not an internet puppy mill.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

My mom had Westies and both were awesome - sweet, friendly, social.  One was a barker - high and shrill, but the other only barked when strangers came to the door.  The smaller one was 15 pounds.

[Stephanie and Jellybean]

Mellow would never descibe Jellybean. Hasn't really slowed down and she is over 2 years old.  She was supposed to weigh in the range of 60-65lbs, and currently weighs 79lbs. Just saying.......also relatives have both havanese and coton d'tulear, neither of which shed and are much smaller dogs in the weight range you suggested. You might want to look into one of those breeds as they seem to be much more weight predictable.....

[Katie and Sophie]

my aunt has a havanese and she is a great dog! when you are looking for such specific traits you are probably better off going with a purebred dog . they are just more predictable in things like size and shedding .

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Personally, I would not get a 'micro' labradoodle or goldendoodle.  It may just be me but I think trying to get that small just goes against labs and goldens physical body traits - and I do have a small multigenerational Australian labradoodle.  He is 28 pounds not 9.  There are some small doodles here both labradoodle and goldendoodle but I think of them as mini not micro.  There is a very small dog that is not a golden or lab mix but a Havanese/poodle mix. We do have members here. I think they are called Island mini doodles.  I am not promoting them because I don't know anyone who has one and have never checked out a breeder, but they are very small and do have a doodle look.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Yeah - Luna is a "mini" F1 goldendoodle and she's 35 pounds.  Sure she's mini compared to a standard goldendoodle, but some of the other pups in her litter were much bigger than her and probably weigh upwards of 50 lbs. by now.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

PS I do know a service dog that is a Papillion and see her 3 days a week.  Her owner is piloting a program for the organization she volunteers for, training toy breeds as service dogs.  Her little one can do a lot of things but if you wanted her to turn on lights or something like that, you would have to reconstruct your home for reachability.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I can''t think what kind of service work a toy dog could do, other than seizure alert type of things. Therapy work, yes. But we know that therapy dogs and service dogs are two very different things.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Correct, Karen.   This is a pilot program and the volunteer has taught this dog to do many big dog service things, however everything she taught had to be  adapted, and even, she admits that the skills are pretty useless. The dog and the others in the pilot program are currently being used more as comfort/companion dogs for people who need that sort of help.  Therapy rather than service.

[Adina P]

Another aspect that hasn't been discussed is that it takes what... 50 years or so for a breed to breed true.  Australian labradoodles are closer to that than regular old lab-poodle and golden-poodle mixes doodles, but they are still not breeding true the way a pure breed would be defined as breeding true.  They have maybe 20 years I think...Even Australian labradoodles sometimes come out in unexpected ways or have throw back coats that look like water retrievers (curly bodies, fuzzless faces).  So anyone who is breeding a "micro" doodle simply hasn't been breeding long enough to guarantee anything about size.  The amount of dogs and litters such a breeder would need to breed to get there in even a decade is way too many to be reputable.

Please know that I'm not bashing early generation mixes.  I  personally LOVE the first generation labradoodle.  However, if I wanted some guarantees on size, coat, and temperament I would choose a pure breed from a reputable breeder because mixes are enough of a gamble it would be too risky for me.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

On average, the breeds that are in AKC Foundation Stock Service status (breeding true but still awaiting recognition) have been bred for at least 75 years before getting to the FSS level. Some for much longer. Many familiar breeds (one of which was mentioned here, the Coton de Tulear) are still in FSS status.