My Baby Doodle

[Mary Helen Camporeale]

HI Everyone! 

I just adopted my 3 month old goldendoodle, Josie, 2 days ago! She's so adorable and our first family pet. I have a n 8 year old, a 7 year old and a 5 year old - they all love her and she's amazing with them. 

 

I am happy to have joined this site so that I could get experienced answers for my questions as my journey with her has just begun.  She's 24 lbs. now. The place I got her from estimates she'll get to be 60 lbs...I love big dogs...Is that about average size for an adult 1st generation female?

Also - they told me to feed her 3 times a day...but she seems really hungry.  I've been feeding her 4 times a day - because otherwise I find she's trying to eat every leaf and blade of grass and my flowers - oye! Is that bad?? 

Finally - she sleeps a lot...is that normal? Is it true they do all of there growing in the first six months? 

Thanks for your help! Happy to meet everyone!

MH

[F, Calla & Luca]

Welcome. I would feed her a little more at each meal, but only three times a day. She does need to be supervised in the yard. Enjoy your pup.

[Heather]

Welcome Mary!! My female Goldendoodle is 2 years old and about 70 lbs. I think they say you double the 4 month weight and add 5-10 lbs. That formula worked out for my "2" Goldendoodles both F1. My male is "1" and is about 80 lbs. I also LOVE Big Dogs!!! Especially Big Goldendoodles!! :)

[Diane, Baker & Oskar]

Sleeping a lot is what puppies do...they play hard & sleep much of the day.  Be sure your children respect the puppy's nap time.

They grow quickly during the first few months & slow down at 6-7 months as I recall.

Feeding 3 x per day should be plenty with water available at all times.  They're just like babies...everything in the mouth so she'd probably still be tasting plants, grass, etc. no matter how many times you feed her.  Just be careful she doesn't get into rhododendrons or other toxic plants.  I swear every dog we've ever had has stripped plants when they're little or chewed off part of a tree :)

Enjoy her !

[Lynda Kamrath]

Welcome to DoodleKisses - the best website around for doodle lovers everywhere.  About size, they say to double her weight at 4 months and then add 5 - 10 pounds for her adult weight, so 60 pounds sounds like it will be about right (maybe even a little larger).  You may want to add a little more to each of her feedings but only feed her three times a day.  That should satisfy her.  And puppies do like to experiment with everything in their mouths, just like your kids did when they were babies.  Don't leave things lying around that you do not want nibbled.  Enjoy her puppyhood.  It is such a special time for everyone.  Sleeping?  Also remember how it was with your children.  Babies and puppies sleep a lot.  Try to give her her own quiet area where she can get the sleep she needs.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Welcome, and congrats on your new baby! I would suggest you joing the puppy madness group to learn everything you can about raising a doodle puppy. http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/puppymadness

Good luck!

[Miss Ellie]

Hi Mary Helen...we too just got a new puppy, Ellie two weeks ago on Tuesday.  Yes all these things are definitely normal!  Enjoy every moment because they grow so fast!  Josie is just adorable!

[Ginny Nightingale]

Welcome to DK and congrats!

Join puppy madness group for a lot of your answers and you can also search the forum for topics like "puppy sleeping"--but yes, they are like infants and do sleep a lot--also you should be feeding three times a day, but very gradually increasing the amount....and yes, pups do try to eat EVERYTHING--outside and in the house--watch her with the kids' toys, socks, etc, etc. 

There is so much fun ahead of you, but a lot of training too! This is the time to expose her to lots of new things, like the vacuum cleaner, the car, etc--but not too much contact with dogs or streets until she has had all of her shots, please! Carry her when out in the world outside your yard.  Good luck!

[Nadia]

On my bag of food they say go by the recommended feedings per weight and then add about 20-25% more food because he is a puppy (I feed him adult dog food). The amount given may be different for some foods that are specifically made for puppies.
I also fed Bentley 3x till he turned 6 months and now I feed him 2x a day. They sleep A LOT!! Totally normal.
Welcome to DK and posts lots of pics.