Australian Labradoodles

Comment

Comment by Diana Erhart on April 13, 2011 at 3:01pm

Charlie is an ALD and 5 years old.  He has had some allergy and sensitive stomach problems but they have been resolved easily.  By putting him on mostly a raw food diet (store bought) and keeping him away from chicken the sensitive stomach and ear infections have been resolved.  For allergies I just wipe him off with a baby wipe whenever he comes in from outside and this seems to be working.  He has had one seizure this past February.  Our vet is not sure of the cause and we are hoping that it will be a one time thing.  The vet did mention that he feels both labs and poodles are somewhat  prone to seizures.  He feels that the most likely case will be that we experience a seizure every one to three years.  But we are all keeping our fingers crossed that it was just this one time!  I must add that Charlie is a sweetheart.  Everyone in our neighborhood loves him and just seems to be drawn to this special breed of dog.

Comment by Cheryl and Finnegan on April 12, 2011 at 9:54pm

My vet (University of Pennsylvania) was also concerned about the early neutering.  She mentioned bone growth, strength, and some concern over bone tumors later in life that may be related but nothing definitive.  Still enough concern that she recommends later neutering.  No mention of epilepsy but I have read that epilepsy seems to have shown up in certain ALD lines --unrelated to neutering.  I don't think it's common. Our best wishes to you and Hairy. Good to know medication helps.

Comment by Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie on April 12, 2011 at 9:41pm

I didn't explain that well, did I.  When someone sends a message to the group from the group site, it goes out as a message from this page, so if you try to respond to the message, you get taken to the group page and not to the person who sent it or to a discussion.  It makes it hard to respond to the message sender.  There is no problem contacting group members with a group message, it is just hard for them to respond back.  Better if you start a discussion in the group.

Comment by Lynda Kamrath on April 12, 2011 at 8:06pm

Now I see why these comments have been coming up and what Nancy was referring to.  I can understand your concern and early neutering has been questioned many times.  Our puppy is also from a breeder and he was neutered early as is very common these days.  My vet also recommends later neutering and the breeder can withhold papers until the neutering has been done.  I doubt, however, that epilepsy could be encouraged by neutering.  I had not heard that epilepsy is common in labradoodles.

Comment by Judith Wheeldon on April 12, 2011 at 6:39pm

Hairy is an extremely happy, sociable almot 3 year old dog who loves exercise, especially swimming, running and rolling on the ground with any other dog. He is generally very healthy, watches his own diet, sleeps very deeply.

But! Hairy had a violent seizure two months ago and has been diagnosed as having epilepsy. Control with phenobarb seems to be good, but it has takes a tiny edge off his energy level. Internet search suggests that epilepsy is common in Labradoodles. Every seizure is an evil, damaging brain event and full recovery takes about a week.

Second point: Hairy was bought from a professional breeder, not a pet store or puppy farm. He is seventh generation ALD (we live in Sydney) on dad's side and fifth on mom's side. The breeder neutered him very early (six weeks?) to protect her genetic investment. Our vet has suggested that there is evidence that this early neutering can lead to knee problems, which has not yet happened but he runs in a very unusual pattern in the use of his rear legs. If this turns out to be valid, breeders must accept much later neutering, even if that means trusting the purchaser to do it later.

I would be interested to hear of others' experiences in these two areas.

Comment by Ricki and Tara (doodle) on April 12, 2011 at 5:53pm

Tara is a mini ALD about 20 pounds and 2 years old. She has two fairly minor issues. One is a little sensitive tummy which we can manage by watching how much fat she eats. But with "normal" eating she is fine. Also she has sensitive skin and will break out in hives if we use the "wrong" shampoo/conditioner products on her. But like with her diet, we have found things that work and are sticking to them.

Comment by Nugget's Family on April 12, 2011 at 5:46pm

We have a 4 year old ALD and you may have seen in the archived info here on DK that she has had significant health issues with Atopic Dermatitis.  Since that was properly diagnosed and treated (at age 3), she's been very happy and healthy.  We just had her in for her regular check-up at the vet 3 weeks ago, and he thinks she's doing great!  (That's her regular vet....not her dermatologist....that appt is in a few weeks.) 

Even though her health issues were concerning (and not cheap to treat) she is a great dog whom we love very much.  Medical issues can happen with individual dogs of any breed.  We just need to be prepared to deal with the diagnosis and treatments as they come!  (That said, I still break out into a cold sweat when I have to inject her syringe full of allergy serum once a week!)

Have a good evening-

Susan

Comment by Lynda Kamrath on April 12, 2011 at 5:32pm

So far the same with my ALD.  He is only 10 months old.  I hope he stays healthy.

Comment by sandy b on April 12, 2011 at 5:20pm

Max is an ALD and will be 3 in July. He is about 30 lbs, med size and have no health issues. His only vet visits have been for his yearly exam.

Comment by Marianne *OZZY & ZOEY on April 12, 2011 at 4:25pm

I have a ALD and she will be 3 in November.  She is very healthy and active I love this breed and the size too. So far our only vet visits are for regular check ups. I hope it stays that way.  Ozzy is 3 and an F1 and just as healthy too.

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