What are your labradoodles and goldendoodles really like?

[ang]

hi everyone,

just joined 2day!

I have been looking to get a labradoodle or a goldendoodle and everytime i  metionn it on the net it is met with mass negativity about how i shouldnt even consider getting one of these breeds ( or non breeds as i have been told a million times lol )and why dont i just get a poodle. how they are aggresive and not good with kids, i could go on forever!

So i thought i would ask ppl who actually have one and not the ppl who have never had one but seem to have very strong opinions on doodles!

 

I love the shaggy bear like look, we are a family of me,my parter and have 2 kids jordan 4 1/2 and ella 8months, and i want to make sure they are good with kids, i know it has alot to do with how they are brought up ect aswell i guess im just after your honest opinions.

thanks

 

So what are the traits of you golden or labra temperment, shedding, ect?

[Julia allen]

We are a family of five and have a 3 year old standard multi-generational Labradoodle. Maci doesn't shed, but does require some extensive grooming. She has a curly poodly coat, but also a lab undercoat which causes some matting issues if we don't keep it under control. Maci is our first dog, and we got her from a breeder. She was housebroken in less than 7 days, and crate trained. She never cried at night in her kennel. We did do puppy classes for her and they were terrific, she was a fast learner. However she does have a sensitive stomach and has been known to steal food and then get quite sick. Maci is great with the kids who were 7, 5, and 3 when we got her at 9 weeks old. There has never been an issue. I am a stay at home mom, so now that the kids are in school full time, it is just me and her all day long. Needless to say she is very attached to me. She has a doggy friend next door and we go for a walk every day together. Maci is incredibly laid back and mellow. She lays around and sleeps all day long and all night. She does like to bark but we got a bark collar and all we have to do is hold it up in our hand and she comes running submissively. We have an electric fence and she is very respectful of it.

[itsmevonda]

I have a standard golden doodle named Riley Jack. As a puppy he was a little standoffish - I thought I had the worse puppy in the world. I would literally call him and he would turn around and lay down with his butt facing me. But as he has grown up ( 15 months) he has become my shadow - wanting to be with me or my room mate at all times. My neice who is 16 months lived with me for two weeks - and they were absolutely BFFs. She would wake up and call for "Wawa" (that is her name for dog) and he would follow her around all day picking up her food trail. They would stand and look out the door or windows....she would hug him and kiss him. If he had a toy ....he would want her to chase him. But some times she would put her hand in his mouth to get the ball out - and he would let her. My other neice who is 9 has visited to. And she chased him all around the yard and he loved it. She played with him and the water hose and he loved it. They are wonderful dogs.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

My kids are long grown now. But the best thing I ever did was to bring home a 3 - year old dog with my 10 month old baby.

Puppies are wonderful fun, but puppies and babies together are a real handful. My suggestion is to look hard for a grown doodle who has been with young children successfully and wait for the puppy until Ella is a little older, say 2 or 3. If you really look there are lots of grown dogs out there that live in loving families with children that have to be given up for a valid reason. The "shaggy bear" look is a lot of grooming, but is darling. I guess I am just saying that your heart my choose some other equally wonderful dog once you start looking.

Good luck

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Now I will answer your questions in a separate answer. I have two Australian Labradoodles (ALD), both large mediums - about 50 pounds. Both are non shedding. Only (ALD) dogs have an almost perfect chance of being non shedding and non allergenic. Generally the closer to non shedding the more grooming is required. The alternative to frequent (for my two it would be daily) grooming is to clip them to an inch or less every three to four months. I choose this route.

They both have excellent temperments. Nearly all children would do well with Tigger as he is calmer by nature. Some four year olds would do wonderfully with Roo also, but some would be seriously put off by his high energy level. A really good breeder can pick a mellow puppy for you. Breeders often have older dogs that they want to place with a good home
( another not so subtle plug for a older dog for your young children).

Other dogs that are tempermently suited to family life are Springer Spaniels, Goldens, (English) labs, labs, Siberian Huskies, pointers and many medium size mixes. This is just from my experience. There will be dogs in every purebred, including Rottweilers, who are fantastic with children. There are lovely mutts who make excellent pets. It is really more about the exact dog than the breed. Having said that, some breeds are more likely to produce child and family friendly dogs.

Again Good Luck

[Lorraine Bromley]

I searched for a breeder who met our standards and could offer a consistent coat that was low to non shedding. I wouldn't necessarilty believe any breeder that would say that theirs were non shed or hypoallergenic.
Ours looks like a great big teddy bear. He is an F1 doodle, dad a standard poodle apricot, mom a purebred golden retreiver (red)
He isn't two yet and we won't really know if he sheds until his puppy hair is all gone. As their hair changes until they have matured. Right now he sheds a little nothing like out lab shepardX Basically we have to comb it out of him. If we don't brush him his hair will mat down at the skin. We bath him fairly regularily, usually after he's been out playing and getting dirty. We have to clean his ears as well. Also we have to pluck his ears of excess hair as if we don't the dirt gets in there and is hard to keep clean and with good air flow so that he doesn't get any ear infections. We also trim his nails as needed. He is trained to come in and lay on the heated tile on his blanket after he's been out in the snow. I haven't had him shaved down at all just trim around his eyes and such. I have never had a pro do any of this and it isn't a big deal to us.He has brought the most joy into our lives since our kids were little. Full out laughter, love and pride. Very unique from other dogs that we had. Smart and goofy.

[ang]

Wow thanks for all the replies!
Ok where to start lol
im enjoying reading all you advice and experiances.

I got lucky and have the easiest baby alive, the total oppisite of my oldest haha but cant see your point once she starts moving around and getting in to things it could make it harder.
When ever we do end up getting a puppy, puppy school will be a must we certainly learnt that from our last dog lol

Our last dog was a massive Alaskan Malamute who we had from puppy, he was full on which sound a bit like what these dogs are mostly like, but we wouldnt change it for the world, he was a lovely, energetic thing who was always up to mischief haha we miss him alot,

W e had a bad experiance with smokey ( he was the best dog, and one arvo he got out for the first time, we got a call from the pound saying they had found him but we couldnt pick him up until the next morning! 7am that next morning the police knocked on our door and wanted to search our house and our yard as smokey had been stolen from the pound that night and they wanted to check it wasnt us (why they would think we would i dont know)
anyway he was missing for 3 whole months, we finally came to terms with the fact that he was gone, then we got a call to say they had found him, there had been complaints made of a dog being mistreated and when they raided the place he was there, he was so skinny and was just 'different',
long story short we had him for a couple of months after that and one day my bros and sis's were playing in my back yard, when my brother yelled and pointed at my sister to stop doing somthing and smokey just leaped and attacked my 12yr old brothers leg :((((
The vet said that especially with these dogs once they have a bad experiance any little thing can bring flash backs and trigger them to attack. so we had no choice but to put him down :-( as we had a 9 months old at the time we knew we couldnt risk anything happening again. was the hardest decision we have ever made!

sorry to ramble off topic, the point is after that my bf dsnt feel comfortable bringing a older dog into the house as you never are sure what they have been through, and while he realises even puppies can grow up and be violent atleast we know it would have grown up with our kids and everything about its life.

Has anyone had any experiance with being a gardian home for the breeding dogs?

I

[Michele Follger]

My Sunny is almost 3. She is super sweet. A bit of a nervous nelly - afraid of anything new, like a cardboard box on the floor. She is the furthest thing from aggressive that you could find. She is a little timid around kids and that manifests itself by barking at them (she has a fairly ferocious sounding bark) but as soon as they are introduced, she loves them as much as they love her.

She sheds a little, but also has the softest coat. Strangers who stop to pet her never want to stop.

Good Luck!

[Lynda Kamrath]

Hello. And welcome to DoodleKisses. I am so glad you are really thinking about how a doodle will fit into your family and what the problems could be. We are retired and both at home much of the time and our dogs are perfect for us. My husband has been gone much of the last two weeks on a bike trip and staying with a sick friend. We live in the country and I never have a bit of fear with my two big dogs.
Needless to say, I do have strong opinions on doodles. We had poodles for 30 years before we got started on doodles. We had a miniature for 17 years and a standard for 13 years. The standard had been raised by a shephard and was absolutely lost when she died. He cried until he lost his voice and was very depressed (having never spent a day alone in his life). We were all gone all day and he was home alone. I decided to get a puppy for him during the summer when I was home and ended up with a labradoodle on recommendation from my brother-in-law. Completely changed our poodle's life and he lived happily ever after. Three years later, when he was on his final days, I decided to get the labradoodle a puppy and got a F1b goldendoodle. He was here for about four months when the poodle passed away and the labradoodle did not seem to even notice. We feel that two dogs are definitely better than one and they are the very best of friends.
Getting back to your question, what is the work situation for you? Are you home with the children? Do you have an adequate outdoor area for the dog to explore safely and eliminate away from the children's area? And time? Do you have the time for another dependent? Doodles are very active and require a lot of exercise. That is a plus for us because it gets us out to walk them (beach is our favorite escape) and get our necessary exercise also.
Personality wise - our doodles are fantastic. They are very large (about 100 pounds each) but have never been aggressive. We take them to dog parks and they love other dogs (all sizes) and get along with everyone. Maybe a little too friendly, but they also let us know if anyone is around.
As I said before, think long and hard before you jump into getting another dependent. But, doodles are the best.

[Carol and Banjo]

Six month old Banjo has had limited exposure to children....mostly short "meetings" when we're out and about. He's always been very good. We just had the pleasure of our 2 grandsons visiting for several days. They are 3 and 5 and typical high energy little boys. Banjo was wonderful with both of them. Never once showing any aggression. The only thing he did now and then was jump on them while out playing and running in the yard. But even this he seemed to do with care. We're working on the jumping thing. But overall he was just great with the kids.

[ang]

Thanks for your replys :-)

lol yeah i usually research everything before i get it, especially somthing as important as a new member to our family hehe

Lynda, im at home most of the time with my kids, although i do work tues and thurs 9-3.
we have a big backyard and have a undercover patio the length of the house off the side.
as well as high fences, not sure if jumping fences is an issue with these dogs but it sure was with our alaskan malamute. lol
I think i have a fair bit of extra time im home most of the time and like i said ella is an angel atm ( iknow that can change tho lol).

I researched so much, before deciding i want one of these dogs, but left the price till last. think i didnt care as i wanted one so bad :-) but after finding good breeders found out that it would be around $1800. I told my fiance and was met with a now way lol he just cant justify spending that much on a dog when we could get another dog alot cheaper.
i know we could get one on the tons of puppie classified sites but i dont want to support bad breeders and would be worried about what traits the dogs would have ect.
It makes me sad that ppl backyard breed them because you dont want anyone to support them, but then what happens to the pups? they deserve a home too. sorry bit off track there just makes me sad.
So as it stands i dont know what we will do, my fiance is saying to pick another dog i like but after more research nothing is coming close to doodles, so im stuck lol
Thanks again for your replies it means alot and was lovelie to hear about your little ones :)

[Christine & Shelby]

Hi.... and welcome to DK!

I have an 8 month old Australian Labradoodle! She is my first dog.... (I am actually allergic). I heard the labradoodles were allergy friendly (as are some other breeds), however the temperment of the Labradoodle is what made my choice so easy.

About Shelby (my ALD). She is SMART - really smart... has been a star in both her training classes thus far, she is loving, quirky, great with other dogs, people and children. She is eager to please... and has a LOT of energy. Shelby does not shed and is currently about 33 pounds.... She is a Medium!

I have been lucky not to encounter much negativity.... more curiosity! I wouldn't worry about what others think! If you want a doodle (Golden or Lab), get the dog YOU want from a responsible breeder or rescue organization. You skeptical friends will likely come around when they see/meet this amazing dog!!!

[Mimi V]

I have two F! Standard Goldendoodles. They are the best dogs I have ever had! They are gentle, smart, sweet and full of personality. Both of my doodles are very laid back and didn't (don't) get into much trouble even as pups. (One of my doodles is 3 and the other is still a puppy at 5 months old) I am so happy with my doodles. They have the most gentle and loving temperaments. It seems that everyone who meets them just thinks they are the greatest. I adore them.