Differences between Labradoodles and Goldendoodles

[Julia]

I am not trying to start a riot here, but as some of you know, I am researching dogs for my young family and have been thinking about a medium sized ALD. I also want an adult, which isn't easy to find, so I thought it would be good to find out a little more about Goldendoodles. I would love to hear from the experts about the similarities and differences about the two breeds and possibly why each person chose the one they did.

[BG and Gavin]

Gavin is an F1 GD.  He needs to be brushed and gets a few mats when his hair is long, but it is easy to maintain when shorter.  He is a light shedder.  From what I have read here, he is on the easier end of the scale grooming-wise. 

 I absolutely love his personality.  He can be energetic and fun and he loves to play, but he is also very calm and adapts well to different situations and people.  I also trust him 100 percent in any situation.  I trust that he would never hurt another animal (even a mouse that he found in the lawn and nudged along with his nose) or a person or destroy anything if left alone anywhere.  He is extremely confident but submissive which is an excellent combination. 

I chose a GD because I love the personality of a golden, but wanted an allergy friendly dog (I have since found out it can be a crap shoot).  Energy levels and degree of submissiveness will vary dog to dog of course.  The one common thing I have seen in all of the golden doodles that I have met personally is that they have all been very social (people) dogs and relatively smart.  I have not had any personal experience with labradoodles.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

My Goldendoodle f1b is impossible to brush and I no longer brush him. I work with a longer coat in different ways. In the Spring, I shave it off.   It is much too hot.  Combining the thick coat of a Golden Retriever, with the wooley coat of a Poodle=a challenge.  

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

Sedona is a medium, multi-generational Labradoodle - now 2 1/2 years old.  She is my first EVER dog and my husband's first dog as an adult.  For most of our marriage, our lifestyle was not conducive to owning a dog - very long days away from home.  Once my husband retired, it was time for a companion.  Because of mild allergies, he needed a "lower allergy" dog.  We settled on a doodle because some of the other hypoallergenic dogs we saw on the internet looked like, in the words of my daughter, "a science experiment gone wrong".  We really didn't do much research other than that, so I guess we really lucked out!!  We found a breeder within driving distance - and once again lucked out as she is a quality breeder.  Why Labradoodle instead of Goldendoodle?  The breeder had a litter of medium Labradoodles "ready" when we were ready.  On our puppy visit, baby #2 slept off in the corner while I played with the other puppies and tried to put together my "priority list".  Just before our visit ended, #2 woke up and made it clear that I had wasted my time with the others and that she should be my top choice.  Four weeks later, we brought her home and the rest is history!!!  

As far as grooming goes, as a baby Sedona was quite a mat monster.  We keep her coat short and we really like the look on her, plus it really cuts down on the daily maintenance.

Good luck in your search...

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

 

Julia -

As you are looking for an adult I think your choices are retired breeding dogs, rescues and rehomes.  In any of these situations you should be able to get to "know" the dog before you bring it home.  As these are all mixed breed animals it is very difficult to generalize. 

We have 3 F1b GD's - two are from the same parents, Boomer and Mariner.  I hesitate to compare the two brothers personalities as Mariner has medical issue from an accident that influenced his personality.  Boomer is about 27" and Mariner is about 20", although they are the same color their coats are very different.

Our third was supposed to be a "mini" - her fater was a 16# poodle and her mother a 40# F1 GD, she is about 45#.  Again her coat is different from her brothers.

 

They each have their own personality.

 

Again if you are adopting an adult you will have the advantage of knowing alot about them before you adopt. 

 

 

[Lorraine Bromley]

I started looking for ALD, the price was a concern. Found Labradoodles loved them. Then found Golden doodles. I was going to get an F1B so the shedding would be minimal. Found breeders within driving distance. Researched over two years, visited several breeders and knocked them off he list one by one. Went to Neely's breeder and fell in love with him. I was wanting to wait another year as we had a lab shepard x that was elderly and thought that she could go another year alone before introducing a new puppy. My husband who didn't really want another dog, made the decision that day to pick Neely. We had no intention of buying one that day just to evaluate the breeder, but we got Neely and had the bare minimum in supplies but dealt with getting everything he needed after he got here. We showed up at home with a puppy and the kids were ecstatic! Big boys late teens! The middle guy says why did you get a foo foo dog, he wanted a non curly coated dog. The first picture of him looking at Neely and Neely looking back at him, is so cute as you can see them both sizing each other up! The boy with the bruin shirt with Neely is the boy who didn't like the idea of doodle! Ya right.  

I had criteria of genetic testing, was lead also by the associations they belonged to or were recommended on. The parentage proof as well. Then the kennel or home had to meet my standards of care and cleanliness and behavior of the owner and their dogs.

The litters we saw were a variety of labra, golden, australian shepard/poodle, and different F1'S AND f1b's. The breeder was of help directing us to the type of coat we wanted based on her past experience with litters. She was right on by the way. So we went with the golden F1 on her recommendation the coat would be fleece, low shedding or no shedding. I like the look of the golden as the head shape was different for the most part. The goldens had blockier heads with shorter wider muzzles. Looking less poodlie than the labradoodles. The body was shorter legs and wider body so less lanky than the labras as well.

The price was alot lower for the golden doodle than the ALD and that was also a big consideration when this was hard enough to swallow when we had never paid for a dog in our lives other than pound fees. We came from farmers who always had dogs non pure bred and all free!

I also wanted a larger dog as I have a disorder that has me in pain all the time and I didn't want to bend down to snuggle!

I also went with the information that has golden retrievers listed with poodles as two of the smartest dogs above labs.

The smarter the dog the more potential, good or bad. They are so smart but are also smart enough to train you!! So training is a must and consistency with it is a must.

Neely has always been very playful, I used to say the only bad thing about him was that he LOVES everything and everyone. He had no fear of anything. Yet he is also so laid back when you want him to be. He was raised by our old shepard and I THINK she trained him to be an old dog with puppy traits!

Neely should be brushed every week as he does matt a bit but usually in the same areas where friction occurs naturally. He has beautiful soft fleece curls and looks like a big teddy bear. I love him long and natural. I do all his grooming. We shower him when he needs it usually after a dog park mud fest or dirt not just to keep him looking fluffy. I don't brush him as often as I should but about every three weeks generally. I have a comb and a pin brush and a matt buster blade. I do have an electric trimmer to take his coat uniform but had to trim him before Christmas as we had four other dogs in the house and they matt him up when the play fight and with the extra work with having several Christmas's it just made sense. Everyone really likes him shorter, Not shaved just about three to four inches long. It is really easy at this length and barely needs brushed. I did buy a doggie blow dryer this summer for the cottage and his swimming, which he loves and would do all day if he could. It is great to blow off dust and grime too. He doesn't shed but when the other dogs are around they pull out his fur and it is all over the place, including in the other dogs mouth! We call it doodle floss. We do have to pluck his ears and clean them regularly too. They all need that though.

The personality comes from genes but more so in my opinion in the socialization and training. Neely went everywhere that first year and was exposed to everything we could think of. You get into alot more places with a puppy than a big dog so we were able to put him into situations other dogs wouldn't have got. If you get an older dog the personality will be apparent right off the bat, so no worries there.

Good luck and I am so happy that you are doing this homework first. I maybe would have chosen or did things a bit different if I had of been on DK at that time. But Neely is PERFECT so I did something right! LOL!

I hope some breeders chime in about the standards expected between the two instead of just what I thought which may not be true everywhere.

Lorraine

[Julia]

Lorraine,

You give such thorough answers! Thank you. I always come away with a very clear picture when I read your posts.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

I have ALD and I have an F1 Goldendoodle,  to me an ALD and a Labradoodle are two entirely different dogs - so I can't add anything in regards to a Labradoodle.  My ALD was meant to be a mini but the little guy is a tiny bit longer in the leg than the breeder predicted and he squeeks into the medium size if you want to be technical about it.  Rooney is a parti colored, 1.5 yr, male, non-shedder, 21.5 lbs - who is the smartest animal I have ever known.  He came to us at 11.5 wks with training from the breeder.  He could loose leash walk, crate trained, mostly potty trained, etc.  He came to us with an old soul - very calm.  He does have some weird habits such as being fearful outside after dark, he is child like in his desire to be with his people.  He hair is a very soft fleece with spiral curls.  He matts when the hair gets too long and we get him groomed and trimmed once a month.   Stuart is 66 lbs, 10 months F1 Goldendoodle that we got from a rescue.  He does shed but nothing like our past dogs (Labs).  He is a big, goofy acting fellow who doesn't realize his size and wants to be in our lap.  He loves to swim and bark - which we are working on.  He is very gentle and goes with the flow - he is active but not overly so.  We walk both dogs 3 miles in the a.m. and then they run wild in the dog park every evening for at least an hour.  Stuart's hair is coarse and wild curly, he has never had a hair cut other than being trimmed in the feet, sanitary and we keep the muzzle puppy trimmed to cut down and water bowl drip.  The boys are different as night and day but they get along wonderful.  I couldn't choose one over the other but if you are looking for a medium or smaller dog, if shedding is an issue - then I would go with an ALD.

[Julia]

 I am curious why you would say the ALD and Labradoodle are entirely different dogs. Could you also tell me if you have to get Rooney groomed that often, or if that is a choice. I don't think we can afford a monthly trip to the groomers.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Many of us do our own grooming.

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

An ALD (Australian Labradoodle Dog or their new name Cobba Dog) is a mix of many breeds not just Poodle and Lab.  There has been much discussion about them on this and other fourms.

 

This is a link for more information on ALDs.

http://www.australianlabradoodleclub.us/about/about.htm

[Julia]

Sorry, I should have phrased my question better. I know the technical differences between an ALD and a regular Labradoodle, I thought perhaps Jane was referring to some significant difference between their temperments, or grooming needs or something.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Julia - Rooney (ALD) does need to be groomed once a month as his hair just keeps growing, much like ours.  I could stretch it to say 6 wks but by then he'd having trouble seeing - lol.  Lots of people do their own grooming so that might be an option.  To clarify the ALD versus the Labradoodle comment - and this is only my opinion - they aren't the same type of dog at all.  I think a Labradoodle and a Goldendoodle are more similar than the ALD and Labradoodle.  IMHO - because they are multi-generational (Rooney is 7th generation ALD to ALD), they breed very true to type (when using a reputable breeder).  One isn't better than the other it is personal preferance.