Exercise requirement for a doodle

[YC]

Hi All,

This is my first time to post though I have been reading a lot of the posts here. You are all so awesome.

My family is thinking of getting a ALD puppy next year. We used to have a beagle. We love her so much but we lost her from the cancer. 

We want to know how much exercises does doodle need, excluding puppy stage. We can do a 30-45 minutes daily walk. We will have a doggy door so he/she can go to backyard (fenced). During the weekends, we does a lot of outdoor activities but during weekdays, the dog will be home 7 hours at home by himself/herself.  How much exercises do doodle need? We would like to have a mellow dog that is calm inside the house, exclude puppy stages.

Do you think doodle will be the right breed for our family? I have two teenage boys. I read that the miniature doodle tends to be more energetic, is that true? We would like to have a medium size dog as it will be easier to carry the dog when they gets old or sick.

Thank you,

YC

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Doodles tend to be higher energy than many dog breeds. I don't think minis or mediums are more high energy than standards. 

I suggest that you research at the energy levels of the parent breeds - labs, poodles, goldens and see if any of them would be right for your family.  If so, then a doodle will be; if not, they probably won't.  We had English Springer Spaniels before doodles, so our idea of energy levels is very different from yours (coming from a beagle).   Individual dog's exercise needs are just that - individual. Our last Springer NEVER settled down to a mature energy level and I have met many doodles who are the same way.

As you already realize, puppies have lots of energy and need lots of interaction, playing, exercise, socialization. I think you might be hard-pressed to meet those needs during the week days, so it would be a pretty serious commitment  by the whole family.  Someone coming home at lunch, perhaps dog walkers, doggy day care.

I hope this helps.

[Nancy & Echo]

I don't think you can accurately pre-determine the activity level of every ALD.   I have a mini-ALD, now 15 months old, and she weighs about 17 pounds.  I asked for a mellow dog, and Echo is definitely not mellow.  Echo is very aware of everything inside and outside my house, and she does have barking issues. Echo is very devoted to me, and ?maybe she is trying to protect me?  (I have a doggy door and fenced back yard too.)  She's very affectionate.

I read one comment by someone who helps take care of puppies for a breeder, and she said that 'everyone wants a mellow dog'.  I did post before I got Echo and asked if there are mellow mini-ALDs, and one person said they do have a mellow mini-ALD.  But you can never be sure, just as you can never be sure what energy level/personality your child might have.

I'm sure more exercise would be good for both Echo and me. Her energy level encourages me to get more very needed exercise.   I certainly wouldn't want a bigger dog so I can transport her more easily.  But in spite of everything, I certainly love Echo even if she isn't what I thought I wanted.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

My mini ALD is mellow - Ned had typical puppy playing and nipping but not that much and he continues to be a mellow guy.  He alert barks - calls his posse to arms, but he doesn't just bark.  His heritage probably doesn't include a toy poodle and perhaps not even a miniature.  He was never an only dog so I also assume he got some of his energy out playing with the other dogs.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I can only tell you what my experience has been with my own standard Labradoodle. A 45 minute walk would not have cut it for him. He is now 12 years old and has mobility problems, but when he was younger and healthier, he needed at least two good long walks per day and some hard, full-out off-leash running time several times a week if not every day. With that level of exercise, he has been a very calm, mellow dog. The only difference that size might have made is that if he were smaller, he could have run full-out in my small fenced backyard instead of my having to take him to a park so he had room to run. 

Puppies are not "mellow" unless they are sick, lol. 

I also would not leave a young puppy alone for 7 hours 5 days a week. I think you will need to get a dog walker. It's also dangerous to allow a young puppy to go outside alone without supervision when nobody is home, fenced yard or not, and it will greatly impede your housebreaking progress. . 

[YC]

Thank you everyone for the replies.

Our plan is for the first 6 months, my husband and I will take turn working from home. After 6 months, we plan to do combinations of coming home during lunch hours and doggie day care. We did this arrangement with our beagle till she was two years old. Then she mellowed down quite a bit after 2 years old that she could be home by herself for 7 hours with access to the backyard and she got to free roam inside of our house.

Does adult doodle require a lot of exercises each day? We do have a gated pool at our house, we could definitely let the doodle swims in the pool under our supervision but I read it on the internet that doodles coat have to blow dry and brush immediately after getting wet. And since we are talking about coat, how frequent does ALD require professional grooming?

Thank you again,

YC

[Amy and Annabelle]

Annabelle is an F1B so she is 75% poodle and has a curly coat. She loves to lay around in her little kiddie pool all summer with some running and playtime in-between. I have a professional dog hair dryer that I use to dry her hair with. She has not had a mat since I bought that thing last summer. I also brush her a lot. She is professionally groomed every 2 months. I do trim around her eyes so she can see if needed. In the summer I bathe her just about nightly with a mild puppy shampoo since she sleeps in my bed with me. We live on 3 acres with about 1 acre fenced in for her to run around in. So she is one dirty, tired dood at the end of a summer day. She only gets her hair dried with the dryer at the end of the day after her bath and that does fine with her curly hair. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The info we've given you about the exercise requirements does apply to adult doodles. :) They are not going to require less exercise after 2 years old like your beagle did. Beagles are hounds; doodles' parent breeds all come from the Sporting Group, and sporting dogs have the highest exercise requirements of any of the breed groups. 

Most ALDs require professional grooming every 6-8 weeks, but you also need to spend a few hours a week combing and brushing them, and this must be done or the coat will mat. The downside to a dog with a non-to-low shedding coat is that you have a LOT of maintenance.

[Stacy]

My experience with their activity level: Low compared to a german shorthair pointer. High compared to a papillon. I wouldn't have made it through the puppy stage without doggy daycare, and I only work 3 days a week. I feel like I'm getting all the exercise when I take them for a walk. I can't walk fast enough to truly exercise them. Mine need to romp off leash and run hard. It would work better for me to wear them out playing ball (but mine aren't super ball motivated. They'll chase it, but then they kind of lose interest.) My favorite activity with the dogs is the off leash dog park. I know some people don't like dog parks, but I adore ours. I do about 5 miles on the trails and the dogs probably do double that. They play in the lake. They play in the mud puddles. Then we all go home and take a nap. And they're usually mellow the day after the park too. 

I've heard it said, and I believe it's true that in addition to physical activity if you stimulate their brains with training that wears them out as well. All that learning is hard work. 

The thing some people don't like about my life is that I work 12 hour shifts. So when I'm gone I'm gone for a long time. But I think I make up for it with quality time the rest of the week. I think that's ultimately what you have to ask yourself. Do you have time to make the dog a part of your family, or do you just expect them to be there when you have time for them. I don't think doodles are good at not being the center of the universe. But they are really really awesome dogs.

[Amy and Annabelle]

I have a mini in the 16lb range. She was very high energy her first year, there was no wearing her out. She doesn't like the heat, so when it gets hot, she is not that active and just lays in her kiddie pool all summer. Her preferred weather for going for walks and running around 60 degrees or less. She has hiking boots to protect her feet from the hot pavement, and we take water and stop for breaks, but she hates the heat. Maybe it is a retriever thing, because our golden retriever was the same way, he hated the heat. f My husband and I are retired and I would say she has adapted herself to our lifestyle. She is happy vegging out on the couch in the evening to watch tv with us. She will go for a 5 mile walk as long as it is cool. But then she is a couch potato the rest of the day. But then so am I. She is 2 1/2 years old and has mellowed out a lot since her first year. 

I have never left her alone outside, even when I am home. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I have two ALDs...one Standard and one Mini.  My standard, Murphy, gets two long walks every day (45 mins to one hour).  He is seven years old now, but when he was younger he also really needed to run off leash to really burn energy...we played lots of fetch.  My 8 year old mini, does not require quite as much exercise and seems to get tired faster.  In the case of my two Doodles, the mini does not have a higher energy level.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

YC, the members of this website put together a wonderful discussion just for new members like yourself who are considering getting a doodle. It addresses the questions you've already asked about exercise and grooming, and much more. Please read it: 

Considering a Doodle?

[YC]

Thank you Karen for the link. All the discussions really get me rethinking about getting a doodle.

YC