Group: Hunting Dogs

Weight: 25 - 90 lbs

Height: 13 - 22 inches

Life expectancy: 12-15years

Size of litters: 4-15 puppies



History

The Labradoodle was first bred in 1989 by Wally Conron in Australia; he crossed a standard poodle with a Labrador retriever. The aim was to create a guide dog with a low shedding coat so people with allergies wouldn't suffer. Labradoodle's are still used as guide dogs today, as well as therapy and assistance dogs. The Labradoodle is still a developing breed and the puppies don't yet have constant characteristics.

Characteristics

The Labradoodle doesn't have a breed standard, yet it's preferred to have a curly woolly like coat. Their coats come in a range of colours: White, cream, chocolate, black, silver, cream, gold, apricot, red, chalk and blue. The coat length is medium to long and has little to no shedding.

Temperament

This breed is intelligent and very trainable. They make great companions as they're confident and friendly and never aggressive. They're often used as therapy, assistant, guide and hearing dogs. The Labradoodle loves to be around their families and are very loyal to them. If they're socialised when young with children they'll be fine around them also. They're very active and natural swimmers but can be very gentle, mellow and almost lazy.

Care

Their coat should be clipped once a year and needs regular brushing to stop tangling. Regular trimming around the eyes and feet is also needed. Their nails need to be checked and clipped when necessary. Health issue that can become a problem for this breed are ear infections, hip and elbow dysplasia and progressive retinal atrophy. As they're an active breed regular exercise is a must and a medium sized garden/yard is needed. About two hours of daily exercise is enough and they should have a long daily walk in that time.

Training

As the Labradoodle is an intelligent breed, training them is not a big problem. Positive and consistent training works best. They can try to outsmart their owners if not shown who's boss when they're younger. Try to change the training scheme now and again to keep them interested in what they're learning. This breed does very well at sports and agility.