How is the temperament of a labadoddle?

Answer 1

It is variable. So is the size the dog will grow to - it can be anywhere from toy poodle size to larger than a normal labrador. I've seen a labradoodle with the bulk of a labrador and the height of a standard poodle - it was a huge dog! I've also seen them much smaller than that. So is the kind of coat the puppy will have - it might be curly and grow long, like a poodle, or short like a labrador. It might be any colour, and it might fall out a lot (like a labrador) or need clipping regularly (like a poodle).

Crosses like labradoodles, schnoodles, etc, are never as predictable in temperament or looks as their purebred parents, because they are crosses and not pure bred, and you can't tell whether they will come out like their mother or their father in any particular characteristic.

This doesn't mean they make bad pets, but it does mean that you don't really know what you are getting.

If you want to get a labradoodle, I would be sure to find out exactly what size the mother and father were, especially whichever of them was the poodle. Poodles come in so many different sizes that you really need to know which was crossed with the labrador to get an idea of the size a puppy will grow too.

To find out the temperament of any dog, go meet its mother. If she bites you, don't buy one of those puppies. Puppies spend their first few weeks with their mum and they learn doggy social skills from her between about weeks 4 to 8. So if she has a bad temperament, so will her puppies.

Never buy a puppy from a pet shop, even if you live in a country where this is possible. Regardless of what they tell you, they won't have met the people who bred the dogs, and they won't have met the parents of their puppies, and in the worst case, you will be sold a pup from a puppy mill, especially since you are interested in a fashionable mixture like a labradoodle. In any case, pet shop puppies are taken from their parents at far too young an age, shipped all over the country and kept in entirely unsuitable conditions for weeks when they are sold. They miss out on crucial socialisation at the correct periods of time for the puppy's mental and social development, and many develop behavioral problems as a result.

Make sure that you research the common congenital defects in both labradors and poodles (hip displaysia would be one of those, I don't know what else), and make sure that you get the correct certification to prove that your dog's ancestors are free from those problems. This could save you many thousands of dollars in vet bills in the future, so is well worth doing. Labradoodles will potentially have the problem both of poodles and of labradors, and especially anything that is common to both breeds.