Labradoodle temperament and personality
Labradoodles are a cross of 2 breeds; the Labrador Retriever and Poodle.
Both of these breeds are known for their loving, fun, people pleasing personalities.
There’s a reason they’re not guard dogs… neither breed has any aggression or “nasty” in them. They are convinced everyone loves them. They are more apt to greet you joyfully than try to keep you out. They crave and enjoy interaction with everyone, seeming never to get tired of human companionship. While most are too large to sit in your lap comfortably, that would be their favorite place should you let them.
Labradoodles are like a cheerful toddler that never outgrows that joy and willingness to be with you.
They celebrate and rejoice each time you walk into the room. They make wonderful companions for people of all ages. The poodle in them is gentle enough to lay with a baby. The lab in them is energetic enough to keep pace with an adolescent on a bicycle. The mix is funny to watch, wonderful to know, and brings smiles to the faces of the old and disabled in hospital or nursing homes. They are eager to please, and highly intelligent; so many become service dogs.
Anyone who places a high value on canine companionship will be thrilled by a Labradoodle. They are unique characters and loyal friends to all.
My labradoodle is all of the above. But!!! she is very destructive she chews every thing in sight. especially she likes
to chew plastic, dig holes, prefer being outdoors, busy, busy,.Has
anyone experenced these behaviors in their pet. I am at my wits
end. She is one year old
Celeste, how much exercise does your dog get? That can make a huge difference in their behavior. One thing that might make a big difference is if you teach her to play fetch and just wear her out good whenever you have the chance. Obedience training to keep her mind busy too can help. A bored dog with this kind of intelligence wil often find ways to entertain themselves that we would rather thay not start.
The lab part of these dogs can be a very active, driven breed and it does show up far more in some than others. It sounds like yours is one of them. The more poodle type personalities are quite a bit more relaxed and while they enjoy a good workout, they’re not as needy of it.
A lot of it really comes down to the parents and what was passed on. It’s for this reason that I chose much more laid back dogs to breed. I’m in my 50s and there’s no way I could keep up with a hyper dog. Even my purebred lab dam is not hyper… if she had been I’d have never bred her. I know my limitations and was very selective when finding breeding dogs.
I assumed if I preferred calmer dogs, there were others who would as well. So that was one of my top criteria.
There’s a labradoodle site that you might enjoy and has experienced breeders and owners who would be glad to give you ideas with your dogs behavior problems. You can find them at www.labradoodle-dogs.net I post there as Tink, so look me up! Not having hyper dogs myself, I’m not the best one to advise you.
Good luck!
We have 2 Labradoodles. Rags(female) 13 months old. Real passive but barks when someone comes to the house, sees a cat or anything out the window or door. Murphy(male) is 6 months old. He is very active digging holes eating the baseboards of the house. We settled this by buying calf hooves. They smell when wet but the dogs love them and nothing has been chewed since purchased. My biggest problem is Rags is a medium sized Doodle but she is curly haired and black in color. Mom was chocolate lab, dad black poodle. She shedded and her hair on top of her head hasn’t grew back. Any ideas on vitamins or tests to see what her problem may be. She is also very slender. Murphy is large and a joy. No problems yet. Any comments or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Carol,
My guess would be that Rags is blowing out her puppy coat to grow her adult one. This is a poodle trait, and usually happens between 10 and 14 months of age, so she’s the perfect age for it. It can take time for the hair to grow back, and it may be quite different than what she had as a pup. She may stop shedding, or she may shed more… depending on what coat she ends up with.
As for her build, she likely took more after the poodle side than Lab side. Did you get to see her parents before buying her? She could even be out of a slender Lab female which would make that even more extreme.
Some use standard poodles in the Labradoodle cross, while others use miniature poodles… this could very easily account for the difference in size of your 2. Often when comparing Labradoodles, it’s almost like comparing apples and oranges. There are different generations, different size poodles, and even a rather big difference in some labs from another. Without having seen the parents I’d impossible for me to say what’s gone on with yours. With my own dogs I could tell you… Perhaps you should contact your breeder and ask a few more questions. I always welcome calls from my buyers, regardless how old the dog is, so hopefully they will too.
Good luck!
Tink