If you are an owner of a labradoodle puppy, you know that, like most puppies, they are little balls of energy. All dogs need daily exercise to stay fit and healthy. Regular exercise is also a great way to get all of your puppy’s wiggles out and keep them from getting into trouble. There are a variety of benefits to exercising your Australian labradoodle puppy, including:
Keeps your labradoodle looking healthy and happy
Enhance the dog’s circulatory and respiratory systems
Better deliver oxygen to create brand new healthy cells
Keeps your labradoodle’s joints flexible
Improves their digestive system
Labradoodle owners come from many different backgrounds and their dogs are raised in a variety of environments. Some owners may have acres of open space, while others live in close quarters in city apartments. No matter the environment, it is healthy for your dog to receive their daily dose of cardio. This will keep your labradoodle in good spirits and disease-free.
Do all dogs need the same amount of exercise?
The amount of physical activity a dog requires varies depending on its size, breed, energy level, and the environment in which it lives. Texas Australian Labradoodles recommends the average Labradoodle puppy should be taken out for a minimum of two quality walks every day. It is important to remember however to stay alert to your puppy’s cues. To minimize the development of unhealthy joints, it is best to keep exercise periods short and allow adequate rest periods between the exercise. Let your puppy decide when he is ready to resume the play. If you are an individual that cannot make this kind of commitment it may be a wise idea to postpone adopting a dog until you’re able to do so.
Implement a Daily Routine
When setting up a daily routine, puppy owners must remember that young puppies require a lot of sleep, sometimes even up to 23-hours a day. They need sleep to grow. It is not uncommon to have the puppy be playful for a few minutes and then be ready for a nap. Be observant and get to know your puppy as overstimulated puppies may exhibit disinterest in food and other troubling symptoms. As your puppy grows, the time spent napping will start to decrease and you can start adding incremental periods of time filled with play and interactive games. It is far easier to accomplish tasks and form productive habits if it is instilled in our routine.
Swimming is another fun way for your labradoodle puppy to burn off energy. If you do choose to take your dog to a pool or to the lake, keep in mind that labradoodle puppies are prone to ear infections and care must be taken to thoroughly dry your puppy’s ears following any water-based activities. Remember, that swimming is far more strenuous than walking and should be done for a shorter period of time.
Not only does physical exercise help your Labradoodle stay physically fit, but it also is beneficial for them mentally. A puppy that is bored and continually locked inside can become restless and exhibit attention-seeking tendencies. For more information about how to raise a healthy and happy Australian Labradoodle, visit our Texas Australian Labradoodles blog.
One of the most fascinating things about Labradoodle puppies is that there’s no guarantee the color of their coat will remain the same from the early years into adulthood. Due to their genetic makeup, their coat color may change once the adult coat comes up. The most common Labradoodle coat shades are chocolate, caramel, red, cream, and parti. But with the wide range of coat shade variations, there’s a Labradoodle coat for every future dog owner.
Coat Shades of the Labradoodle
Chocolate: Born in a black shade, these Labradoodles turn a chocolate brown color when they grow up. The nose pigment is a rose shade with amber or brown eyes. Sometimes, the color of their skin may also be blue.
Cafe: Born a chocolate brown color, these Labradoodle coats lightens over time. Nose pigment is a rose or chocolate color with a tint of hazel. The eyes are generally a brown shade.
Parchment: Born a milky chocolate color and turning a smoky cream color when grown up. The nose pigment color is roseor brown.
Caramel: Slightly darker than a cream Labradoodle, close to the color of caramel candy. These pups have rose colored nose pigment with a hint of honey along with hazel or amber eyes.
Apricot: Born with a lighter color coat, similar to the caramel colored Labradoodle, that darkens over time. Their nose pigment color is typically black.
Apricot Cream: With apricot colored ears, these Labradoodles have a lightly shaded coat. The color is usually warm cream with black nose pigment.
Red: The rarest color of Labradoodle coat shades, these pups have a black nose pigment. They are also the hardest to breed.
Cream: When born, these Labradoodles are slightly darker. Later they turn to a warm cream color. The nose pigment is black or rose colored.
Raven Black: Born in a black coat, these Labradoodles have black nose pigment with shiny eyes. Sometimes their coat color can turn more of a silvery color over time.
Light Blue: These Labradoodles are like black. When these pups mature, their fur color lightens and turns to a light blue or grey color.
Parti Color: Often known as Parti Labradoodles, these pups have large swatches of white color. Red, black, or chocolate spots on a white coat are the most common.
Phantom: These pups have secondary color markings near their eyes, chest, and chin. The Phantom Labradoodle has a combination of two colors, ideally black with a gold phantom.
For more information about how to care for Australian Labradoodle puppies’ coats, visit the Texas Australian LabradoodleLearning Center or contact us for questions and additional information.
In the 1080’s, Wally Conron created the Labradoodle as allergy and asthma friendly breed with service dog temperament. Since its creation, the Labradoodle breed has gained in the popularity and has become admired for its intelligence, affection, excellent temperament as well as their non-shedding and hypoallergenic qualities. However, Washington Post reported Mr. Conron stating that despite his best intentions, inadvertently his Labradoodle turned into a “Frankenstein’s monster”.
As owners and breeders of multigenerational Australian Labradoodles, we wondered why the creator of such incredible breed would ever call them “monsters.” According to Conron, he felt that the breed was exploited by breeders that not only started crossing the labradoodle with other breeds but did so without any regard for the dogs’ or puppies’ health. We understand Mr. Conron sentiment and feel that backyard breeders frequently undermine the integrity of any breed through unregulated and unethical breeding practices.
In their quest to make easy money fast, backyard breeders didn’t properly test the health of their dogs and resorted to inbreeding or using easily accessible dogs. These factors had detrimental effects on the health and disposition of the resulting puppies that ultimately ended up unwanted, abused or abandoned. We feel that breeders that disregard years of research, science, and genetic testing are responsible for creating the “Frankenstein’s monsters” that Conron was referring to.
Disparity between backyard Labradoodles and multigenerational Australian Labradoodles
Backyard breeders do not spend the time or resources to test their breeding stock, which result in low quality puppies. They may try cutting cost by overbreeding the same mother dog and providing low quality food to lack of vaccinations/vet checkups for the mother dog and the puppies.
Though unethical and unscrupulous breeding, promises of well-behaved, non-shedding and hypoallergenic first-generation Labradoodles went unfulfilled. Families end up feeling betrayed and frustrated as their expectations of healthy and well-behaved four-legged friend dissipated by costly vet bills and behavioral problems.
The Australian Labradoodle community agrees that health testing of parent dogs is crucial to produce healthy puppies. Reputable breeders employ research, genetic testing and proper breeding practices to eliminate undesirable traits, such as coat shedding or temperament issues and diligently works to improve the Labradoodle breed standard. In addition to investing in healthy parent dogs, reputable Australian Labradoodle Breeders also invest significant amount of time and effort to properly raise and train their puppies. Endless time is spent on researching benchmarks for best practices in potty training, impulse control, bite inhibition, and other basic training. They take the time to develop each puppy and employ temperament testing to ensure that the placed puppy meets the family’s expectations and is agreeable with the family’s lifestyle.
Australian Labradoodles Clubs work to improve the breed standard
Reputable Australian Labradoodle breeders don’t acquire adult dogs ready for breeding but instead they work with their dogs since they were pups. Most will invest many years of health testing and training to produce a perfect parent dog. Most will also become members of Australian Labradoodle Clubs, such as WALA or ALCA, as these Clubs are committed to protect the Labradoodle breed through rigorous health and DNA testing requirements. Breeders are unable to register their dogs that have flawed health scores. In addition to setting forth health testing requirements, WALA and ALCA provide a formal Pedigree document for all registered dogs after carefully scrutinizing provided information for accuracy. You can rest assured that you will never receive a homemade pedigree from a reputable breeder!
Reputable Australian Labradoodle breeders vs backyard breeders
Reputable multigenerational Australian Breeders have invested years in learning how to improve the Australian Labradoodle breed and have spent thousands of dollars on proper nutrition, supplementation, and health and genetic testing. For reputable breeders, litters don’t just happen. Successful litter of healthy puppies start with scrutinizing pedigrees and analyzing generations of health and DNA testing for each of the potential parent dog. This ensures that the resulting puppies have the best possible start in life and the families have the best possible chance of adopting healthy pets. Families can rest assured that breeders accredited with WALA and ALCA use adult dogs that have passed all of the required health and generic testing to assure the puppies’ health and longevity.
Are Australian Labradoodles Bad?
Anyone contemplating acquiring a Labradoodle, should do their diligence in learning as much about the breed as possible. Finding conflicting information on line? No time to do the research? We encourage you to pick up the phone and call the breeder. Call many breeders. Ask questions and clarify information. Consider which generation and the kind of the Labradoodle you are interested in. If you need low-shedding and hypoallergenic pet, you would know that only the multigenerational Australian Labradoodle would work for you. Consider WHAT you are looking for in a four-legged companion. What type of coat are you looking for? Hair? Wool? Fleece? Learning all you can prior to making decisions about a puppy is imperative for a long and happy relationship. have improved the quality of life for many families and continue to do so.
Ensuring that you are getting a high-quality puppy
When you decide to adopt WALA/ALCA registered puppy, you will get a dog from ethically conscious breeder who is required to maintain stringent breed standards. Your puppy’s lineage will also be free on hereditary diseases and temperament problems, minimizing the risk of passing on of diseases or undesirable traits.
Multigenerational Australian Labradoodles are hypoallergenic and non-shedding, which makes them great choice for allergy sufferers. However, their intelligence and adaptability make them stand out from all other breeds and a great choice for busy families. Texas Australian Labradoodles are proud members of the WALA and ALCA and produce puppies that uphold the expectation of healthy and happy in their new homes. The care we provide is geared toward upholding the breed standards and improving the outcomes for our dogs and puppies. Therefore, we urge you to consider investing in your four-legged companion from WALA/ALCA registered breeder.
What is the Best Age to Neuter or Spay your Australian Labradoodle Puppy?
People frequently ask, at what age should they neuter/spay their puppy? According the AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association), in recent times, the common practice has been to spay/neuter your puppy as soon as it is safe for the puppy to tolerate the anesthesia. However, there is renewed interest in the question of age-appropriate spay and neuter of puppies, in view numerous scientific studies that found significant health implications related to this common procedure.
When looking at the canine health authority, AAHA recommends that puppies be spayed/neutered between 5-15 months of age. As a guide, 5-6 months for puppies that will weigh under 45 lbs when adults and between 9-15 months of age for puppies that will weigh over 45 lbs when adults. Larger dogs take longer to grow, and the age difference is mainly to do with the growth cycle.
Are there risks and benefits to spaying and neutering?
Risks: Research shows that there are many reasons why pet owners do not spay/neuter their dogs. Some of these include fear of anesthesia, anesthesia complication and financial constraints.
Benefits: Pet owners should know that while there are some risks involved, spay/neuter caries benefits of fending off cancers and infections. Some benefits include a decreases in the risk of mammary and testicular cancers, uterine infections, prevents pet overpopulation, and prevents undesirable behaviors.
Risks and benefits of early spaying and neutering
Risks: University of California, Davis, performed a study on golden retrievers in 2013 that suggested while early sterilization prevented many diseases, it may have increased the risk of other problems (cranial cruciate ligament rupture, hemangiosarcoma, mast cell tumors, lymphosarcoma, and orthopedic issues). Despite these findings, the study stressed that more studies on the link between sterilization age and the onset of certain diseases are needed to help understand the implications. Multiple health implications on early spayed/neutered dogs were voiced in the 2017 article “Spay-neuter considerations to maximize health.” The article was published by Innovative Veterinary Care that indicated that early sterilization leads to “orthopedics, cancer, behavior and other health issues” for the dogs.
Risks: Unwanted pregnancies, financial obligations and ethical dilemmas regarding the newborn puppies. Many people simply either do not know that their female dog is pregnant or the dog experiences complications that lead to costly medical interventions. Some people are also not equipped to deal with newborn puppies and the many demands that come with raising socialized and healthy puppies. These puppies can die from either inadequate care or diseases. Other adverse effects of late sterilization include obesity, stunted growth, joint dysplasia, and musculoskeletal disorders, to name a few.
Every dog owner must eventually deal with the issues of spaying or neutering their pet as clearly, there are health advantages and disadvantages for both early and late spay/neuter. Despite many scientific studies and guidelines, it remains a complex question that encompass many factors that each pet owner needs to carefully consider. The decision should be made on objective findings, such as your dog’s disease risk and your lifestyle.
Based on our experience and the research, there seems to be an overwhelming evidence that early spay/neuter is adverse to the health and long-term well-being of dogs. Therefore, we recommend that you delay spaying/neutering until 9 months of your puppy’s age.
We also recommend that you consult with your veterinarian to help figure out best timing for this procedure. Spend some time with your veterinarian discussing your goals for your pet and your personal concerns. Do not be afraid to ask questions. We believe that sharing the most accurate and current information with your veterinarian is the best plan to figure out the best timing for spaying and neutering of your pets. While you cannot predict when your dog is going to get sick or injured, you can protect yourself from expensive veterinary bills. Familiarizing yourself with the evidence-based research regarding the risks and benefits, may enable you to make an educated choice regarding your pet.
