[sherrie50]

Hello everyone! This is my first post. I am researching breeds--- -buying myself a dog for my 50th birthday. This will be my first dog since age 10, so I am very excited, and obsessing a bit because it's an important decision. I want a dog for companionship and fun. He/she will live in the house and be part of the family. We have no little kids.
One of the puppies I am considering is a 4-month old labradoodle female. She currently weights 18/20 pounds. Her mom is a small purebred standard poodle, around 35 pounds. Her dad is a large labradoodle, probably 50/55 pounds. (The dad's parents were a standard poodle and a chocolate lab.)
My question is this: If this puppy is around 18/20 pounds at 4 months, can I predict with any accuracy how big she might grow? Her mom is a size I would like, but we do not want a dog over 40 pounds or so. At what age do dogs reach their adult weight?

Thanks for any input or advice! Sherrie in Stone Mountain, Georgia.

p.s. The other dog I am considering is a Bichon-Poo. Any thoughts about a tiny versus medium/large dog? Any dog we get will be exercised and groomed daily---- will be fully trained--- and will sometimes have to be home alone for 6 to 8 hours.

 

[Guest]

Hi Sherrie!
There are no guarantees with weight and height but with a 4 month old some charts say to double the weight and add 10. Sometimes you won't get the extra 10, sometimes you will. So my guess would be 46 to 50 pounds. Are you sure dad was 55 pounds, because a "large labradoodle" would be alot bigger than that. 55 pounds is not so big for a labradoodle. If you are adamant about wanting a dog less than 50 pounds, I probably would not risk it. I would look at a doodle mini or go with the Bichon Poo. I think they are adorable!

 

[annabelles mom]

Annabelle weighs more than both her parents

 

[blueteal]

Denver's Mother is around 70 lbs his father around 55
Denver's weight runs between 90 to 101 lbs, depends on the
season. He weighed around 44 lbs at 4 months so double that
and add 10 pretty accurate as it puts him at 98 lbs full grown........

I would look at minis as well if you are adamant about the
weight...........Whatever you do Congrats on choosing such a great
breed!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Jac]

Hi Sherrie and welcome to the forum!
Although the adult size of your next dog is important to you, you might want to also consider the health of the dog...when a breeder takes a large male (I agree that 50-55 lbs is not really large) and breeds to a miniture Poodle there can be some health issues involved. Usually the father is the smaller dog because of obvious reasons with the physical act of mating but if it was a puppy conceived through AI it may be less of a factor.
Another consideration is the bone structure and organs of the two differing sizes. Generally, it is advisable to not go smaller or larger than a 4 inch difference.
It is important to the breed to change sizes gradually rather than trying to breed a miniture right off the bat.
Sometimes the dog will have a long body and short legs and this can cause problems with his/her spine.
I would advise you to make sure that your breeder conducts the suggested testing on the breeding stock...this, combined with the decision to breed such a divergent sized pair might help you to determine if this breeder is moving in the right direction.
If the breeder is taking dogs and breeding only for appearance (minitures bringing more money) and not testing for other health issues, I would suggest that you look for another puppy. There are many pups out there!
If you want a non-shedding, small pup, the Bichon would be a good choice and they are less active, I believe, than a Doodle so the time alone in the house would likely be less of a concern...although that IS a pretty long time to leave a dog alone.
I think it is great that you are giving yourself a wonderful companion as a birthday present...I hope that we can help you make a good decision...please check the archives of this forum for some excellent advice.

 

[deepnite10]

when Toby came home he weighed in at 21 lbs at 17 weeks..he just turned 6mos and weighs 51lbs..

though dad a standard poodle weighed 50lbs and mom a labradoodle
weighed 55 there s going to be a very good chance he s going to be alot bigger..

based on mom and dad s weight you would think that he d top out between the 2 of them..but, the breeder did say that there have been a couple of doodles that took after grandpa..a 70lb standard poodle..

 

[sdrudge]

Cacao is a mini Labradoodle and she is 20lbs at five months. I don't know what that means. All I know is she should have another growing spree. So I don't know what she will be. They said she should be 40lbs, that is what the breeder said.

 

[MaxandMe]

Peanut is 55lbs and 22in tall (cream one) and built like a tank

BEAU is 61lbs and 24 in tall (red one) and so skinny he looks half his weight ......both are goldendoodles

Max is a labradoodle (black one) he's 26in tall and 80lbs

I find that though small dogs are great size wise, they kill my back leaning over to pick them up, etc
sounds silly but if you have back problems it's not then.
( i had small dogs in past).

so Perhaps a mini labradoodle might be a better choice if weight and/height is a consideration.

 

[sherrie50]

Thanks!

Thanks to each of you for your advice and information! It will help me a great deal as I make this decision.
(p.s. Your dogs are all SO cute!!!!!!!!)

 

[amyg]

Wrigley, an F1b Goldendoodle, will be 5 mos old in a few days and is just about 40 lbs & 21 inches. He's a lot bigger than I expected. His father was about 70 lbs & his mother was about 50 lbs. He's very tall and lanky. The breeder thought he'd be about 60-65 lbs. The vet laughed when I told her this, and said she thought he could get to be 80 lbs. At the rate he's growing, he seems like he'll be more like Denver's size.

 

[Remykins]

Remy will be a year next week. She was 12 pounds at 4 months and 20 pounds at 10 months. My vet says she should be 24-25 pounds when full grown, so it worked to double her weight at 4 months. Both of her parents were F1B labradoodles. Her dad was 25 pounds; her mom was slightly bigger, maybe 28-30 pounds. Both of her grandfathers were toy poodles and her grandmothers were medium F1 labradoodles.

She's a great size for our family. She's not that much bigger than a bichon, but I think she needs more exercise than bichons do. She definitely needs to run & wrestle with other dogs at least a few times a week, in addition to several walks a day. She also has more of the lab easygoing personality than the bichons I've met. I'm home during the day so she usually isn't crated more than 2 hours a day.