[cmives]

hi there. we have a 7 month old blue labradoodle. the breeder we got her from said she'd grow to be about 70 pounds at full size. well, she is already about 60 pounds and much taller than I pictured her to be at only 7 months old. When do puppies stop growing? Will she slow down now and be considered full grown at a year, or will she continue growing quickly and be a horse by one year?
when we got her at 8 weeks old, she was about 16 pounds and small. now we call her Maggie the Moose because she is taller than our 4 year old and weighs more than our 8 1/2 year old!
her mom was a labradoodle and her dad was a standard poodle.
she looks bigger than her mom who we've seen a few times.
maybe she just needs a summer haircut? She has a very fluffy coat and it makes her look even larger.
any insight you have is most welcome! :shock:

 

[Keith]

sorry, Ive got no help for you... Bandit continues to grow. he is 8 mos now. and grew over the past week while we were gone and he was boarded withour trainer.

BUT, Where in CO are you?

 

[cmives]

we are on the west side near morrison

 

[Keith]

cool! Got pics?

We get together quite often at the Parker dog park near Ponderosa HS. Bayou Gulch/Hwy 83. This Saturday is actually the designated doodle romp out there...

 

[cmives]

what trainer did you use? we are always looking for a good boarding situation especially with summer coming up. we tried waggin' tails in Golden and it was pretty good, but a little pricey.
also, Maggie the Moose needs a bath, and i don't know where to take her (she could use a trim so we can see her eyes, too!)
any advice?

 

[cmives]

i don't know how to post pics...i do have some but it is hard to take a good pic of a very black ld!
my son's birthday is saturday but maybe he'd want to go to a doodle romp for part of it. what time did you say it would be?

 

[Keith]

We have used Alpha Dogs - Elaine Holt. She is FANTASTIC! I can not say enough wonderful things about her. Simply AWESOME.

[edit] A quick search for contact info on the web netted a few results, but none of those are the same. Like I say, if you want the info, PM me and Ill shoot it over. not certain if that would be kosher to have it public.[/edit]

More info on the romps etc... http://www.coloradodoodle.com/romps.html

Let me know if you want her contact info. Additionally we just bathe Bandit every 2-4 weeks depending upon need. Have never trimmed him at all. Seems easy enough to do ourselves. Only trimmings he has received are his nails.

 

[Keith]

i don't know how to post pics...i do have some but it is hard to take a good pic of a very black ld!
my son's birthday is saturday but maybe he'd want to go to a doodle romp for part of it. what time did you say it would be?

Looks to be 9AM. We have training @ 10, but it is near the park, so we will probably be there until 9:45 then venture over to training. Sometimes we come back to the park afterwards. there are a few Great dane pups that Bandit simply LOVES playing (wrestling) with...

 

[cmives]

i have heard of elaine holt. you didn't by any chance get your labradoodle from Maureen Wicker? She was so awesome, but sadly we went with another breeder. i wish we had waited and worked with Maureen; even though we didn't buy a puppy through her, she was SO helpful to me. i always recommend her when someone says they want a labradoodle. she is in parker, so I figure you may have bought yours from her?

 

[Keith]

Yep, Maureen's a friend and we are actually a guardian home for Bandit who will be bred the late summer/fall into her program.

hope to see you out tomorrow. I would imagine that Maureen may try to come out as well, but I havent talked to her yet...

 

[Keith]

Here's some pics of Bandit... from a couple weeks ago, havent uploaded anything new lately (since weve come back from Moab).

 

[cmives]

oh, bandit is adorable! if i can get my family up and going (3 boys who probably want to sleep in!) we'll try to go to that park. that would be fun!

how cool that you are a guardian home for bandit! That is neat; i would love to meet Maureen in person sometime, so keep me posted on any doodle romps in the area, i'd appreciate it!

so, how do I post a picture of maggie??

 

[Keith]

Here's a post where I stepped through how to go about hosting and posting a pic to the forum. any questions, please feel free to let me know.

http://labradoodle-dogs.net/forums/view ... highlight=

 

[cmives]

oh, bandit is adorable! if i can get my family up and going (3 boys who probably want to sleep in!) we'll try to go to that park. that would be fun!

how cool that you are a guardian home for bandit! That is neat; i would love to meet Maureen in person sometime, so keep me posted on any doodle romps in the area, i'd appreciate it!

so, how do I post a picture of maggie??

 

[Jac]

hahahaha, we should retitle this thread to "Maureen, the cool!" (But I must agree and chime in...Maureen is really a special person and a very good breeder...she cares deeply about her dogs and her customers...)

About sizes of dogs...there can be a throwback to a larger dog in the pedigree...so it is sometimes a surprise to the breeder when puppys grow large too. I tell my families that I predict a certain size, based on my previous experience, but that the range for a standard Labradoodle is between 40-130 lbs! You just never know.

Now that I have you terrified...pick yourself up off the floor and realize that this is not the norm...usually a breeder can guage the size of the dog by the parents and by siblings that have come before.

Most Labradoodles get the fast growth spurt by 8 months of age and their growing slows or even stops by then.

You are right, they look much bigger with their fluff. I don't normally clip my Poodle, but it is summer so I did...and now he looks soooooooo skinny! He used to look very large...no more...still, he is a handsome fellow!

 

[cmives]

Oh, Jac, my jaw just dropped when I read your post! I can't imagine having a 130 pound dog, that is more than I weigh! Already, Maggie pulls (we are working on that with training) because she is so strong. But if I have a gentle 130 pound dog, then that is okay. Hyper 130 pound dog, not so much okay!

i see that she sleeps most of the morning (when I'm usually gone and she is in her crate) and i like her the most when she is sleeping!

 

[Jac]

No..no! I didn't mean to scare you more!

I was just making a point...but I think that your dog is probably very near its full growth now! Don't worry...

Plus, I have a 65 lb. Poodle and he is so gentle and sweet...and I have a 44 lb Labradoodle and she is also gentle and sweet...but extremely STRONG...I would pit her against almost any big dog for strength...yet she is calm and very obedient.

It is all in the training. Really. Don't worry about size, because dogs mellow as they age...and size has nothing to do with that...but training might.

Oh...and FYI...I have never personally seen a Labradoodle over about 65 lbs. I am so sorry to have made it worse! Sometimes, I just put my foot in my mouth...yuck! Sorry!!!

 

[lovemydoodle]

The only thing I can about when they stop growing is this..my doodle is now 12 months old and weighs 80 pounds. Our vet said to keep him right at 80 pounds. She said he looked very good. He is kinda tall too, but definately doesnt look skinny. So I think he is done growing. People always comment on what a big dog he is.

You also mentioned pulling...one of the best things out there right now is the gentle leader. It has been brought up before here and im sure others will say how great it is. Infact, it worked instantly for us!

Good Luck!

 

[Angie]

Otto, has com from two labradoodles, but their mother was a standard poodle and father a labrador, will he be large. At 10 weeks he is 8 kilos, and his feet are huge

 

[cmives]

jacque: don't worry you really didnt' scare me. right after we got Maggie, i saw a woman walking a huge but very gentle dog and it was a goldendoodle. i would say he was at least 100 pounds but with the best demeanor i've ever seen. so please don't think you put your foot in your mouth, you didn't!

i am figuring that Maggie will slow down her growth from now until 1 year, but if not, then so be it!

as for the gentle leader, when we were in training at a highly respected place here in Denver recently, the trainer said that those actually promote pulling! I had never heard that before and wonder if anyone can shed some light on that school of thought.

thanks for your replies