choosing a puppy

[Melissa]

Hi there.
This is my first post.

We have fallen in love with an adorable litter of labradoodles. Each of them is just so sweet. I have a couple of questions for you experts. Thanks in advance for your help.

We'd like our pup to have curly hair. Is there any way to tell at 5-6 weeks of age whether the pup will be curly? These are F1s.

We're also looking for a low shed dog since our daughter has mild allergies. On firmly petting the pups, I am not getting handfuls of hair and am thinking this is good. But since we've never bought any puppy before, I don't know if this is standard for all. Any insight you can offer as to whether this is a sign of a future low shedder?

[MaxandMe]

hi melissa...we too have a teenage son with bad asthma and myself with bad allergies to most pets.

from what I hear a f1b is best for allergies and low/no shedding

We have a F1 black doodle with wavy short hair that will minimally shed.

so far we can't pull any hair out of him (hahha joke). when I wash him our tub is hair free.

Max has only been with us 2 mos but we are doing great---no asthma/allergy attacks.

the breeders here can help you much more than I can. good luck!!
and let us know what you end up bringing home

[Ethridg3]

Also, puppies are constantly shedding/replacing fur. At 10 months we can get a total of like 10 hairs off Murphy - and this was when he hadn't been bathed since...ohhh....ever.

Hi Melissa,
I read somewhere to look at the puppies ears. The more waves or curls on them, the curlier the dog will be. Not sure if it is true, maybe some of our breeders will know?
I think as for shedding, the more poodley (curley)they look, the less chance for shedding? But I think the shedding chance is always possible, no matter what.

[Ethridg3]

I think people around here have gotten way too spoiled by thier Doodles and have no idea what shedding is. Let me tell you about Oscar and his "late" friend Snoopy. Oscar and Snoopy lived in a house with nothing but tile floors. One morning Oscar and Snoopy's "mom" got up and realized as she walked down the hallway there was something moving on the floor. It was hair! Giant hair balls had taken over the corners of the house, raised forces and where making a tactical move! "But I just vacuumed two days ago!" thought mom. Shortly there after the people of the house had a baby. Soon mom was vacuming EVERYDAY and still in the morning the corners would have the growing hair forces. Unfortunantly Snoopy left the family and there was only Oscar, now mom only had to vacuum twice a week. The End.

My moral: These dogs arent miniual shedders. They DONT shed in my opinion. We had a clean tub after washing Murphy and I could hold the hairball that was brushed out of him the next day (keep in mind bathing activates shedding for a few days) with two fingers. No hair, compared to "normal" dogs Im surprised these things even have hair if I go off what I see come off of them.

~Kris~

[Melissa]

Thanks for the replies.

Kris, is Murphy an F1?

[dixiedi]

Hi Melissa and welcome Some allergy suferers do well with F1's but it is a gamble. From the description of what you are wanting, I think you might be happier with an F1b (2nd generation), they will have a curlier, low to no shedding coat.

You don't mention where you are located but I know of several breeders on this forum that have F1b puppies available. Wherever you buy from, please make sure the parents have had their health testing done and you get a good guarantee, ask for references

[Ethridg3]

Hey Melissa, We dont know. We just adopted Murphy this last weekend actually, but some here say he looks like one . You can get an update on his story on the thread
Considering a Labrdoodle > Moby,Curly,Murphy...what the heck...is this thing?

We have been getting alot of new doodle owner insight and advise that might help you with any concerns besides fur. I can say this much, I didnt know anything about Doodles when we brought Murphy home to foster just this past Saturday and only 48 hours later Im a darn near fanatic of them. Oh and dont get confused both my husband and I post with this hande but he will usually put his name, where I usually dont.

[Ethridg3]

Hey there, me again, I was browsing around the forum and say a thread called Proud Doole owners -show me your pups. It has some before and after coat pics in it, thought it might help.

[Melissa]

Thanks, all, for your replies.

We are in Massachusetts. If there are any F1B owners out there with pups, we'd love to see pics!

As for the allergy issue, we have seen the pups twice. The first time the breeder had washed them off so they wouldn't have the mom's (Lab) hair on them. No reaction from my daughter. The second time we saw them, they were not washed beforehand and still no reaction. I'm taking this to be a good sign. Yes?

The pup we are leaning towards has curly ears, so I was glad to read that someone thought that might be a sign of a future curly coat.

So for all doodle owners out there, at 5 weeks was your puppy noticeablyy curly? Or more lab-like and then grew curlier? The pups in this litter have curly ears and are very fuzzy, but for now the coats are not visibly curly. Has it been your experience that the waves/curls/etc come later than 5 weeks?

Thanks again, everyone, for your great help!

[lisarundell]

Melissa, Here are some pictures of our Lani, she was born on Christmas. She is a F1 not a F1b but her coat changed drastically over the past 8 months. I hope things work out for you they are wonderful dogs.

Lani at 8 weeks


Lani at 10 months

[Chesterpal]

On the shedding issue---we have Chester (2 1/2) a minimal shedder and Archie (8 mos) who doesn't seem to shed now that he appears to have blown his puppy coat. For awhile we did get the "puppy puffs" swirling around on the floor like tumbleweeds but that has lessened.
Both my kids have mild allergies but have had no reaction to either of the pups.

[Jannie]

Our F1B had wavy hair as a puppy, which grew out to loose spirals as she got older. We had her shaved about a month ago and her coat is growing out curly now. Here is what her coat looks like now.



And what she looked like as a puppy (on the right) Hope that gives you an indication as to what your puppy's coat will look like as an adult.

[Jac]

Hi Melissa, welcome!
Kris makes an excellent point. I wish that more people understood that ALL animals (even humans) shed...it is the extent of shedding that matters...and, in the case of allergies, it isn't always about shedding because many allergens are caused by dander or saliva and have nothing at all to do with shedding. Do you know the cause of your allergies? Many people think that "animal allergies" are due to the shedding and many are mistaken.
My husband is very, very allergic to animals...to the point that he literally can't breathe when he is in a room where an animal has been (even if the animal is not there when he is.) Yet, he has no allergic reaction to our F1 dogs at all...and they DO shed...but as Kris said, their shedding is very minimal.
Now, to answer your question....yes, I believe that your breeder can tell if your puppy will have a curly coat or not by 4 weeks of age.
My pups are usually born with two distinct coats...you can immediately see curl...those pups generally get a little "wild" looking and my pups born with flat coats are not Lab looking...they are longer and they have very soft waves on the neck...those coats grow long and have a beautiful wave and they are the least likely (in our dogs anyway) to shed.
Sometimes our curly coated dogs shed a bit.
I have only had one puppy shed a lot...and I knew he would by the time he was 5 weeks old. He looked exactly like a Lab...and he began shedding A LOT at 8 weeks of age.
I suggest that you brush your puppy every day (outside if possible) to cut down on any minimal shedding.

[Melissa]

Thank you guys again!

I would say that the pup we have chosen looks a lot like Lani (except yellow) at this point. And if she grows to look like Lani does now, we will be ecstatic! Sadie is so cute too, but our girl is not so curly right now.

For allergies, it's not me, but my daughters who are allergic. They have been tested and are allergic to quite a few things, one of them being dogs. I say their allergies are mild because we are around dogs sometimes, they sleep over houses with dogs and pet them and play, and there is no noticeable increase in their symptoms. They are both on medication for their allergies year-round, so hopefully a dog in the house won't exacerbate their symptoms.

The pup we have chosen has curly ears and some wave on her neck. Her ears remind me of a cocker spaniel's ears in their appearance.