Last Updated on May 4, 2022 by Marco C.
Labradoodles are one of those breeds whose size people often underestimate. That’s the “Poodle effect” in a way. So, how big do Labradoodles get? Is this a large breed or are they smaller?
To put it succinctly – Labradoodles are large. After all, they are the offspring of two large breeds – the Labrador Retriever and the Poodle. And, yes, Poodles are a large breed. They do have smaller variants such as the Medium Poodle and the Miniature Poodle which people often think about when they imagine a Poodle. However, Standard Poodles are about as tall as a Labrador Retriever, just a bit lighter and more athletic. So, if you want to adopt or buy a Standard Labradoodle, you should be ready to bring a large dog breed into your home.
How Big Do Labradoodles Get?
Let’s put a few numbers forward to give you some context. A Standard Labradoodle is expected to grow as high as 22 to 24 inches at the shoulder (56 to 61 cm) with females being slightly shorter than males at 21 to 23 inches (53 to 58 cm).
In terms of weight, Standard doodles will weigh somewhere between 50 and 65 pounds (23 to 30 kg) unless they are overweight. That not only puts them firmly into the “Large breed” category (anything between 40 and 70 pounds (18 to 32 kg)) but it’s even just 5 pounds or 2 kg away from making Labradoodles a borderline “Giant breed”.
How About Medium Labradoodles?
These dogs are notably smaller than the larger Standard Labradoodle and they sit at around 17 to 20 inches tall (43 to 51 cm) and 35 to 45 pounds of weight (16 to 20.5 kg). This is usually more in line with what people expect when they hear about a “Labradoodle”. Although, it ought to be mentioned that even a Medium Labradoodle sits at the 40-pound border between Medium and Large dog breeds. So, even this isn’t a small dog by any means.
What About Mini Labradoodles?
This is a somewhat controversial variant of the Labradoodle breed. In fact, it’s not even recognized as an official crossbreed by most major kennel clubs such as the AKC. Why? Because breeders often have to resort to a lot of ill-desirable breeding practices to produce a Labradoodle this small.
So, how big do Labradoodles get when they are of the Mini variety? On average, these dogs grow up to 14 to 16 inches at the shoulder or 35.5 to 40.5 cm. As for their weight, they rarely go beyond 15 to 25 pounds or 7 to 11 kg unless you’ve let your pup get overweight.
Learn more about: Australian Labradoodle vs American Labradoodle – Which Is The Right Doodle For You?
As you can see, these numbers put the Miniature Labradoodle squarely in the “Small dog breed” category alongside dogs like the Dachshund or the Beagle. Such dogs not only don’t come with a “purebred designer dog” status, but they also often come with lots of extra health issues as a result of poor breeding practices. If you find one in a dog shelter and decide to give it a good life, that’s fantastic. However, we strongly urge against buying poorly-bred dogs and sponsoring the puppy mill industry.
Are There Toy Labradoodles?
Indeed there are. For everything we said about the Mini Doodle above, some breeders try and manage to breed even smaller Doodles. The Toy variety is even more frowned upon by the community as it only grows up to 10 inches at the shoulder (25.4 cm) and doesn’t get heavier than 6 to 9 pounds (3 to 4 kg) when fit.
These numbers are exceptionally low for a dog that’s a close descendant of a Poodle and a Labrador Retriever so it’s not surprising that Toy Labradoodles often have even more health issues than Mini Doodles.
In Conclusion, How Big Do Labradoodles Get On Average?
The Standard Labradoodle breed is fairly large and is as big as its parents, the Labrador Retriever and the Standard Poodle. Medium Doodles aren’t small either and stay at the border between Medium and Large dogs too.
The largely-controversial and unrecognized Miniature and Toy Labradoodles are much smaller, however, mostly thanks to lots of inbreeding and other improper breeding practices. So, most kennel clubs and experts advise against the purchase (not necessarily the adoption) of such puppies to avoid buying pups with health problems and funding disreputable breeders.
Read more about: What Is An F1 Labradoodle And Is This The Right Dog For You?
FAQs
Do Labradoodles bark excessively?
Like all dogs, Labradoodles do bark. However, to call it excessively would be an understatement. Labradoodles, as well as their Poodle and Labrador Retriever parents, are naturally communicative because they were bred to be – they are gun dogs after all. Their purpose on the field was to do the hunter’s bidding and to communicate and coordinate with them.
So, yes, they bark. But they aren’t excessive barkers nor are they bred or meant as watchdogs. So, if you’ve had a Maltese, a Beagle, or a similar breed before – don’t worry, the Labradoodles are nothing like that. They will make their voice heard when they deem it important to do so but they shouldn’t drive your neighbors crazy or anything like that.
All you need with this breed is adequate obedience training and avoiding separation anxiety, and everything should be in order. Good socialization is also important to make sure that your dog greets strangers with a tail wag and not with a bark. Aside from that, you shouldn’t need any specialized no-bark training.
Is a Labradoodle considered a large breed?
Indeed they are. People often view large breeds as medium breeds cause they think the truly big dogs such as mastiffs and Dobermans are “large”. That’s not the case, however – those are giant breeds. What we define as a large breed is any breed with an average weight of 40 to 70 pounds (18 to 32 kg). And the Standard Labradoodle definitely fits here with an average weight of 50 to 65 pounds (23 to 30 kg). In fact, you can see that a Standard doodle is just a couple of kilos away from being a borderline giant dog breed!
Even the Medium Labradoodle sits comfortably at the 40-pound border between medium and large breeds as the Medium Labradoodle weights anywhere between 35 and 45 pounds (16 to 20.5 kg).
How big can Labradoodles grow?
A Standard Labradoodle is expected to grow as high as 22 to 24 inches at the shoulder (56 to 61 cm). For females, it’s closer to 21 to 23 inches (53 to 58 cm). As for their weight, most Standard Labradoodles will range between 50 and 65 pounds (23 to 30 kg) provided that they are not overweight.
All this puts Standard Labradoodles squarely in the “Large breed” category which tends to surprise people as they are used to viewing Poodles as small dogs for some reason.
There is a Medium Labradoodle sub-breed to consider here too, however. Those dogs are indeed smaller and get only as high as 18 to 20 inches for males (46 to 51 cm) and 17 to 19 inches for females (43 to 48 cm). In terms of weight, they are usually between 35 and 45 pounds (16 to 20.5 kg) which puts them right at the 40-pound (18 kg) border between medium and large dog breeds.
How big do female Labradoodles get?
Like most other dog breeds, female Labradoodles are slightly shorter and lighter than their male counterparts. The difference isn’t all that major, however, hence why both sexes were used and continue to be used as gun dogs on the field.
As a pet owner, however, you may want to know how big each dog is to figure out which would fit better in your home. So, to throw some numbers around, a female Standard Labradoodle is typically about 21 to 23 inches (53 to 58 cm) tall at the shoulder. This is about an inch shorter than most male Standard Labradoodles – not that much of a difference with both fitting comfortably in the “Large breed” bracket. Females also tend to weigh a few of pounds less than makes at about 50 to 60 pounds (23 to 27 kg).
The same goes for Medium Labradoodles – the females are about an inch shorter and 17 to 19 inches at the shoulder (43 to 48 cm) and a couple of pounds lighter at 35 to 43 pounds (16 to 19.5 kg).
