Goldendoodle

Sociable with people and dogs; often likes a swim.
A Goldendoodle
Photo: Nullterminator
Adult weight
8.7–30 kg
19–66 lb
Lifespan
10–15 yrs
Class · Family
also Companion

What it's like

In temperament the Goldendoodle is typically friendly, gentle and sociable with people and with other dogs, and is seldom much of a guard. It is intelligent and responsive to training. Both parent breeds have backgrounds in retrieving game, including from water, and many Goldendoodles share a liking for swimming and carrying things in their mouths.

Day to day
Activity
A good daily walk and play
Intelligence
Needs daily brain work
Handler demand
Needs steady training
With people
Affection
A lap or leaning dog
Loyalty
Bonded to its family
Independence
Keen to work with you
Around the home
Sensitivity
Needs a calm, predictable home
Voice
Barks to alert, then settles
Prey drive
Usually fine with small pets
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
Is a Goldendoodle right for you?
Take the breed matcher

Size and growth

A Goldendoodle is a medium dog, heavier than a Border Collie and lighter than a Golden Retriever. Its weight is an estimate, not a published figure.

It is often a sturdy, athletic dog with dark eyes, drop ears and a well-coated tail. The coat may be straight, loosely waved, shaggy or tightly curled, in shades such as cream, apricot, gold, red, chocolate or black. Because the parents' traits combine unpredictably, puppies from one litter can look quite different, and size depends largely on the Poodle used.

Varieties

GANA divides this breed by height at the withers. Pick the variety your dog is for a band that fits.
Variety
Weight
Height
Petite Mini
Mini
35.6–43.2 cm (registry figure)5
Medium
43.2–53.3 cm (registry figure)6
Standard
53.3–61 cm (registry figure)7

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 5 months, a male Goldendoodle puppy is already as heavy as a grown Pug. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
11 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight9
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
0102030402m4m6m9m12m18m
0102030402m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
1.9–6.6 kg 4.2–14.6 lb
2.1–7.2 kg 4.6–15.9 lb
3 months
2.8–9.7 kg 6.2–21.4 lb
3.0–10.3 kg 6.6–22.7 lb
4 months
4.0–14.0 kg 8.8–30.9 lb
4.2–14.7 kg 9.3–32.4 lb
5 months
5.2–18.0 kg 11.5–39.7 lb
5.4–18.5 kg 11.9–40.8 lb
6 months
6.2–21.5 kg 13.7–47.4 lb
6.3–21.7 kg 13.9–47.8 lb
7 months
7.0–24.1 kg 15.4–53.1 lb
7.0–24.1 kg 15.4–53.1 lb
8 months
7.5–26.0 kg 16.5–57.3 lb
7.4–25.7 kg 16.3–56.7 lb
9 months
7.9–27.3 kg 17.4–60.2 lb
7.8–26.9 kg 17.2–59.3 lb
10 months
8.1–28.1 kg 17.9–61.9 lb
8.0–27.8 kg 17.6–61.3 lb
11 months
8.3–28.7 kg 18.3–63.3 lb
8.2–28.4 kg 18.1–62.6 lb
12 months
8.4–29.2 kg 18.5–64.4 lb
8.3–28.8 kg 18.3–63.5 lb
15 months
8.6–29.9 kg 19.0–65.9 lb
8.6–29.7 kg 19.0–65.5 lb

Lifespan

No vet study has measured how long Goldendoodles live yet. The 10–15 years shown is a general figure without a published source.

Where it comes from

The Goldendoodle crosses the Golden Retriever with the Poodle, and when the pairing was first made is unknown. Its North American breeders' association says Monica Dickens, great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens, bred them as guide dogs in the 1960s, and that breeders began promoting the cross in the late 1990s, following the Labradoodle. The association published its Goldendoodle standard in 201710.

The Goldendoodle is a crossbreed rather than a recognised breed; neither the Kennel Club nor the American Kennel Club registers it. Its numbers grew quickly in the early twenty-first century in Britain and North America, as demand rose for family dogs with Poodle-type coats. Breeders produce first-generation crosses, backcrosses to the Poodle and Goldendoodle-to-Goldendoodle matings, usually using standard or miniature Poodles. Bred chiefly as a companion, the Goldendoodle is also used as a therapy and assistance dog.

Breed standard

One registry divides it into four varieties by height, each with its own weight range.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Goldendoodle figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a medium-sized breed is most likely somewhere in the middle.

Compare with related

Poodle (Standard)
Companion & toy · Medium
Labradoodle
Non-sporting · Medium
Golden Retriever
Retrievers & water dogs · Large
Australian Cobberdog
Non-sporting · Medium
Or compare the Goldendoodle with any breed you choose
Track your own Goldendoodle
Log a minute a day and watch them sit on these curves. Free.

Sources

Uncited on this page: Lifespan — no reviewed source yet, so it is a general reference figure rather than a published one.
Something wrong on this page?
Parts of this page were written by AI ·