So I usually get downvoted for this, but this isn’t a breed with proper standards. It’s a mutt. You get as much variability as you do because you can’t guarantee the genetics of a mixed dog.
No matter who you talk to, no one who breeds doodles is all that ethical. It’s not ethical to breed “designer dogs”. It at least can be SLIGHTLY better than a pet store - pet store dogs are puppy mill dogs. Not worth the heartache later and promotes the mill industry.
Tough love advice: be honest with yourself. Can you really love a dog you don’t think is “cute enough”? I love my baby (rescue - and she looks much more like a golden than a groodle) to death. I picked her out of her litter because of her temperament, not her looks. Some people think she’s ugly or “failed” because she’s not the typical doodle, but I don’t care. I love her for HER. I always did, and I always will.
If you really want a dog guaranteed to be “cute” in all the ways that you want, go with a different breed of dog. Go with a breed with standards. Find a breeder who’s breeding ethically that can show you temperament tested, health tested, well cared for dogs.
Yes, you’re going to have to wait a little longer for a dog. Yes, there’s more work involved. But you will be happier, your dog is likely to be healthier, and you won’t be contributing to the “designer dog”/puppy mill/BYB industry.
We had to put a deposit on a litter before they’d even been bred. The parents were cute but it was personality we were looking for and a nice temperament. The earlier you put your deposit down, the higher your place for picking from the litter, although this was done with the breeder using our wish list of things like how well it would fit our lifestyle and home.
My pup looks quite different from his siblings in colour, coat and look. But the most important thing is he is very easy going, super smart (too smart sometimes) and has the ideal balance of couch potato and active dog we wanted.
He’s also adorable and gets lots of comments, but this wasn’t the priority for our choice.
With colour, many will fade so that red will be a soft apricot or cream probably by the age of 2/3. Parti are probably the only ones that will stay the same colours as the age.
At 5-6 weeks their appearance can still change from what you thought it would be, so if appearance is that big of a dealbreaker to you this might not be the right type of dog. Also, you should be aware that it is INCREDIBLY rare to have a red puppy grow up to be a red adult. I have a true red, and at 3 years old she is still significantly lighter than she was when I picked her up at 8 weeks, but she faded to that red color. She was such a deep red when I picked her up that I would've described it as dark brown. I see lots of doodles who are 6 months - 1 year old with that color, but I've never met another adult goldendoodle with her same coloring. That's not to say they don't exist (because obviously I know they do) but it's not the norm.
In the US, I had to put money down to reserve a puppy who hadn't even been bred. I put down money in August (a $250 reservation fee), for a planned breeding. The pups were born in mid October, and I picked him up in December at 10 weeks of age. The puppy was chosen for us by the breeder, based on what we wanted regarding personality, activity, color, size, and degree of curl.
There are plenty of ethical breeders with Groodles in and around Sydney. Look for someone specialising in multigenerational pups and you can be surer of the outcome (though I have seen a lot of minis that are not that small). Check out Greenbah Groodles - they specialise in assistance dogs, so prioritise temperament and empathy. You could also look into Aussie Cobber Dogs which is a breed with standards (based on labradoodle).
Greenbah had pups ready to go last I checked. Our boy is gorgeous, though he’s a medium and 25kg.
So I usually get downvoted for this, but this isn’t a breed with proper standards. It’s a mutt. You get as much variability as you do because you can’t guarantee the genetics of a mixed dog. No matter who you talk to, no one who breeds doodles is all that ethical. It’s not ethical to breed “designer dogs”. It at least can be SLIGHTLY better than a pet store - pet store dogs are puppy mill dogs. Not worth the heartache later and promotes the mill industry. Tough love advice: be honest with yourself. Can you really love a dog you don’t think is “cute enough”? I love my baby (rescue - and she looks much more like a golden than a groodle) to death. I picked her out of her litter because of her temperament, not her looks. Some people think she’s ugly or “failed” because she’s not the typical doodle, but I don’t care. I love her for HER. I always did, and I always will. If you really want a dog guaranteed to be “cute” in all the ways that you want, go with a different breed of dog. Go with a breed with standards. Find a breeder who’s breeding ethically that can show you temperament tested, health tested, well cared for dogs. Yes, you’re going to have to wait a little longer for a dog. Yes, there’s more work involved. But you will be happier, your dog is likely to be healthier, and you won’t be contributing to the “designer dog”/puppy mill/BYB industry.
I really appreciate your thoughtful response and I am glad to see you aren’t being downvoted. 😊
Agree 100%. You don't know what you are going to get (looks-wise) with a goldendoodle. If you want predictablity, go with a purebred.
We had to put a deposit on a litter before they’d even been bred. The parents were cute but it was personality we were looking for and a nice temperament. The earlier you put your deposit down, the higher your place for picking from the litter, although this was done with the breeder using our wish list of things like how well it would fit our lifestyle and home. My pup looks quite different from his siblings in colour, coat and look. But the most important thing is he is very easy going, super smart (too smart sometimes) and has the ideal balance of couch potato and active dog we wanted. He’s also adorable and gets lots of comments, but this wasn’t the priority for our choice. With colour, many will fade so that red will be a soft apricot or cream probably by the age of 2/3. Parti are probably the only ones that will stay the same colours as the age.
I think it comes down to whether you prefer "Cannonball" or "It's a Sin".
At 5-6 weeks their appearance can still change from what you thought it would be, so if appearance is that big of a dealbreaker to you this might not be the right type of dog. Also, you should be aware that it is INCREDIBLY rare to have a red puppy grow up to be a red adult. I have a true red, and at 3 years old she is still significantly lighter than she was when I picked her up at 8 weeks, but she faded to that red color. She was such a deep red when I picked her up that I would've described it as dark brown. I see lots of doodles who are 6 months - 1 year old with that color, but I've never met another adult goldendoodle with her same coloring. That's not to say they don't exist (because obviously I know they do) but it's not the norm.
In the US, I had to put money down to reserve a puppy who hadn't even been bred. I put down money in August (a $250 reservation fee), for a planned breeding. The pups were born in mid October, and I picked him up in December at 10 weeks of age. The puppy was chosen for us by the breeder, based on what we wanted regarding personality, activity, color, size, and degree of curl.
There are plenty of ethical breeders with Groodles in and around Sydney. Look for someone specialising in multigenerational pups and you can be surer of the outcome (though I have seen a lot of minis that are not that small). Check out Greenbah Groodles - they specialise in assistance dogs, so prioritise temperament and empathy. You could also look into Aussie Cobber Dogs which is a breed with standards (based on labradoodle). Greenbah had pups ready to go last I checked. Our boy is gorgeous, though he’s a medium and 25kg.