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Goldendoodle

The breeds · companion · cross

Goldendoodle.

Companion and assistance cross: GANA records Goldendoodles bred in the 1960s by Monica Dickens as guide dogs for people with dog allergies, a programme inspired by the Labradoodle's success, with dedicated breeders promoting the cross from the late 1990s (Amy Lane's first miniature litter January 2002; GANA founded 2008). GANA describes the breed as a companion capable of therapy and service roles; its standard asks for a friendly, reliable, trustworthy dog suited to service and therapy work.

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

24INHeightall 23.63. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
40–75LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 67.5 lb (60 to 75); breed bitches 52.5 lb (40 to 65).

The lines

Within one breed the line can matter more than the breed. Where the lines differ, the page says which one a value belongs to.

f1

F1: a Poodle crossed with a Golden Retriever, the first generation; GANA calls it very predictable and notes the genetic advantage of heterosis. Coat and shedding vary within an F1 litter because the furnishings gene, not the generation label, sets shedding (GANA).

f1b

F1b: a Goldendoodle backcrossed to either a Golden Retriever or a Poodle (GANA). The Poodle backcross is the one that selects toward the furnished, low-shedding coat, because furnishings are dominant and an unfurnished Golden Retriever parent contributes none (GANA coat genetics).

multigen

Multigenerational: GANA's term for crosses occurring after F1, F1b and F2 (F2 = two Goldendoodles bred together). GANA's advice is that genetic testing of the parents (coat-curl KRT71 and furnishings RSPO2) predicts coat and shedding better than any generation label.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

23.6 in (21.5 to 27)

DerivedThe Poodle Club of America

Derived from both parent standards (Golden Retriever AKC standard, Standard Poodle line); a Standard Poodle parent is assumed, and Miniature and Toy Poodle crosses run smaller with no derived figure. Low is the lower of the two parents lows, high the higher of the two highs, center the midpoint of the parents centers (Golden 22.75, Poodle 24.5). The Poodle parent gives no sex split, so one row covers both sexes. GANA size categories, measured at the withers, as recorded Oct 5: Petite Mini below 14 in, Mini over 14 and under 17 in, Medium over 17 and under 21 in, Standard over 21 in. GANA defines sizes by height, not weight, and size follows the Poodle variety used (gana_std).

Weight

dogs 67.5 lb (60 to 75) · bitches 52.5 lb (40 to 65)

DerivedAKC breed standard, 1981

Derived from both parent standards (Golden Retriever AKC standard, Standard Poodle line); a Standard Poodle parent is assumed, and Miniature and Toy Poodle crosses run smaller with no derived figure. Low is the lower of the two lows, high the higher of the two highs, center the midpoint of the parents centers (60 and 45). Poodle figure is the AKC breed page band (akc_page_std), not a standard figure. See the male row for GANA typical weights by size.

Coat

Three coat types set by the KRT71 curl gene: curly (two curl alleles), wavy or loose curl (one), straight like a Golden Retriever (none). Furnishings (RSPO2 gene: eyebrows, moustache, beard) are what confer the low- to non-shedding coat; two furnishing alleles typically non-shedding, one copy lower shedding, unfurnished (flat-coat) dogs shed, though GANA puts them somewhat below a purebred Golden Retriever. GANA's standard asks for a soft texture with facial furnishings

Breed clubGoldendoodle Association of North America

The GANA standard's 'ideally hypoallergenic' wording is the club's aspiration, not a measured property; GANA itself says genetic testing predicts coat and shedding better than generation labels.

Shedding

f1 lineNot predictable from the generation label: shedding follows the furnishings gene, and two wavy Goldendoodles bred together can produce all three coat types. A first cross from an unfurnished Golden Retriever carries at most one furnishings copy, which GANA describes as lower shedding, not non-shedding

Breed clubGoldendoodle Association of North America

GANA's own gene explanation applied to the F1 cross; the Golden Retriever standard describes a dense, water-repellent coat with good undercoat, which is an unfurnished coat and sheds. Hladky-Krage 2022 records owners discovering their doodle sheds after being told it would not.

Heat tolerance

3 of 5 · Both parents agree at 3: the Golden Retriever has a dense water-repellent double coat with good undercoat (AKC standard) and the Standard Poodle a naturally harsh, dense curly coat that is kept clipped (AKC standard); the cross is wavy to curly with furnishings

DerivedAKC breed standard, 1990

Derived from both parent standards coat descriptions (3 = medium double), the same value each parent entry carries. A short clip lowers the load in summer but the scale is set by the coat as grown.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

Spread of 60 to 150 minutes between the parents: Golden Retriever more than 2 hours a day (RKC band) and Poodle up to 1 hour a day (RKC band)

DerivedThe Royal Kennel Club

Derived from the two parents RKC exercise bands (rkc_breed for the Golden Retriever = 150, rkc_std for the Poodle = 60); no center because the parents disagree and no source measured the cross. The editorial rescue description in the exercise_need row is the only cross-specific statement.

Exercise need

Requires a lot of exercise and enjoys playing; a rescue that has rehomed Goldendoodles since 2012 puts their energy somewhat below a purebred Golden or Labrador Retriever

EditorialDelaware Valley Golden Retriever Rescue

Editorial only (one rescue organisation); GANA publishes no exercise band and the breed has no Royal Kennel Club page. The Golden Retriever parent is an RKC 'more than 2 hours a day' breed. No minutes-per-day figure is recorded.

Grooming load

3 of 5 · Spread of 3 to 4 between the parents: Golden Retriever more than once a week (RKC grooming band) and Poodle every day or regular clipping (RKC grooming band). GANA coat genetics: the furnishings gene (RSPO2) and the curl gene (KRT71) set a Goldendoodle coat, so a furnished, clipped coat sits at the Poodle end and an unfurnished flat coat nearer the Golden end

DerivedThe Royal Kennel Club

Derived from the two parents RKC grooming bands (rkc_breed for the Golden Retriever, rkc_std for the Poodle), mapped by the format scale; no center because the parents disagree. Which end a given dog sits at follows its coat genes (gana_coat), not its generation label. Hladky-Krage 2022 (hladky_2022): more than twice as many doodle owners as purebred or mixed-breed owners reported maintenance, chiefly grooming, worse than expected. GANA publishes no grooming schedule.

Grooming

Grooming is the expectation most often unmet: in a US survey of 2,191 owners, more than twice as many doodle owners as purebred or mixed-breed owners said their dog's maintenance (chiefly regular grooming) was more intensive than expected; grooming complaints were second only to barking in doodle owners' free-text answers

StudiedHladky-Krage B, 2022

Owner survey recruited through Facebook and Reddit; doodles of all types pooled, Goldendoodle owners quoted among them.

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

Companion and assistance cross: GANA records Goldendoodles bred in the 1960s by Monica Dickens as guide dogs for people with dog allergies, a programme inspired by the Labradoodle's success, with dedicated breeders promoting the cross from the late 1990s (Amy Lane's first miniature litter January 2002; GANA founded 2008). GANA describes the breed as a companion capable of therapy and service roles; its standard asks for a friendly, reliable, trustworthy dog suited to service and therapy work

Breed clubGoldendoodle Association of North America

No source opened describes retriever field work in the cross, so no hunting traits are recorded. The Golden Retriever parent's standard calls it primarily a hunting dog (akc_std_golden); the Poodle standard describes a clipped show dog.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Most common disorders

No study of Goldendoodle disorder prevalence was found. The nearest evidence is the Royal Veterinary College's 2024 survey of three Poodle crosses (Cockapoo, Labradoodle, Cavapoo; 9,402 UK dogs): odds of 57 common disorders did not differ from the parent breeds in 86.6% of comparisons, crosses had higher odds in 7.0% and lower in 6.4%, which the authors read as no evidence of hybrid vigour and no evidence of poorer health

StudiedBryson GT, 2024

Indirect: the Goldendoodle was not one of the three crosses studied. Recorded so the page can say plainly that the 'healthier than purebreds' claim is unsupported rather than leave the cell silent. No OFA hip or elbow statistics are published under a Goldendoodle breed name (checked Oct 5 2026).

What the studies found

Population-level findings, shown as a spread. Breed sets the odds; the parents set the dog.

Trainability

2.9 of 4 · C-BARQ trainability breed mean 2.91 (Goldendoodle n = 157), against Golden Retriever 2.61, Standard Poodle 2.69, Miniature Poodle 2.54; not significantly different from any parent breed

StudiedShouldice VL, 2019

Owner questionnaire data from the University of Pennsylvania C-BARQ database (extracted April 2019); the survey records no pedigree, so the crosses' generation is unknown (the authors treat them as F1). No SD published. Population odds, never one dog.

Energy

2.0 of 4 · C-BARQ energy breed mean 2.05 (Goldendoodle n = 157), against Golden Retriever 2.01, Standard Poodle 2.04, Miniature Poodle 2.05; excitability 2.21 against Golden Retriever 1.97 and Standard Poodle 1.94 (no significant breed difference on either scale)

StudiedShouldice VL, 2019

Same caveats as trainability.

Toward strangers

0.8 of 4 · C-BARQ stranger-directed aggression breed mean 0.85 (Goldendoodle n = 157), against Golden Retriever 0.56, Standard Poodle 0.56, Miniature Poodle 0.67 (difference not significant). Stranger-directed FEAR 1.16 was significantly higher than the Golden Retriever's 0.48

StudiedShouldice VL, 2019

This is the aggression subscale; the fear subscale is quoted in the text. Same caveats as trainability.

Toward other dogs

1.7 of 4 · C-BARQ dog-directed aggression breed mean 1.68 (Goldendoodle n = 157), significantly higher than all three parent breeds (Golden Retriever 0.73, Standard Poodle 0.74, Miniature Poodle 0.92); dog-directed fear 1.44 was also significantly above the Standard Poodle's 0.74

StudiedShouldice VL, 2019

The one scale on which the Goldendoodle sample was the outlier among its parents. Small crossbred sample; owner-reported; same caveats as trainability.

Being left alone

0.9 of 4 · C-BARQ separation-related problems breed mean 0.93 (Goldendoodle n = 157), against Golden Retriever 0.51, Standard Poodle 0.63, Miniature Poodle 0.94; not significantly different from the Golden Retriever after adjustment

StudiedShouldice VL, 2019

Same caveats as trainability.

Aggression, as studied

Across 14 C-BARQ scales the Goldendoodle sample mostly fell between its parent breeds, differing significantly from one or more of them on four: dog-directed aggression, dog-directed fear and stranger-directed fear (all higher than a parent) and dog rivalry (lower than the Miniature Poodle, level with the retriever and Standard Poodle). The Labradoodle in the same study differed from a parent on only one scale

StudiedShouldice VL, 2019

Owner questionnaire study, 157 Goldendoodles, generation not recorded. Hladky-Krage 2022 found doodle owners chose the cross partly on a belief that they are good with children; this study is the evidence that belief should be checked against.

What to ask a breeder for

The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.

Side by side

Or let the selector rank the Goldendoodle against your own answers.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 16 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Golden Retriever x Poodle
Parents
golden-retriever × poodle

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