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Labradoodles
Labradoodle board and train in Gloucester, MA
The labradoodle began as a guide-dog project. An AKC article recounts how Wally Conron, a puppy breeding manager for Australia's Royal Guide Dog Association, needed a guide dog for a blind woman whose husband had allergies. Today most labradoodles live in family homes, and many bring the drive of both parent breeds with them.
The breed
Two high-energy parents give many labradoodles a big motor and a quick, restless mind
Both parents sit near the top of the AKC's energy scale. The Labrador scores five out of five for energy and for playfulness, and the AKC warns that an under-exercised Lab tends toward hyperactive or destructive behavior. The standard poodle scores four for energy, five for playfulness and five for mental stimulation needs, the end of the scale labeled needs a job or activity. The AKC describes poodles as eager for all kinds of activity and happiest keeping busy.
A dog built from those two parts can be a joy and a handful in the same afternoon. It learns cues quickly, since the AKC rates both parents five out of five for trainability, but it can also wind itself up faster than it can calm down. Not every labradoodle is like that; some are mellow. For the ones that are, the missing skill is rarely obedience. It is the ability to wait while excited.
- Labrador side: five out of five for energy and playfulness
- Poodle side: five out of five for mental stimulation needs
- Both sides: highly trainable, by the AKC's ratings
- The gap to close: waiting and settling while excited
Which program
Foundation teaches the first waits to a young labradoodle; Advanced holds them together around real distractions
Foundation lasts a week and lists obedience and leash skills, place, stay, recall, impulse control, crate and household manners, daycare integration and enrichment. For a young labradoodle, impulse control is threaded through every one of those. The leash clips on only when the dog sits, the crate door opens only for calm, and dinner reaches the floor only after a brief pause with eye contact. Each wait is short at first, so the dog wins quickly.
Advanced doubles the time to two weeks, adding distraction proofing, real-world outings, neutrality, confidence building, structured socialization and a pair of scheduled coaching lessons. It suits the adolescent labradoodle that can wait in the kitchen and cannot wait anywhere interesting. Week two stretches the same waits around moving balls, other dogs, people walking past and new places, one distraction at a time. A labradoodle whose excitement tips into fear or frantic barking at dogs may need React Less, Relax More first. Both programs are laid out in full on our board and train page.
Impulse control
Impulse control is taught as a series of small waits, and the reward is often the thing the dog wanted
The most useful principle for a high-energy dog is that calm opens doors. Trainers call it the Premack principle: a more wanted activity can pay for a less wanted one. So a labradoodle that sits quietly gets to chase the ball, a dog that waits at the gate gets to go through it, and a dog that settles on a cot is released to play. The dog learns that self-control is the quickest route to fun.
Play itself becomes practice. A short game of tug or fetch is interrupted with a cue to drop and sit, then restarted the moment the dog complies, so the dog rehearses switching from excited to calm dozens of times a day. Sessions stay brief. A young dog that is drilled for too long loses the very self-control the lesson is building, so the trainer stops while the dog is still succeeding.
- 01
Hold the toy still and wait for any calm moment, such as a sit or a pause
- 02
Mark the calm and start the game straight away
- 03
After a few seconds of play, cue a drop and wait again
- 04
Lengthen the wait a little at a time, then add a distraction
- 05
End while the dog is still getting it right, then give it a chew to settle with
Common mistakes
The common labradoodle mistakes are more exercise as the only answer, rewarded demands and no practice at being calm
Owners of busy doodles are often told that a tired dog is a good dog, so they add miles and throws. Exercise matters, but a dog that runs for an hour and then gets more fetch whenever it nags becomes fitter and more demanding, not calmer. Swap some of the running for sniffing, food puzzles and training games, which use the brain the AKC says poodles need to keep busy.
The second mistake is paying for pushiness without meaning to. A ball thrown because the dog barked at it, a door opened because the dog scratched, a pat given because the paws landed on your lap: each one teaches that demanding works. The third is never practicing calm. If the only quiet moments are when the dog is exhausted, it never learns to switch off while it still has energy.
- Mix sniff walks and puzzles in with the running
- Throw the ball for a sit, never for a bark
- Practice a settle on a mat while the dog still has energy
- Keep training sessions short and end on a success
After the stay
Back home, a labradoodle keeps its brakes when every exciting thing still costs a moment of calm
The go-home lesson, or the two coaching lessons in Advanced, show you the waits your dog learned and the order to practice them in. Run the house the same way for the first month: sits for doors, leashes and meals, play that pauses and restarts, and a settle while you eat. Families sometimes drop the waits once the dog seems better, and the old pushiness returns within a week or two.
For exercise with structure, a supervised dogPACER treadmill session is $10 and the sniff room $7 as add-ons to a daycare or Academy day, and Dogtown Academy, $89 a full day or $69 a half, builds a trainer's session into the play. On Cape Ann, the woods of Dogtown Common suit a long-line sniff walk in the cooler months, with a tick check afterward, and Good Harbor reopens to dogs on even-numbered days from October 1.
At Dogtown
Structure for a busy doodle
The training stay, then Academy days and enrichment add-ons that give a high-energy dog work for its brain as well as its legs.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Will a board and train calm my labradoodle down?
Is my labradoodle hyperactive or just young?
My labradoodle knows its cues at home. Which program fits?
Does a labradoodle train differently from a Labrador?
More questions? Read the full FAQ
Sources
- AKC: Labrador Retriever
- AKC: Poodle (Standard)
- AKC: do Poodles have an image problem?
- Gloucester beaches
Rules and dates change. We re-check every beach, licensing and ordinance page each spring and fall; the source above is the current word.
Keep reading
Next step
Teach the brakes to a busy doodle.
Tell us on the training form how your labradoodle behaves when it is excited, and what you have tried so far. Expect a reply within the hour on weekdays.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
