Labradoodles are among the most intelligent mixed dog breeds in the world. As an offspring of two extremely smart breeds, a Poodle and Labrador Retriever, they inherit qualities from both parents that make them highly intelligent.
The Labradoodle takes the best qualities from two amazing dog breeds and combines them into one. They are as loyal and friendly as a Labrador and as smart and protective as a Poodle.
Labradoodles come in different colors, from blonde and apricot to chocolate and black, and their coat can be anything from poodle-type curly to soft and wavy. These dogs get along extremely well with other animals or people of any age.
They are affectionate and love cuddling, and also are very athletic. They require a lot of daily play and exercise.
Labradoodles also get very lonely if they are left alone and start barking loudly but this issue will be easily fixed if you have a lot of regular and quality playtime with the dog.
This obedient and intelligent dog has captured the public’s hearts.
How well do Labradoodles respond to obedience training?
Labradoodles are smart dogs who are willing to learn and they want to please their owners. However, it doesn’t mean that they’ll just magically learn everything by themselves: sometimes even the smartest dogs can be rather stubborn.
Therefore, you need to start training your dog as early as possible and be a patient leader. Basic obedience classes can be started when the puppy is 8 to 12 weeks old, to help it receive training and get socialized with other dogs.
To make sure that a Labradoodle responds to obedience training well, use positive reinforcement and reward your dog every time when it does something right. When you see the dog displaying behavior that you’re hoping for, encourage it with a treat.
At the same time, don’t let the dog get away with unwanted behavior. If you let it slide, your pet might start obeying the commands only when it is convenient for them to do so.
Remember that in order to get the best results, you need to work with your dog every single day. If you’re inconsistent, it will take a lot longer for the dog to be fully trained.
But if you work with the Labradoodle regularly, you can expect it to display your desired behavior around the house by the time it turns six months old.
As with any dog, you will want to use the dog’s instincts to train it. You’ll want to establish pack order: show the dog that you and your family are the leaders of the pack.
Labradoodles learn very easily and are often very responsive to various training methods. Using effective training methods and working with your dog on a regular basis will help you to develop your Labradoodle into a well behaved part of the family.
Do Labradoodles pick up easily on potty training?
There are only two tricks to potty training your labradoodle: be consistent and give rewards. This dog will quickly understand what you want from it and only go potty at a place that you’ve designed for it, not on the carpet or anywhere else. To ensure that the potty training goes smoothly and fast, follow this routine:
- Choose a “potty spot”. This will make both your and your dog’s life easier. First of all, dogs go potty where they’ve already gone before. Secondly, you’ll know exactly where to go and clean after your dog is finished with its business.
- Have plenty of small treats and give them to your dog every time it goes potty in the correct place. Wait for your puppy to finish going potty before giving the reward because otherwise, it might stop mid-stream and continue inside the house or on you.
- Be sure that your puppy has done its business while it was outside. Don’t take it back inside until you’re certain that the dog’s bladder is empty. A Labradoodle might only go outside for a couple of minutes, just run around, and then go potty on the carpet thirty seconds later.
- Use training treats at first and then as your dog begins to learn more, stop giving treats and begin to give praise and affection, without treats. Your dog should know that it must obey you, no matter if it’s getting a treat or not in the end.
- Keep a close eye on your puppy. Do everything to avoid accidents because a dog that went messed up on the carpet a few times will not be so eager to go outside and use a different potty spot.
If an accident happens, make sure to clean up the mess and remove the smell. Don’t hit or yell at your dog if you catch it doing its business somewhere except for the potty spot because this can cause the dog to be scared of going to the potty in front of you. - Have a short “Go potty” command and use it when you take your Labradoodle outside. This will teach your puppy to go potty on command, and this will prove to be very convenient when you’re leaving the house or traveling.
Young puppies need to go potty once every thirty minutes when awake, while more mature dogs only need to go once every two hours. It usually takes about 4-5 months to start feeling completely confident that a Labradoodle won’t go potty anywhere else, except for the place where you want it to.
Do Labradoodles Learn Tricks Easily?
Learning tricks can be a long process for some dogs but a Labradoodle has the intelligence to learn rather quickly. If you’re patient and consistent, it can be lots of fun for both you and your dog.
With the correct attitude, positive encouragement, and lots of treats and praise, your Labradoodle will learn the basic, but also additional and more impressive tricks easily.
Things to know about training your dog to do tricks:
- When you present new tricks to your puppy, keep the training sessions short: anything more than 15 minutes might make your dog tired and bored.
- Labradoodles quickly learn commands such as sit, heel (walk close to you and not run ahead, even if they see something exciting), and come (return back to you, no matter if they’re perfectly happy chasing a squirrel).
- As soon as your dog masters these commands, you can move to other exciting tricks such as shake hands, give you high five and speak on command.
The number of tricks you can teach a labradoodle is only limited by your imagination. Remember to keep commands short and to always reward your dog when it’s doing well, and you’ll soon be able to impress your whole neighborhood with your dog’s intelligence.
Other ways a Labradoodle can show it’s intelligence
Brain games can help your dog develop their intelligence and you’ll be amazed by the results if you make time to do this with your dog regularly. There are plenty of fun games that you can play with your pet.
Perhaps someday you’ll need your dog’s problem-solving and social skills for something more serious than just a playtime activity.
For one of the simplest games, hide a few treats around the house and then get your pet to find them. You might need to guide your dog to the first one so that it’s sure what exactly to look for, and then it will look for the rest on its own.
Or, you can play the shell game by hiding a treat under one of the three cups which you will then quickly mix up. This fun activity will expand the Labradoodle’s attention span, improve visual tracking abilities, but also make your bond with the dog stronger.
Treats aren’t the only thing that can be hidden: you can hide yourself and then get your dog to find you. To make the task more complicated, you can leave fake clues, like opening the door to an empty room. Nothing will make a loyal Labradoodle happier than finding the owner.
Apart from dozens of other games that you can play with a Labradoodle, there are many toys that will keep the dog entertained and mentally challenged without the presence of a human.
For example, there are puzzle feeders where the dog will be required to push buttons in a specific order to receive a treat. Once your labradoodle grasps the concept of these games and toys, it will never stop surprising you with how incredibly playful and smart it is.
The final verdict
Labradoodles are absolutely one of the smartest mixed breed dogs that you will come across. Not only are they smart but they are also loyal, friendly, fun, energetic and as cute as a button.
Dogs of this intelligence level are always fun to work with because the amount of things they can learn is never-ending. Whether it’s basic commands or more advanced tricks, a Labradoodle will continue to surprise you with just how smart he or she is.