Ali Smith

Puppies change ridiculously quickly. One week they’re following you everywhere; a few months later, the same puppy has discovered squirrels, smells, other dogs and approximately seventeen things that are suddenly more interesting than you.

Labradoodles are a good example of why spay and neuter timing is harder than a single age on a calendar. Hart et al. did not study Labradoodles as a separate breed group, so there is no direct Labradoodle recommendation from the UC Davis dataset. What we do have is component-breed data from Labrador Retrievers and Poodles, plus a separate Hart study on mixed-breed dogs by adult weight. Those datasets are useful context, but they are not a substitute for direct Labradoodle-specific evidence.

If your dog has decided your carefully planted garden would look better with a crater in the middle of it, I understand why you’re here. But I’m going to challenge the goal slightly: I don’t usually want to teach a dog that digging itself is wrong. Digging is normal dog behaviour. For some dogs it’s an occasional hobby; for others it’s practically a calling. The useful question isn’t simply “How do I stop my dog digging?” It’s why are they digging here, and what would I rather they do instead?