Month: July 2026

How to Tell If Your Goldendoodle Will Be Curly or Wavy

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Goldendoodle puppy with curly coat

We get asked this one all the time, usually from a family who just put down a deposit and is already imagining what their puppy will look like grown up. Will she be curly? Will he have those loose Golden Retriever waves? Honestly, with an 8 week old F1b puppy, it’s part science and part educated guessing.

Here’s what we’ve learned after raising a lot of litters.

The coat a puppy ends up with comes down to genetics from both parents, but with our F1b litters, that’s a Goldendoodle crossed back with a Poodle, the Poodle side usually wins out. Most of our puppies land somewhere between wavy and curly, and it’s pretty rare to get a truly flat coat in an F1b litter. If you do, it just means more Golden genes showed up in that particular puppy.

A few clues we look for early on. Puppies with tighter curls around their ears and the base of their tail as babies almost always end up curly adults. If the coat looks looser and more like waves all over, especially down the back, that puppy usually settles into a wavy coat. The texture also tends to feel different even before you can see much of a difference. Curly coat puppies feel a little more like a wire brush, wavy coat puppies feel softer and silkier.

We also watch what happens around 4 to 6 months. This is when a lot of puppies go through a coat change, sometimes called the “puppy uglies.” The soft baby fluff starts to fall out and the adult coat comes in underneath. This is usually when it becomes obvious what you’re working with. A puppy that looked pretty straight at 8 weeks can suddenly show a lot more curl once that adult coat is in.

One thing that surprises new owners: coat type does not really change how hypoallergenic a dog is. Curly and wavy coats from an F1b litter are both considered low shedding and easier on allergies than a flat coat. So if that’s your main concern, don’t stress too much over curly versus wavy. Either one should serve you well.

What does change based on coat type is grooming. Curly coats mat faster and need brushing more often, usually every couple of days, plus a trim every 6 to 8 weeks. Wavy coats are a little more forgiving, you can usually stretch brushing to a few times a week without things getting out of hand.

If you’re picking a puppy from a litter and coat type matters to you, ask your breeder what they’re seeing at the time you visit. We always tell people what we’re noticing, curl pattern around the ears, how the coat feels, what the parents and grandparents looked like. It’s not a guarantee, but it gets you pretty close.

And honestly, once they’re home, most families stop caring which one they ended up with. A good Goldendoodle is a good Goldendoodle, curls or no curls.

Leashes and Harnesses We Recommend for Goldendoodles

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Goldendoodle puppy on a leash and harness outside

One of the questions we get asked most by families picking up a puppy is what leash and harness they actually need. There are so many options out there that it gets overwhelming fast, so we wanted to share what we recommend to our own families based on what has worked well for our dogs and the puppies we have raised over the years.

A Goldendoodle puppy grows fast. What fits at 10 weeks will not fit at 6 months, and their necks and chests are still developing, so we lean toward harnesses over collar walking for anything that involves real leash pressure. A harness spreads the pressure across the chest instead of the throat, which matters a lot when you are working on leash manners with a wiggly puppy who has not learned to stop pulling yet.

We have watched a lot of new puppy owners walk out of the pet store with the first harness they saw on the shelf, only to come back a few weeks later frustrated that their dog is still dragging them down the street. Most of the time it is not the puppy’s fault, it is the equipment. A back-clip harness lets a dog pull with their whole body weight using the strongest muscles they have, which is exactly what you do not want while you are still teaching loose leash walking. Getting the right gear from the start saves you a lot of headaches later.

We also get asked whether a puppy really needs a harness at all, or if a collar is enough. Our answer is both, just for different jobs. The collar holds ID tags and rabies tags and stays on all the time. The harness is what you clip the leash to for actual walks, hikes, and training sessions. Trying to make one piece of gear do both jobs is where most of the pulling and coughing problems start.

Best Puppy Harness for Growing Bodies

For the early months, we like a step-in style harness because there is no fussing with getting it over the head, which most puppies hate. The Best Pet Supplies Voyager Step-In Air Harness is lightweight and breathable, with a hook and loop fastener plus a buckle so it stays secure even when your puppy decides to try out their new zoomies in the backyard. We like this one because it is affordable enough that you do not feel bad replacing it in a few months once your puppy has grown out of it.

As your puppy grows and you are working seriously on not pulling, look for a harness with both a front and back clip, not just a back clip. Clipping the leash to the front ring redirects your dog back toward you instead of letting them use their full chest strength to drag you down the sidewalk, which lines up with the positive, no-force training approach we follow with our own dogs. It is worth sizing up into a sturdier harness like this once your puppy grows out of the step-in style above.

Best Leash for Everyday Walks and Training

For the leash itself, we are not picky about brand as long as it is sturdy, comfortable in your hand, and visible if you are out early or after dark. The Taglory Rope Dog Leash has held up well for us. It is climbing rope style, so it can handle a strong pull if your puppy suddenly spots a squirrel, and the reflective threads run through the whole length instead of just being painted on, which actually makes a difference at dusk.

Best Collar for ID and Everyday Wear

We still recommend every puppy wear a well fitted collar with ID tags at all times, even if you do most of your walking on a harness. The Ladoogo Reflective Dog Collar is padded with soft neoprene so it will not rub against your puppy’s neck, has a sturdy metal D-ring for tags, and comes with a bonus leash, which is a nice bonus if you need a backup for car rides or vet visits.

A few things we have found matter more than brand name. Always check the sizing chart before you buy since Goldendoodles range so widely in adult size depending on whether they are mini, medium, or standard. Recheck the fit every few weeks while your puppy is still growing, you should be able to fit two fingers under any strap. And if you are working on loose leash walking, a front-clip harness makes the process so much easier than fighting a collar.

We also recommend clipping the leash to your own belt loop or waistband when your puppy is out of the crate and you are home with them, not just on walks. Keeping them attached to you gives you a chance to catch the early signs they need to go potty and it keeps them from wandering off and getting into something they should not. It sounds like a small thing but it makes a real difference in how fast house training clicks for a lot of families.

Whatever gear you land on, give your puppy a little time to get used to wearing it before you expect a calm walk. Let them wear the harness around the house for a few minutes at a time first, with treats and praise, so it feels normal rather than something being forced on them. A puppy who is comfortable in their gear settles into walks so much faster than one who is distracted by a strange new feeling around their chest.

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The Best Thing About Goldendoodle Puppies? The Smell.

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Goldendoodle puppy being held close and nuzzled

People ask us all the time what makes Goldendoodle puppies so hard to resist. Everyone says the same things first. Soft fur. Big eyes. That floppy, uncoordinated puppy walk before they figure out where their legs are. All true. But there’s one thing almost nobody mentions until they’ve actually held one, and once you notice it, you can’t unnotice it.

The smell.

We’re not talking about the “wet dog” smell, or the smell right after a bath with whatever shampoo we happen to be using that week. We mean that warm, sleepy, slightly sweet puppy breath and puppy fur smell that shows up somewhere around week three or four and just… exists. It’s a real thing. Ask anyone who’s raised a litter and they’ll know exactly what we mean without us explaining further.

In our house, it’s become a running joke. Someone will walk into the puppy room, pick one up, take a big breath, and just go quiet for a second. Our kids do it. Visitors do it, even when they’re trying to play it cool and act like they came over for something other than puppy snuggles. Grown adults who haven’t held a puppy in years will bury their face in a pup’s neck and just say “oh” like they forgot this was a thing that existed in the world.

We’ve never been able to describe it well to someone who hasn’t smelled it. Milky, maybe. Warm. A little like fresh laundry if fresh laundry could also be alive and wiggling. Whatever it is, it doesn’t last. By the time a puppy is 10 or 12 weeks old and heading off to their new family, it starts to fade into a more grown-up dog smell. Which honestly makes us treasure those first few weeks even more.

If you’re picking up a new puppy soon, do yourself a favor and actually notice it. Don’t just admire the puppy from a normal adult-height distance. Get down there, hold them close, and take it in. It sounds silly written out like this, but we promise you’ll understand the second you do it.

And if you’re a past Puppy Pals family reading this and nodding along, you already know. That smell doesn’t fully leave your memory either. Every time we start a new litter, it takes us right back to the last one.

Small thing. Doesn’t show up in any breed description or puppy listing. But it might be one of our favorite parts of this whole job.

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