Breeds / Large
Sheepadoodle puppies
The Sheepadoodle is intelligent, affectionate and very people oriented, and adapts well to family life with children and other pets. Their endurance is high, and pent up energy shows up quickly as barking and other unwanted behaviour.
The facts
- Size class Large
- A cross of Old English Sheepdog and Poodle
- Country of origin Not published
- Adult weight 29.5 to 38.6 kg
- Adult weight in pounds 65 to 85 lb
- Adult height 41 to 56 cm
- Energy level High
- Grooming High
- Coat type Long shaggy to curly
- Typical lifespan 12 to 15 years
- Good with children Usually good
- Good with other dogs Usually good
About the Sheepadoodle
The Sheepadoodle crosses the Old English Sheepdog with the Poodle, usually producing a black and white dog of 29.5 to 38.6 kg. This is a herding cross at heart: intelligent, affectionate, closely tuned to their household and content to keep working all day. Most are relaxed around children and other pets, although a large, boisterous adolescent can flatten a toddler without any intention of doing so, which is worth planning for.
Exercise needs are serious, and pent up energy shows up first as barking and then as damage to the house. Brush a few times a week at the very least, with a bath and trim every couple of months, and be realistic that a puppy inheriting the Sheepdog coat will shed anyway. You might hope the Poodle side guarantees an easy, low shedding coat. It guarantees nothing, so meet both parents.
A cross, not a breed. The Sheepadoodle is a cross rather than a standardised breed, so size, coat and temperament vary and can favour either parent, and a first cross of two purebred parents is less predictable in coat than a later generation bred back to a Poodle. There is no guarantee of a low shedding coat, because Old English Sheepdogs shed heavily, and the rarer miniature Sheepadoodle from a Miniature Poodle finishes well below the weights given here.
What to expect at eight weeks
At eight weeks a Sheepadoodle puppy is sleeping around 18 to 20 hours a day, is not house trained, and cannot hold on for more than an hour or two at a stretch. A large breed puppy at eight weeks looks deceptively normal sized and will roughly double every few weeks for a while. Keep exercise short and low impact, the growth plates are wide open. This is a high energy breed. At eight weeks that shows up as intensity rather than stamina, and they will need a job to do long before they need long walks. Grooming needs are high. Start daily brushing and short, positive handling sessions at eight weeks, well before the adult coat arrives, or the first professional groom will be traumatic. The socialisation window is open and closing: everything they meet calmly now, from vacuum cleaners to men in hats, is easier for the rest of their life.
Health worth knowing about
Conditions this breed is reported to be predisposed to. Predisposed does not mean inevitable, it means ask about it.
- Hip dysplasia, noted from stiffness or limited mobility on examination and screened by hip scoring radiographs
- Progressive retinal atrophy, cataracts, corneal dystrophy and distichiasis, found on a veterinary eye examination
- Gastric dilatation volvulus, an emergency recognised by retching and a distended abdomen, and reduced by a preventive gastropexy
- Multi-drug resistance mutation (MDR1), which occurs in Old English Sheepdogs and is detectable by DNA test
- Autoimmune thyroiditis, diagnosed on a thyroid blood panel
- Congenital deafness linked to white pigment, detectable by BAER testing
Your Sheepadoodle puppy's first six months
- Vaccination schedule, dated for your country.
- Worming and parasite schedule.
- Feeding calculator. Set expected adult size to Large for a Sheepadoodle.
- Adult size predictor, to check growth against the 29.5 to 38.6 kg adult range.
- Puppy names and the first week checklist.
Kit sizes: crate 42 inch (42 x 28 x 30 in, 107 x 71 x 76 cm) for an adult of up to 38.6 kg; chew toys made for large breeds. Worked out the same way as the crate size calculator. PetMD bases a crate on the dog's own measurements, not weight or breed alone, so measure once the puppy is home.
Buying guides for this
Other large breeds
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Not veterinary advice. Breed information is general. Your own dog, and your own vet, always win.
Sources
- petmd.com for adult weight and height, life expectancy, energy, grooming and the temperament ratings and coat type
- petmd.com for health notes
- Health notes from Sheepadoodle breed information at https://www.petmd.com/dog/breeds/old-english-sheepdog. Discuss any of these with your own vet.
No published figure for country of origin, so nothing is shown rather than a guess.
Photo: Ironlion27, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped. All photographers are listed on the photo credits page.