Lagotto Romagnolo vs Labradoodle — The Battle of the Non-Shedders
They’re regarded as impressively non-shedding breeds — but in a Lagotto vs Labradoodle face-off, which is the true hypoallergenic king?
With both these dogs considered easily trainable, boasting lively and friendly natures, and featuring mainly curly coats — it would be easy to assume that they’re almost interchangeable.
Yet, look beneath the surface, and the differences are significant, and at times, shocking. It’s time to get the battle started and see how Labradoodles and Lagottos measure up.
Table of Contents
Lagotto vs Labradoodle Comparison Chart
Lagotto Romagnolo vs Labradoodle — The Breeds
Is the Lagotto Romagnolo For Me?
Labradoodle vs Lagotto Romagnolo Size
Labradoodle vs Lagotto Temperament
Lagotto Romagnolo vs Labradoodle Training
Lagotto Romagnolo vs Labradoodle Shedding
Labradoodle vs Lagotto Grooming Requirements
Lagotto Romagnolo vs Labradoodle Exercise Needs
Lagotto vs Labradoodle Comparison Chart
| Lagotto | Labradoodle | |
| Personality | Alert Lively Intelligent Friendly Curious Loyal | Loyal Playful Sociable Outgoing Gentle Silly |
| Family Dog | Yes | Yes |
| Height | 16-19 inches | 22-24 inches |
| Weight | 24-35 pounds | 50-65 pounds |
| Cost (USD)* Varies depending on the country | $3000-$5000 | $1500-$2500 |
| Hypoallergenic | Yes | Sometimes |
| Lifespan | 14-16 years | 12-14 years |
| Coat Colors | White, off-white, golden, brown, white with brown spots, orange patches, roan | Gold, apricot, café, caramel, cream, chalk, parchment, black, chocolate, red, silver, blue |
| Trainability | Easy
Intelligent, they can be trained to retrieve, hunt truffles, and they excel in obedience. | Easy
Responds quickly to instruction. Needs significant stimulation to prevent boredom. |
Lagotto Romagnolo vs Labradoodle — The Breeds
Lagotto Romagnolo
Curious, affectionate, and intelligent — the Lagotto Romagnolo is a sporting dog with a massive heart. Originally bred in the rural landscape of Romagna as a water retriever — it’s now used around the world as an unmatched canine truffle hunter with its incredible sense of smell.
Medium-sized, lively, playful, and intelligent, these dogs are fast and keen learners and excel in agility exercises. Its curled coat is non-shedding and repels water and mud — making it ideal as an outdoor adventure companion.
Is the Lagotto Romagnolo for Me?
With a background in outdoor working, Lagottos will thrive in your family if you’re happy to spend time exploring and exercising in nature. Furthermore, you need patience and dedication to make their play times stimulating — as the intelligent Lagottos can become rapidly bored with repetitive tasks and games.
Their dirt-shedding coat keeps grooming to a minimum — a bonus if a natural, unpretentious dog appeals. It’s also important that you have the time and determination to socialize your Lagotto from an early age — otherwise, they can become slightly territorial.
Pros
- Adores outdoor play.
- Low-maintenance coat — just comb.
- Fast learner.
- Hypoallergenic coat and low drool.
Cons
- Subject to separation anxiety.
- Needs significant exercise and stimulation.
- Requires socialization to prevent territorial behavior.
Labradoodle
A cross between the Labrador and Poodle, the Labradoodle was originally created to be a hypoallergenic guide dog — combining the non-shedding coat of the Poodle with the temperament and intelligence of the Labrador. It’s widely considered to be the dog that began the designer Oodles trend.
Due to the crossing of breeds, its genetic make-up varies, which means there is some difference in shedding, and size and weight characteristics across individual dogs. Furthermore, this disparity is also reflected in coat types — whether straight or curly, shedding or non-shedding — and fur colors.
Is the Labradoodle for Me?
If you have children — Labradoodle are excellent companions. Playful and affectionate, they love larking around with younger family members, and their robust build means they can handle the roughhousing of younger kids.
As bundles of energy, you’ll need to dedicate at least an hour of your day to exercising and playing with your Labradoodle. Forget to do this, and their boredom will result in destructive behavior. And naturally, since they love running and bounding around, they’re unsuitable if you live in an apartment.
Pros
- Low propensity for barking.
- Excellent with children.
- Low odor coat.
- Loving companions for single people.
- Easy to train.
Cons
- Different coat types mean a range of hypoallergenic levels.
- Prone to hip dysplasia.
- Challenging to predict full adult size.
Labradoodle vs Lagotto Romagnolo Size
Generally speaking, both Lagottos and Labradoodles are in the medium-sized dog category. However, remember this — Lagottos are purebred, Labradoodles are a crossbreed.
Therefore, while it’s relatively easy to guess the full-grown size of a Lagotto — the adult height of a Labradoodle depends both on the size of its poodle parent, and a little bit of potluck. This means that Labradoodles, in some circumstances, may be considered large dogs.
When looking at the full-grown Labradoodle and Lagotto Romagnolo:
- An adult Labradoodle can grow to around 24 inches and weigh no more than 65 pounds.
- Lagotto Romagnolos weigh up to 35 pounds and can grow to a height of around 19 inches.
Lagotto vs Labradoodle Temperament
Behavior
Easy to train and willing to learn, Lagottos and Labradoodles can display excellent obedience and good behavior.
Furthermore, both breeds exhibit excellent temperament around children. Although, it’s important that you socialize the Lagotto with kids from an early age — otherwise, Lagottos become wary of smaller humans. Labradoodles, conversely, simply don’t care, will accept anyone of any age, and stand up to rough and tumble.
Separation Anxiety
Both Labradoodles and Lagottos are prone to separation anxiety — although typically, it’s the Doodle that will suffer the most.
Labradoodles are renowned for being people focused and attentive. Leave them alone for extended periods, and they often become distressed — leading to continual barking and/or chewing.
While Lagottos have a similarly strong connection with their owners — and naturally experience separation anxiety — their independent nature allows them to cope better with being apart. Leaving a Lagotto with toys and puzzles that are likely to stimulate the dog can alleviate many issues.
Lagotto Romagnolo vs Labradoodle Training
Lagotto Romagnolo
Socializing Lagottos from an early age — both with other dogs and humans — is crucial. Significantly benefitting from being exposed to different places, situations, and people — they rapidly build confidence. However, if this is missing from their training, they can become territorial and protective.
Highly intelligent, they’re eager to learn. Starting with basic obedience commands, you can then build up to more complex hunting and retrieving skills. The key is to keep the training varied — as they can quickly become bored and lose interest.
In addition to the dog’s natural propensity for hunting activities, the natural nimbleness and energy of Lagotto Romagnolos make them ideal for agility and Flyball tasks.
Labradoodle
Eager to please, Labradoodles respond easily and willingly to training. Using positive reinforcement, even inexperienced or novice dog owners can house-train a Labradoodle and teach it basic obedience commands.
Depending on the intelligence of the dog — as being a crossbreed this can vary — you may be able to teach the Labradoodle more advanced abilities. This can include retrieval, agility, therapy, and service dog tasks.
Although not as crucial as for Lagottos, early socialization and environmental exposure allow them to rapidly become comfortable and confident. Also, bear in mind that the attention span of a Labradoodle is not as long as that of a Lagotto, so keep the Doodle’s training sessions short.
Labradoodle vs Lagotto Price
The prices of dogs can vary greatly — especially in purebreds, such as the Lagotto, where the parentage can significantly affect value. However, generally speaking, here are the average prices of these two dogs:
- Labradoodle — $1500 to $2500.
- Lagotto Romagnolo — $3000 up to around $5000.
Lagotto Romagnolo vs Labradoodle Shedding
Both Lagottos and Labradoodles are considered low-shedding dogs — making them ideal for people with allergies. However, it must be noted that Labradoodles may also be a shedding dog, since their coat may be more like the Labrador’s coat, which sheds.
Lagotto Romagnolo
Their curly, almost wooly coat sheds very little. Furthermore, these curls help to trap and hold discarded hair, keeping any of the natural molting to a minimum. However, this means that some grooming is required — even if it is just a quick comb-through.
Labradoodle
While generally low on the shedding scale, some Labradoodles can exhibit moderate molting — all depending on the type of coat and genetics they inherit from their parents.
Usually, those with wooly, Poodle-like curls shed the least — while Labradoodles with straight coats like Labradors shed the most.
Labradoodle vs Lagotto Grooming Requirements
Both Lagottos and Labradoodles require grooming. Any dog that’s low-shedding requires combing or brushing to remove any stray and trapped hairs, prevent matting, and allow the skin to breathe.
Brushing and Combing
Never brush a Lagotto or a tight-curled Labradoodle. Unless you’re a professional showing the dog, you will create fluff and frizzle that will rapidly mat — meaning your only solution is to shave the dog.
Instead, comb these curled dogs once orat least twice a week. Labradoodles with straighter, Labrador-type coats can be brushed.
Grooming
Depending on how long you wish your Labradoodle’s coat to grow, and how much time you can dedicate to brushing will determine how often you will clip your Labradoodle. A general recommendation is to have them groomed every 6 to 8 weeks.
Lagottos rarely need to be clipped. From as little as once a year in summer, according to breeder Ray Sharpe, as long as you comb it regularly.
Bathing
The general opinion is that you should bathe your Labradoodle or Lagotto once a month to keep the coat clean, reduce odor, and promote good health.
However, many Lagotto experts have a more radical view. Ray Sharpe — a seasoned Lagotto breeder — says that,
The Lagottos tight-curled and lanolin-protected coats provide a protective barrier. You don’t need to wash it — the coat will clean itself. The dirt and detritus dries, the dog shakes, and the muck comes off due to the defensive nature of the lanolin. Only bathe your dog when it smells. If it doesn’t smell, don’t do it.
Tear Stains
Both Labradoodles and Lagottos experience tear stains — often caused by allergies, genetics, or blocked tear ducts.
Keeping hair around the eyes short, trimmed, and clean can reduce the amount of tearing. Furthermore, you can utilize tear stain wipes or tear remover to clean up the stains.
Nails
Labradoodles need their nails trimmed every month. The same applies to Lagottos — but take care.
They possess long and hooked nails designed for digging. Typically, the quick is longer than in other dogs, so only remove a small amount.
Teeth
With both Lagottos and Labradoodles, it’s advisable to start a tooth-cleaning regime as early as possible.
Using dog-specific toothpaste, brush their teeth two to three times every week.
Lagotto Romagnolo vs Labradoodle Exercise Needs
Both Lagottos and Labradoodles need regular exercise. Loving to run and play, these two breeds thrive on outdoor activities.
Lagotto Romagnolo
Lagottos love to hunt, dig, retrieve, and climb — anything that involves adventure in nature. Furthermore, they adore solving puzzles, so any exercise that combines mental interaction is welcomed. And, since they were originally bred as water retrievers, they’re more than happy to go swimming.
Labradoodle
Labradoodles require exercise not just for health reasons, but also to work-out their high energy levels. Insufficient activity can lead to boredom and frustration, which will be protested in your house through chewing and destruction. They love games of fetch, tug-of-war, and adore agility training.
Conclusion
High energy, low-shedding, highly active, and usually medium-sized — Lagottos and Labradoodles share a great number of characteristics.
That said, Lagottos can be a little more aloof than Labradoodles — especially if they lack early socialization. And, while both breeds are excellent with children, the hardier nature of the Labradoodle makes them more suited to toddlers.
Outdoor adventurers will adore the Lagottos truffle-hunting, swimming, and gorse exploring nature — while happy-go-lucky families will cherish the Labradoodle’s bouncy, almost goofy character.
However, by being a purebred, the Lagotto is more predictable — both in adult appearance, fur characteristics, and temperament. The Labradoodle, however, can be more of a surprise as the relative strengths of its parents’ genetics affect its coat, size, and behavior tendencies.
Therefore, for the allergy sufferer who demands a guaranteed non-shedding dog, the Labradoodle could be a sneeze-inducing gamble. The winner in this Lagotto Romagnolo vs Labradoodle face-off has to be the reliable Lagotto.
Lagotto vs Labradoodle FAQs
What’s the Difference Between a Lagotto Romagnolo vs Doodle?
The Lagotto Romagnolo is a sporting dog hailing from Italy — and a purebred. The Doodle is a mixed breed, where a Poodle is mated with a different breed.
What Are Lagotto Romagnolos Used For?
Originally bred as duck retrievers, today Lagottos are used for truffle hunting. Their impressive sense of smell combined with a compact build for driving through bushes and gorse makes them ideal for locating the aromatic fungi.
What’s the Difference Between a Lagotto Romagnolo vs Goldendoodle
Lagottos are purebred dogs that are medium-sized, have a curly, wooly coat, and are excellent retrievers and swimmers.
Goldendoodles are crosses between Golden Retrievers and Poodles. While all generally are active with a pleasant temperament, their coat types can vary widely from flat to curly.
What Are Lagotto Romagnolo Similar Breeds?
Often considered the original water dog, the Lagotto Romagnolo shares many characteristics with its other swimming-loving cousins — such as, the:
Do Labradoodles Have Health Problems?
Common issues inherent to Labradoodles include hip dysplasia and cataracts. Also, loving to eat food, Labradoodles often become overweight.
