The Australian Mountain Doodle
A Bernese Mountain Dog crossed with an Australian Labradoodle: the steady temperament of one, the coat of the other.
What is an Australian Mountain Doodle?
The Australian Mountain Doodle — often shortened to AMD — comes from crossing a Bernese Mountain Dog with an Australian Labradoodle. Depending on the line, the Bernese parent may be replaced by a Bernedoodle: the underlying mix stays the same, Bernese Mountain Dog and Poodle on one side, Australian Labradoodle on the other.
What breeders are after: the often tricolour coat and the calm of the Bernese Mountain Dog, together with the dense, low-shedding coat of the Australian Labradoodle, in a more moderate size. It is a recent cross, recognised by no kennel club, and litters are still less uniform than in an established breed.
Where the breed comes from
The Australian Mountain Doodle appeared in North America in the 2010s, in the wake of the Bernedoodle. The reasoning was straightforward: first-generation Bernedoodles produce beautiful dogs, but coat texture varies a great deal, and some puppies shed like a Bernese Mountain Dog.
Replacing the Poodle with an Australian Labradoodle — itself selected since the 1980s on coat texture, described as fleece or wool — makes that trait more predictable, while keeping the look and the temperament of the Bernese Mountain Dog.
The breed is young and has no official standard. What tells you a breeder is serious is therefore the parents: their health testing, their character, and the way the puppies are raised.
Character and temperament
A settled dog
The AMD usually inherits the calm of the Bernese Mountain Dog: indoors, it settles down and waits. It is deeply attached to its family, gentle with children, and shows no marked wariness towards strangers.
Sharp and attentive
The Australian Labradoodle side brings a willingness to work and genuine ease of learning. It picks things up quickly, which makes training a pleasure — and also makes bad habits easy to install if nothing is set out from the first weeks.
What it asks for
Company. This is a dog that lives with its people, not at the bottom of a garden, and it copes badly with long days alone. Being left on its own is something to build up gradually, from the day the puppy arrives.
Sizes
Adult size depends mostly on the Australian Labradoodle parent. The figures below are indicative: in a breed this recent, the estimate is made litter by litter.
Mini
35–43 cm · 12–20 kg
From a small Australian Labradoodle parent. A house dog that stays easy to carry around, without being fragile.
Medium
43–52 cm · 20–30 kg
The most common size, and the one most families are after: sturdy enough to follow you everywhere, measured enough for indoor life.
Standard
52–63 cm · 30–45 kg
The closest to the Bernese Mountain Dog. It needs room, a suitable car and a grooming budget to match.
The coat and its upkeep
This is the part not to underestimate: a doodle coat takes time every week, and a regular grooming budget.
Grooming
The coat is wavy to curly and grows continuously: brush it thoroughly two to three times a week, and daily while the puppy coat changes (roughly between 8 and 14 months), when mats form very quickly. A professional groom every two to three months.
Ears and eyes
Drop ears with hair inside them: check and clean them regularly. The groomer plucks the hair inside the ear canal. Keep the hair clear of the eyes so it does not irritate the cornea.
Exercise
Count on a good hour of activity a day, split into several outings: walking, play, training. This is a dog that enjoys hiking and learns fast; mental work matters as much as physical exercise.
Feeding and health checks
A ration suited to the expected adult size, watching growth closely in the larger dogs. Frequent veterinary visits during the first year, then an annual check-up.
No dog is entirely hypoallergenic. An Australian Mountain Doodle whose two parents both carry furnishing sheds very little, which often suits sensitive people; it is not a guarantee, and meeting the parents remains the only way to judge.
Who is the Australian Mountain Doodle for?
- Families: a tolerant dog that copes well with a busy house — provided the children also learn to leave it alone.
- People who go out every day: around an hour of activity daily, in any weather. A garden is no substitute for walks.
- People who accept the grooming: brushing several times a week and a groomer every two to three months, for the whole of the dog's life.
- People who are often at home: remote work, flexible hours or family support. This is not a dog for ten-hour absences.
- Less suitable: if you want a self-sufficient outdoor dog, a coat that needs no upkeep, or an adult size guaranteed to the centimetre.