Labradoodle Rescue: Best Places Look in 2023

Updated 05/23/2023 – If you have your heart set on getting a Labradoodle, but also want to give a dog in need a home, a Labradoodle rescue might be the best option for you. 

This was our situation.  

We needed an allergy friendly dog, but my daughter wanted to adopt one. So we met in the middle and started looking for a doodle in need of a home. 

Although, there are many dogs that need a home, finding a particular type can be very challenging. Especially when that breed is the ever popular Labradoodle.

But, you can still find one if you know where to look. Join us as we show you want we learned from our own search for a Labradoodle.

Where are the best places to find a Labradoodle to adopt?

The best places to find a Labradoodle rescue is at a rescue group that specializes in re-homing and rescuing Labradoodles or doodles in general. These groups understand what it is like to take care of a doodle and offer resources that go beyond just placing a dog a new home.

Many of these places will not be local to you, but offer an extensive volunteer network to help Labradoodles throughout the USA.

Here we will show you the 14 best Labradoodle rescue groups we have found to find a dog, plus tips to help you get pass the adoption process.

As I mentioned, Labradoodles and mini Labradoodles are still two of the most popular dog breeds of the poodle mix breeds.  Even finding one through a reputable breeder can be difficult without a long wait.

When we were looking a puppy, all the quality breeders in our area had long wait lists. So finding a Labradoodle in need of a home is rare, but you can still find one if you are diligent.

Just be prepared to be one of many people hoping to adopt.  

Not sure if you want to get a Labradoodle or a Goldendoodle? Maybe you would like to understand the differences between the two before deciding? In our post Goldendoodles vs Labradoodles we lay out the differences and why one might be better for you.

Also check out our post on Goldendoodle Rescues, Bernedoodle Rescues, Doodle Rescues, Cavapoo Rescue and Poodle Rescues for more ideas on where to find a doodle rescue.

Are you ready to share your life with a Labradoodle Rescue?

Before you start looking for a Labradoodle rescue make sure you do your research.  You should look into what it takes to care for a Labradoodle. 

Labradoodles are high energy dogs that like to be around people. They are neither content to lie around the house all day or be alone for long stretches of time.

Plus if they have a wavy or curly coat they will need regular grooming which can become expensive. Large doodles can cost over $100 to be professionally groomed and they need to go to the groomer every two months.

You also need to be prepared for life with a rescue dog.  Sometimes rescue dogs come from difficult lives or have special medical needs. They may need special care and guidance to help them live a normal life. 

Labradoodle Rescue

There are a few rescues that specialize in labradoodles. Most are local rescues but two are national; IDOG and Doodle Rescue Collective.

Because they are national, well know organizations, they tend to have more available Labradoodles then the smaller local rescues.

If you are serious about finding a labradoodle you should be looking at all available options.

Disclosure: We do not endorse any of the groups or websites listed in this post. Please make sure you do your research.

National Labradoodle Rescue

1. IDOG Rescue

Service Area: Alabama (AL), Alaska (AK), Arizona (AZ), Arkansas (AR), California (CA), Colorado (CO), Connecticut (CT), Delaware (DE), District of Columbia (DC), Florida (FL), Georgia (GA), Idaho (ID), Illinois (IL), Indiana (IN), Iowa (IA), Kansas (KS), Kentucky (KY), Louisiana (LA), Maine (ME), Maryland (MD), Massachusetts (MA), Michigan (MI), Minnesota (MN), Mississippi (MS), Missouri (MO), Montana (MT), Nebraska (NE), Nevada (NV), New Hampshire (NH), New Jersey (NJ), New Mexico (NM), New York (NY), North Carolina (NC), North Dakota (ND), Ohio (OH), Oklahoma (OK), Oregon (OR), Pennsylvania (PA), Rhode Island (RI), South Carolina (SC), South Dakota (SD), Tennessee (TN), Texas (TX), Utah (UT), Vermont (VT), Virginia (VA), Virgin Islands (VI), Washington (WA), West Virginia (WV), Wisconsin (WI), Wyoming (WY)

IDOG is a national, foster-based, non-profit dog rescue that was started in 2006. They specialize in assisting Labradoodles, Goldendoodles & Standard Poodles/mixes that need to be rescued from shelters or are in need of rehoming.

Although IDOG Rescue is based in Houston, Texas, they use a network of volunteers across the US and parts of Canada to rescue Doodles from shelters.

IDOG works with shelters around the country to ensure that doodles are pulled as quickly as possible. 

Once rescued from the shelters the dogs are placed in a foster home where they are evaluated, brought to a vet to be checked and generally taken care of until they are ready for adoption.

They also have a rehoming program that helps people who can no longer care for their doodle find a forever home for their dog.

According to their website IDOG has successfully helped place over 2,600 doodles into their new forever homes.

IDOG Information

For more information about IDOG, including the adoption process and application please visit their website.

You can find IDOG adoptable dogs at

• Website
• Facebook

2. Doodle Rescue Collective

Doodle Rescue Collective Service Area: Alabama (AL), Alaska (AK), Arizona (AZ), Arkansas (AR), California (CA), Colorado (CO), Connecticut (CT), Delaware (DE), District of Columbia (DC), Florida (FL), Georgia (GA), Idaho (ID), Illinois (IL), Indiana (IN), Iowa (IA), Kansas (KS), Kentucky (KY), Louisiana (LA), Maine (ME), Maryland (MD), Massachusetts (MA), Michigan (MI), Minnesota (MN), Mississippi (MS), Missouri (MO), Montana (MT), Nebraska (NE), Nevada (NV), New Hampshire (NH), New Jersey (NJ), New Mexico (NM), New York (NY), North Carolina (NC), North Dakota (ND), Ohio (OH), Oklahoma (OK), Oregon (OR), Pennsylvania (PA), Rhode Island (RI), South Carolina (SC), South Dakota (SD), Tennessee (TN), Texas (TX), Utah (UT), Vermont (VT), Virginia (VA), Virgin Islands (VI), Washington (WA), West Virginia (WV), Wisconsin (WI), Wyoming (WY) and parts of Canada

Founded in 2008 the Doodle Rescue Collective Inc. specializes in the rescue and re-homing of Labradoodles & Goldendoodle (doodle) dogs.

Plus, they provide general educational resources and support services to doodle owners through their website.

The group is comprised of over 1,000 registered volunteers. DRC Volunteers can be found nationwide and in parts of Canada working to rescue dogs from shelters.

They also foster these dogs until they find their forever home. Much like IDOG they do not operate a shelter facility.

Once in the program Doodles are assessed and evaluated for general health and temperament.

In addition doodles receive complete veterinary care as necessary, including immunizations, worming, HW testing and preventatives, flea and tick preventatives, spay/neuter and micro-chipping.

All doodles are spayed and or neutered prior to leaving foster care.

Once a doodle is in the care of Doodle Collective Rescue it can take between two weeks to two months before a doodle is ready for adoption. The length of time depends on the individual dog’s health and/or behavioral needs.

Doodle Rescue Collective Inc. Contact Information

For more information about Doodle Rescue Collective, including the adoption process and application please visit their website.

You can find Doodle Rescue Collective adoptable dogs at

• Facebook

Regional Labradoodle Rescue

3. Delaware Valley Golden Retriever Rescue

Delaware Valley Golden Retriever Rescue Service Area: Eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware (DE), Maryland (MD) & New Jersey (NJ).

The Delaware Valley Golden Retriever Rescue is a non-profit organization that rescues and rehomes displaced Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, Goldendoodles, Labradoodles and other dogs in need.

DVGRR houses their rescues in a 50 kennel run facility called Golden Gateway, which is located in just outside of Reading, PA.

Since 1993, Delaware Valley Golden Retriever Rescue has successfully placed over 5,000 Golden Retrievers and other DVGRR dogs into new homes per their website,

Once at the DVGRR facility dogs are assessed and evaluated for general health and temperament. In addition to that incoming dogs receive complete veterinary care at their on-site veterinarian clinic.

The DVGRR holds monthly meet and greets for approved adoptees to come meet with the dogs at the facility.

Delaware Valley Golden Retriever Rescue Contact Information

For more information about Delaware Valley Golden Retriever Rescue, including the adoption process and application please visit their website.

You can find DVGRR adoptable dogs at

• Website
• Facebook

4. Doodle Rock Rescue

Service Area: 350 miles within Dallas, TX area

Doodle Rock Rescue is a nonprofit, foster-based, volunteer-run rescue located in the Dallas/Fort Worth, TX area. They specialize in rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming poodle mixes (doodles) in need.

Since being founded in 2017, Doodle Rock Rescue has rescued, rehabilitated, and rehomed 900+ dogs in need.

Their priority is to help dogs in South Texas shelters, where they have some of the highest euthanasia rates in the nation, but will accept dogs from all over the United States.

They will only accept applications from people who live within 350 miles of Dallas, TX, due to home visit requirements

In addition to offering rescue services, Doodle Rock Rescue opened the CHEW Animal Clinic.

The goal of the clinic is to provide high quality, yet affordable veterinarian care for local shelters, animal rescues groups and qualified families within the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

CHEW also provides on-site group training to assist families and rescue partners with mild behavioral concerns. 

Doodle Rock Rescue Contact Information

For more information about Doodle Rock Rescue, including the adoption process and application please visit their website.

You can find Doodle Rock Rescue adoptable dogs at

• Website
• Facebook

5. Doodle Dandy Rescue

Service Area: Texas (TX)

Doodle Dandy Rescue is a nonprofit located in the Dallas/Fort Worth, TX area. They are a foster-based rescue, with volunteers in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Houston.

This is a 100% volunteer rescue that relies on the help and donations of people who care about dogs.

The mission of Doodle Dandy Rescue is to rescue, rehabilitate & rehome all types of Doodle dog in there service area.

They will only allow people to adopt from them if they live within a 5 hour drive of the main location outside of Dallas.

According to their website in just two years, Doodle Dandy Rescue has rescued, rehabilitated & rehomed over 300 Doodles.

Doodle Dandy Rescue Contact Information

For more information about Doodle Dandy Rescue, including the adoption process and application please visit their website.

You can find Doodle Dandy Rescue adoptable dogs at

• Website
• Facebook

6. Carolina Poodle Rescue

Service Area; North South Carolina and surrounding areas

Carolina Poodle Rescue is a nonprofit rescue organization that specializes in Poodles, and Poodle mixes. But they also offer help to other dogs in need.

They have volunteers in many states including North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, New York, Texas, and Georgia. Dogs in the care of this rescue reside at Dreamweaver Farm located in north South Carolina until they are adopted.

Carolina Poodle Rescue Contact Information

For more information about Carolina Poodle Rescue, including the adoption process and application please visit their website.

You can find Carolina Poodle Rescue adoptable dogs at

• Website
• Facebook

7. NorCal Poodle Rescue

Service Area: Northern California area.

NorCal Poodle Rescue is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1985 by a poodle breeder. She saw a need to help Poodle and Poodle mixes find new forever homes and stepped up to help.

Since then the group has rescued and rehomed about 2,000 dogs in the North California area.

Needing more space to help dogs in need the NorCal Poodle Rescue made the decision to board their rescues instead of using foster homes. Only a few dogs are fostered.

NorCal Poodle Rescue Contact Information

For more information about NorCal Poodle Rescue, including the adoption process and application please visit their website

You can find NorCal Poodle Rescue adoptable dogs at

• Website
• Facebook

8. Florida Poodle Rescue, Inc.

Service Area: Florida (FL)

Florida Poodle Rescue, Inc. is a non-profit rescue specializing in the rehoming of Poodles and Poodle mixes. They are headquartered in the Tampa Bay area, but provide rehoming services throughout the state of Florida.

Dogs are kept in foster homes until they are adopted by their forever family.

Since the start of the Florida Poodle Rescue in 1994, they are rehomed over 10,000 Poodles and Poodle Mixes.

Florida Poodle Rescue, Inc Contact Information

For more information about Florida Poodle Rescue, Inc,, including the adoption process and application please visit their website.

You can find Florida Poodle Rescue, Inc, adoptable dogs at

• Website
• Facebook

9. For the Love of Poodles and Pooches Rescue

Service Area: Richmond, Virginia

For the Love of Poodles and Pooches Rescue in Richmond, Virginia was founded in 2013 in memory of the founder’s beloved toy poodles. The rescue was started for Poodles in need but as the rescue grew they expanded to include all types of dogs.

They have a number of Doodles available for adoption throughout the year.

Their belief is that everyone can make a difference in the world, one rescued dog at a time. Rescued dogs are kept in foster until the right family is found.

For the Love of Poodles and Pooches Rescue Contact Information

To find out more about For the Love of Poodles and Pooches Rescue, including the adoption process and application please visit their website.

You can find FLOPAP Rescue adoptable dogs at:

• Website
• Facebook

10. SPIN – Standard Poodles in Need

Standard Poodles in Need Service Area: Greater Toronto, Canada

Standard Poodles In Need, Rescue & Rehome is a Canadian non-profit foster-based organization based in the greater Toronto area but have volunteers throughout Canada.  They specialize in standard poodles but also offer help to other poodle types and poodle mixes.   

Standard Poodles in Need Contact Information

For more information about Standard Poodles in Need, including the adoption process and application please visit their website at:

You can find Standard Poodles in Need adoptable dogs at

• Website
• Facebook

Still More Places to Find a Labradoodle Rescue

In addition to breed specific rescue sites you can find Labradoodles at local shelters and non-breed specific rescues. There are a few places you can look.

11. Petfinder.com – Petfinder.com allows you to sort by breeds, including Labradoodle. You can even set up an alert to let you know when a new Labradoodle is listed. This is how we found our pup.

12. Adoptapet.com – Adopt-a-pet is another site that rescue groups use to let people know about available dogs.

13. Instagram.com – Also has specific hashtags for Labradoodle rescues. You can follow these hashtags and see when new doodles are coming up for adoption. Hashtags:

• #Labradoodlerescue
• #Rescuelabradoodle
• #doodlerescue

Please let us know if you find other hashtags for Labradoodle rescues.

14. Facebook – There are a few non-rescue Facebook groups that help spread the word about doodles in need of a home. Just be careful to do your research to make sure you are dealing with reputable people.

• All Doodles Adoptions and Rehome
• Doodles and Poodles Rescue and Adoption Network

You can also search on “Labradoodle rescue” or “Labradoodle rehome” to find additional Facebook groups that can help.

Labradoodle Rescue FAQ

How do I get approved for a rescue dog?

7 tips to increase your chance of being selected for a rescue

• Be open to the color, fur type, age and gender, your future rescue may be. Very specific preferences will limit your ability to be matched with a dog.

• Read the adoption policies and make sure you understand the process. Then follow it.

• Review the rescue’s requirements. Make sure you meet the requirements before sending in an application.

• Be prepared. If the rescue requires personal references or one from your veterinarian, let the person know that they may receive a call before you fill out the application.

• Complete the application in its entirety. Don’t leave out information.

• Be patient. Unlike breeders who breed on a schedule, rescue dogs do not become available based on a schedule. Sometimes there will be an influx of dogs but most of the time you will need to wait for a rescue dog. Also there may be a line of potential adopters already looking for the same dog breed. If they have already been approved you will need to wait for your turn to adopt.

• Keep looking. When we found our doodle I was checking the various websites and Facebook groups daily to see what new rescues were available

10 Reasons Why Labradoodles End Up in Shelters

• Owner dies or becomes sick and can no longer care for them

• Unrealistic expectations of the breed.  Both Labradors and Poodle are high energy dogs. Put them together and you also get a high energy dog.   

• Released from puppy mills when they became too old to sell.

• Health problems – Dogs that are poorly bred and without proper care can end up sick.

• First time dog parent who doesn’t know how to properly train a dog.

• Doesn’t have the desired look.  I hate to say this one but it does happen. Not all Labradoodles come with the soft wavy hair. Some come with wiry hair or straight hair.  But you cannot tell until they are adults.

• They shed more than expected. Unless doodles are genetically tested for the shedding genes and then carefully breed their offspring may still shed. To learn more about the shedding genes check out our post on the mini Goldendoodle.

• They are not hypoallergenic as claimed.  Only one of the first three Labradoodle puppies Wally Conron bred, for the Royal Guide Dog Association, was able to pass the sniff test for the women with allergies.  In the next litter only three out of ten passed the test. Although some Labradoodles can be allergy friendly that does not guarantee that they all are.

• The grooming cost and time. Curly and wavy haired Labradoodles need to be brushed and combed every day. They also need a haircut every two months on average.  This can easily cost over $600 a year depending on the size and location of the doodle.     

Please take the time to research the breed before buying or adopting one.

What is included in the cost of adopting a Labradoodle rescue?

Fees to adopt vary based on the rescue but most rescues cover basic check-ups and make sure the dogs are up to date with required vaccines.

To learn more about the cost of adoption and what’s included check out our post on How Much Does It Cost to Adopt a Dog?

Looking for a name for your doodle?

We have some posts that will help you find the perfect name for you new friend

• Unique Dog Names: Plus Tips on How to Pick One
• Australian Dog Names: 200 Dog Names to Choose From
• 550 British Dog Names
• French Dog Names: Over 450 Names To Choose From
• Flower Names For Dogs: Plus Nature Inspired Dog Names
• White Dog Names: 375+ Names for White Dogs
• Black Dog Names: 450+ Names for Black Dogs

Happy Tails!

Wishing you all a happy ending by finding your prefect pup like we did.

Please share your happy tails with us. Also I you have experience with any of the rescues listed or have other useful tips please share them in the comments.