How Big Do Mini Goldendoodles Get? Our 3-Year-Old Is 10 Pounds (Growth Photos)
How big do mini goldendoodles get? If you go by the official size chart, a mini stands 14 to 17 inches at the shoulder and usually weighs 26 to 35 pounds. Our mini goldendoodle is 3 years and 9 months old, and he weighs 10.2 pounds. That’s not a typo.
I weighed him and measured his shoulder height at home this month, and I pulled together photos of him from the day he came home at 14 weeks old until now. If you’re trying to guess how big your own puppy will get, or you’re deciding whether a mini is the right size for you, I hope seeing one real dog at every stage helps more than another range of numbers.
He shares the house with our 14-year-old Pomeranian and our 3-year-old maltipoo, so I also lined the three of them up to show how he compares to two other small dogs.
| Age | 3 years and 9 months (born February 2023) |
| Weight now | 10.2 lb (4.6 kg), weighed at home |
| Shoulder height | About 11.5 to 12 inches (29 to 30.5 cm) |
| Parents | A second-generation goldendoodle and a toy poodle |
| Official mini range (GANA) | 14 to 17 inches, typically 26 to 35 lb |
| Where he lands on that chart | Petite: under 14 inches, 25 lb or less |
| Came home | At 14 weeks old, in May 2023 |
| Coat | Almost straight and very fine, and he sheds very little |
| Best for / Good to know | Best for people who want a small, calm doodle that’s easy to pick up. Good to know: his fine coat tangles faster than our other two dogs’ coats, so he gets brushed every morning |
How Big Do Mini Goldendoodles Get? The Official Sizes vs Our Boy
The Goldendoodle Association of North America (GANA) sorts goldendoodles into four sizes, and it measures them at the withers, which is the top of the shoulder blades. Here’s their chart, with our boy added at the bottom so you can see where he lands.
| Size | Shoulder height | Typical weight |
|---|---|---|
| Petite | Under 14 inches | 25 lb or less |
| Miniature | 14 to 17 inches | 26 to 35 lb |
| Medium | 17 to 21 inches | 36 to 50 lb |
| Standard | Over 21 inches | 51 lb or more |
| Our mini goldendoodle at 3 years 9 months | About 11.5 to 12 inches | 10.2 lb |
Size chart from the GANA goldendoodle sizes page, checked November 2026.
By that chart, our mini goldendoodle is actually a petite, and a small one, since he weighs less than half of the petite limit. We’ve always called him our mini goldendoodle, and that’s what most people search for, so that’s what I call him here too.
His parents were a second-generation goldendoodle and a toy poodle. Toy poodles stand 10 inches or under at the shoulder, so with one in the mix, it makes sense that he ended up this small.
GANA says it plainly on the same page: a breeder’s estimate of a puppy’s adult size is an educated guess, and the final size can turn out different. Guides online list mini goldendoodles anywhere from about 15 to 45 pounds, and ours came in under the low end of almost every range I’ve seen. So if you’re looking at a mini puppy, it helps to expect a range, not one exact number.
How I Measured Him at Home (Weight and Shoulder Height)
For weight, I used the same hold-and-subtract trick I used for our maltipoo. I weighed myself on our bathroom scale, then weighed myself again holding him, and subtracted the first number from the second. It came out to 10.2 pounds, which is about 4.6 kilograms. Bathroom scales round a little, so I think of it as 10 pounds, give or take a couple of tenths.
On the left I’m weighing myself, and on the right I’m holding him. I covered the numbers on the scale, since one of them is my own weight. The subtraction is the part that matters anyway.
For height, he stood on a flat floor and I held a tape measure straight up beside his front legs, then read the number at the top of his shoulders, right where his neck meets his back. That spot is the withers, and it’s where every size chart measures. He came out at about 11.5 to 12 inches. He had his fleece vest on, and it adds a little puff on top, so his real number is probably a touch under 12.
Getting a small dog to stand square and still is the hard part. It took me about a dozen photos to get one where all four of his feet were planted and the tape was straight.
Our Mini Goldendoodle’s Growth in Photos, From 14 Weeks to Now
I didn’t keep a log of his weight as a puppy, so photos are what I have. Honestly, they tell the story pretty well. Here’s all of it on one card, and each photo is a little bigger below.
He came home on May 16, 2023, when he was about 14 weeks old. Our maltipoo came home with him that same day from the same place, and the trip left both puppies so grimy that the first thing we did was give them a bath. He’s the bigger, fluffier one in front.
By late June 2023, at almost 5 months old, he was still a ball of reddish brown fluff. Here he’s the one in front on my lap, with our maltipoo tucked in behind him.
At 14 months, in April 2024, he looked like a different dog. He had a short haircut, his coat looked a lot lighter, and next to his puppy photos he looked like a young adult. He still had a little growing left to do, though.
This one is from November 2025, when he was 2 years and 9 months old, all bundled up in a fleece vest with his leash on.
His coat color has shifted a little over the years too. He was a deep reddish brown as a puppy, and he’s a lighter tan now.
When Do Mini Goldendoodles Stop Growing?
Most guides say mini goldendoodles reach their adult height somewhere around their first birthday, and that they can fill out a little after that. Ours took a bit longer. At 14 months he already had his adult shape, but he kept growing little by little until he was about a year and a half old. Since then he’s stayed about the same size.
GANA also says a goldendoodle’s size category is decided once the dog is an adult. So if your puppy is still under a year old, I’d wait before deciding which size you have.
How Big He Feels in Real Life
Numbers are one thing, but here’s what 10 pounds looks like in real life. When I hold him upright on the couch, he reaches from my collarbone down to my lap.
He’s light enough to scoop up without thinking about it, and as you can see in these photos, he’s pretty relaxed about being held.
How He Compares to Our Other Two Dogs
Living with three small dogs makes size comparisons easy. Our oldest is a 14-year-old Pomeranian who weighs 12 to 13 pounds, so she’s actually the heaviest of the three. If you’re curious about her, I wrote about how long Pomeranians live, with our 14-year-old. Our maltipoo is the same age as our mini goldendoodle, they were born 24 days apart, and he weighs about 8 pounds and stands 12 to 13 inches at the shoulder. Here’s how big our maltipoo actually got, with his weight from 6 months on.
| Dog | Age | Weight | Coat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Our Pomeranian | 14 years | 12 to 13 lb | Straight, and she sheds the most of the three |
| Our mini goldendoodle | 3 years 9 months | 10.2 lb | Almost straight and very fine, sheds very little |
| Our maltipoo | 3 years 8 months | About 8 lb | Curly, barely sheds |
That puts our mini goldendoodle right in the middle. He’s about 2 pounds heavier than our maltipoo, even though our maltipoo is about the same height or a little taller, and a little lighter than our Pomeranian. In this photo, our Pomeranian is on the left, our mini goldendoodle is in the middle in his vest, and our maltipoo is napping on the right.
Living With a 10-Pound Mini Goldendoodle
Size-wise, he’s an easy dog to live with, and he’s the calm one in our house. Brushing, ear cleaning and baths, he just sits there and lets me get it done, which I can’t say about the other two.
On walks, though, he has opinions. We walk all three on one leash, and he and our Pomeranian both want to be the one in front, so there’s a little tug of war between the two of them on our walks.
He and our maltipoo sleep pressed up against each other most nights. They act like an old married couple, leaning on each other and squabbling now and then.
His coat is the one thing that takes real work. It’s almost straight and very fine, and of our three dogs, he’s the one who tangles the fastest. I brush him every morning for about 3 minutes with a slicker brush, and he gets a full haircut every 8 to 10 weeks. In between, I wash his paws after every walk and give him a bath every two weeks. Here’s our whole routine for keeping the dogs clean between grooming appointments.
He sheds very little, especially next to our Pomeranian, whose brush fills up with gray undercoat every morning.
What to Know Before You Bring Home a Mini Goldendoodle
The adult size is an estimate until they grow up. Even GANA says a breeder’s size estimate is an educated guess. If you need a dog under a certain size, ask to see both parents and ask how big puppies from earlier litters ended up.
A small doodle still has a doodle coat. Being 10 pounds doesn’t make his coat any easier. Plan on brushing every day and a groomer every couple of months, and budget for it. Our groomer visits for all three dogs come to about $220 with the tip, and I shared how much to tip a dog groomer based on what we pay.
Small dogs gain weight fast. One pound on a 10-pound dog is 10 percent of his body weight. When our dogs were younger, I used treats to get them through brushing and ear cleaning, and they put on weight, so now treats are small and only once in a while. These days I make my own dehydrated chicken breast strips. If you’re not sure what a healthy weight is for your dog, that’s a good question for your vet.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you’re trying to figure out how big a mini goldendoodle gets, measure at the withers with the dog standing on a flat floor, weigh yourself with and without the dog and subtract, and compare both numbers to the GANA chart instead of the size name on the puppy listing. And if your puppy is still under a year old, give it time. Ours kept growing a little until he was about a year and a half.
Next up, I’m sharing the teddy bear cut our maltipoo gets from our groomer. If you have a mini goldendoodle, I’d love to know how much yours weighs and how tall yours is in the comments. And if you’re comparing breeds, here’s how big our same-age maltipoo got.
