Pennsylvania has five ALAA-registered Australian Labradoodle breeders with programs within about two hours of either Philadelphia or Harrisburg. Two are located close to Kennett Square, two more are in York County, and one more sits near the state capital.
Two Breeders Share a Corner of Chester County
Kennett Square, recognized nationally for its mushroom farms, is also home to two separate ALAA member kennels within a few miles of each other.
Wickersham Farm
Kimberly Knecht started Wickersham Farm after her own asthma diagnosis ruled out the shedding Labrador Retriever she’d originally planned to get. A chance encounter with a low-shedding dog on a business trip to Rhode Island led her to the Australian Labradoodle instead. The kennel’s focus is producing genuine multi-generational Australian Labradoodles bred for temperament, health, and therapy or service work, and it currently holds ALAA’s Silver Paw distinction.
Wickersham Farm is also the only breeder in this article that publishes an actual Pennsylvania kennel license number on its site, #18289, notable since most hobby breeders never reach the volume that requires one.
Location: Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
Email: info@wickershamfarm.com
Website: Wickersham Farm
Registry: ALAA (Silver Paw)
Spring Valley Australian Labradoodles
Michelle Stephens runs Spring Valley Australian Labradoodles as what she calls a one-woman show, fitting phone consultations around her own family’s schedule. The kennel sits along the I-95 corridor in southeastern Pennsylvania, convenient for buyers coming from Delaware, Maryland, or New Jersey as well as Pennsylvania itself, and it holds ALAA’s Silver Paw distinction as well.
Beyond standard litters, Spring Valley runs a trained-puppy program in which puppies get several weeks of individualized training before joining their new family, and the kennel occasionally places a guardian puppy with a local household when one becomes available.
Location: Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
Website: Spring Valley Australian Labradoodles
Registry: ALAA (Silver Paw)
York County Ties Two More Programs Together
Both the oldest and youngest ALAA programs in Pennsylvania sit in York County, and what ties them together is more than geography. Frosty Hill’s Kayla McDowell was introduced to the Australian Labradoodle by her husband’s aunt, Jan Sunday, who runs Slate Ridge with her husband Mike, the very kennel ALAA lists first in its Pennsylvania directory.
Australian Labradoodles of Slate Ridge
Slate Ridge is the longest-standing current ALAA member in Pennsylvania, according to ALAA’s own tenure-ordered directory, and it holds the association’s Platinum Paw distinction, the highest level of health-testing recognition ALAA awards.
Slate Ridge operates out of a small in-home program in Delta, right on the Maryland border. Their dogs live in the house as pets rather than kennel stock; stud dog Brody was born under the family’s own roof, while foundation female Olive lives with a guardian family, the Millers, in nearby Felton.
Location: Delta, Pennsylvania
Phone Number: 717-825-6942
Website: Australian Labradoodles of Slate Ridge
Registry: ALAA (Platinum Paw)
Frosty Hill Australian Labradoodles
Kayla and Scott McDowell run Frosty Hill Australian Labradoodles in York alongside their two young children, raising Miniature and Medium dogs that are whelped and socialized in the family home rather than a separate kennel building. Kayla previously worked as a veterinary assistant and ran an in-home dog-sitting business for five years before breeding full time.
From day three through day sixteen, Frosty Hill practices Early Neurological Stimulation, a series of brief, structured handling exercises meant to build stress tolerance and confidence during a puppy’s most sensitive developmental window. The kennel holds ALAA’s Golden Paw distinction and has placed puppies with families across Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.
Location: York, Pennsylvania
Phone Number: 717-884-1463
Website: Frosty Hill Australian Labradoodles
Registry: ALAA (Golden Paw)
One More Program Serves the State Capital Area
NoodleDoodles
Kim Norcott runs NoodleDoodles from Middletown, just south of Harrisburg, describing herself as an in-home breeder focused on strong bloodlines and dogs suited to both family life and therapeutic work. She also collaborates with other ALAA breeders around the country to widen the genetic pool available to her program.
As of this writing, Norcott lists NoodleDoodles’ next litter as anticipated in early 2027, with puppies priced at $3,200 plus Pennsylvania sales tax, so interested families should expect a wait and plan to apply well ahead of a planned litter.
Location: Middletown, Pennsylvania
Phone Number: 717-615-0538
Website: NoodleDoodles
Registry: ALAA
Being an ALAA Member Takes More Than Paying Dues
Every breeder featured here holds active ALAA membership, which means submitting pedigrees and minimum health testing results for every breeding dog in the program, providing written purchase agreements and health warranties on puppies sold, registering every litter produced, and following the association’s code of ethics.
Four of the five Pennsylvania breeders in this article go further, holding one of ALAA’s Platinum, Golden, or Silver Paw designations for health testing that exceeds the baseline requirement. Because these designations are reviewed and can change, buyers should confirm a kennel’s current standing directly through ALAA’s own online directory rather than relying on a badge posted to a breeder’s website.
Pennsylvania’s Puppy Protection Law Only Covers Licensed Sellers
Pennsylvania does have a dedicated consumer protection statute for sick puppies, the Dog Purchaser Protection Act at 73 P.S. § 201-9.3. If a dog develops a condition traceable to before the sale and the buyer notifies the seller within two business days of a veterinary exam, the buyer can choose a full refund, a replacement dog of equal value, or reimbursement of reasonable vet bills up to the purchase price; congenital or hereditary defects are covered for thirty days, and the seller must pay out within fourteen days of receiving the veterinarian’s certification.
However, there’s a significant catch in who the law actually protects buyers from. It defines a covered seller as an individual who owns or operates a kennel or pet shop licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture or the USDA, and Pennsylvania’s own Dog Law only requires that kennel license once an operation keeps or transfers twenty-six or more dogs in a calendar year.
Of the five breeders in this article, only Wickersham Farm publishes a kennel license number. Buyers working with any of the smaller home-based programs here would be wise to ask directly about licensing status and get a written health guarantee from the breeder rather than assume the state statute automatically applies.
Pennsylvania Puppies Face a Real Tick Problem
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health counts Lyme disease among the state’s most frequently reported infectious diseases, and the CDC’s own estimate suggests the actual case count runs roughly ten times higher than what gets officially reported. Infected ticks turn up in all sixty-seven Pennsylvania counties, including green spaces inside cities.
Dogs and other animals can contract Lyme disease just as people can. Penn State Extension notes that the blacklegged tick responsible for spreading it stays active for most of the year in Pennsylvania, from fall through winter thaws into early spring, with a second wave of nymphs active from late spring through summer. The American dog tick, also common statewide, doesn’t spread Lyme but does carry Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
New puppy owners in Pennsylvania should talk to their veterinarian early about tick prevention products and the Lyme vaccine, which is available for dogs even though no equivalent vaccine exists yet for people.
A Hawaii Allergy Sparked the Whole Breed
The Australian Labradoodle traces back to one very specific problem. A woman in Hawaii wanted a guide dog, but her husband’s severe allergies ruled out nearly every breed her local guide dog school normally trained.
Wally Conron, who worked for the Royal Guide Dogs Association of Australia, crossed a Labrador Retriever with a Standard Poodle in the late 1980s to try to solve it. The resulting dogs had the temperament for guide work, but they still shed noticeably, so later breeders folded in Cocker Spaniel, Irish Water Spaniel, and Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier bloodlines to fix the coat.
By the early 1990s, the Australian kennels Tegan Park and Rutland Manor had stabilized the coat and temperament that define the breed today, and that same foundation stock runs through the pedigrees of breeders across this entire series, Pennsylvania included.
Frequently Asked Questions
Five programs currently hold active ALAA membership in Pennsylvania: two near Kennett Square, two in York County, and one near Harrisburg in Middletown.
Yes, the Dog Purchaser Protection Act, but it only covers sellers who own or operate a kennel licensed by the state or the USDA, and Pennsylvania doesn’t require that license until a kennel keeps or transfers twenty-six or more dogs in a calendar year.
Only Wickersham Farm currently publishes a Pennsylvania kennel license number. The other four appear to be smaller home-based programs that likely fall under the twenty-six dog threshold, though buyers should confirm licensing status directly.
Yes. Pennsylvania has one of the highest Lyme disease burdens in the country, with infected ticks present in every county, and dogs can contract it just as people do, though a Lyme vaccine is available for dogs.
Check the breeder’s current ALAA membership and paw status through ALAA’s own online directory, ask whether the kennel holds a Pennsylvania kennel license, and get a written health guarantee before paying a deposit, since the state’s consumer protection law may not apply to a smaller unlicensed program.
Conclusion
Pennsylvania’s five ALAA-registered Australian Labradoodle programs sit close together in the southern part of the state, split between two breeders near Kennett Square, two in York County connected by family ties, and one more outside Harrisburg.
Because the state’s Dog Purchaser Protection Act only reaches breeders who hold a Pennsylvania kennel license, a written health guarantee from the breeder directly remains the most reliable protection for most buyers here. With Lyme disease this common statewide, new owners should also have a tick-prevention plan, ideally including the canine Lyme vaccine, in place before bringing a puppy home.
Australian Labradoodle Breeders In Other Places
| Alberta | British Columbia | Nova Scotia | Ontario | Ottawa |
| Australia | New South Wales | Queensland | Sydney | Victoria |
