Virginia has seven ALAA-registered Australian Labradoodle breeders, most of them clustered along the Hampton Roads coast, with outposts near Richmond and deep in the southwestern mountains.
This guide covers what’s confirmed about each program’s location and health-testing record, plus the state law and regional health risk Virginia buyers should know before reserving a puppy.
Hampton Roads’ Four ALAA Breeders
Suffolk, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach sit within a short drive of each other on Virginia’s southeastern coast, and together they host four of the state’s seven ALAA member programs.
This is the same Hampton Roads region that’s home to Naval Station Norfolk and several other major military installations, so it’s also one of the more densely populated corners of the state, with plenty of everyday vet care and boarding options nearby.
Lumar Australian Labradoodles
Kristina Whitman runs Lumar Australian Labradoodles out of Suffolk and holds an ALAA Golden Paw, one tier below the association’s Platinum designation.
Location: Suffolk, Virginia
Website: Lumar Australian Labradoodles
Registry: ALAA (Golden Paw)
Great Bridge Labradoodles
Dianne English operates Great Bridge Labradoodles from Chesapeake and holds ALAA’s Platinum Paw, the association’s highest health-testing tier.
Location: Chesapeake, Virginia
Website: Great Bridge Labradoodles
Registry: ALAA (Platinum Paw)
Sweet Tea Australian Labradoodles
Rozlynn Rogers runs Sweet Tea Australian Labradoodles out of Virginia Beach and also holds ALAA’s Platinum Paw.
Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Website: Sweet Tea Australian Labradoodles
Registry: ALAA (Platinum Paw)
Selah Doodles
Amie Perryman also breeds out of Virginia Beach, under the name Selah Doodles, giving that one city two active ALAA programs. The program doesn’t currently hold a Paw distinction, which is typical for a newer member.
Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Website: Selah Doodles
Registry: ALAA
Richmond and Southwest Virginia Breeders
The remaining three Virginia programs sit well outside Hampton Roads: one near Richmond, and two tucked into the state’s far southwestern corner along the Blue Ridge and the Appalachian coalfields.
Southside Labradoodles
Jana Southworth runs Southside Labradoodles out of North Chesterfield, just south of Richmond, and holds ALAA’s Platinum Paw.
Location: North Chesterfield, Virginia
Website: Southside Labradoodles
Registry: ALAA (Platinum Paw)
Clinch River Labradoodles
Cindy Ball and Sarah Harman run Clinch River Labradoodles out of Castlewood, in Virginia’s far southwestern coalfields region, and hold ALAA’s Platinum Paw.
Location: Castlewood, Virginia
Website: Clinch River Labradoodles
Registry: ALAA (Platinum Paw)
Blue Ridge Delightful Doodles
Teresa Toomey operates Blue Ridge Delightful Doodles from Woodlawn, near the Blue Ridge Parkway in southwestern Virginia, and holds an ALAA Golden Paw.
Location: Woodlawn, Virginia
Website: Blue Ridge Delightful Doodles
Registry: ALAA (Golden Paw)
Virginia’s Platinum Paw Breeders
Every ALAA member already clears a real bar before it ever shows up in the directory: submitted pedigrees and minimum health testing, written purchase agreements and health warranties, registered litters, and adherence to the association’s code of ethics.
Virginia’s roster skews toward the top of ALAA’s scale. Four programs, Great Bridge, Sweet Tea, Southside, and Clinch River, hold ALAA’s Platinum Paw, its highest tier.
Platinum Paw status calls for expanded hip, elbow, eye, and cardiac testing carried across multiple generations of a breeding program, rather than a single round of clearances on the parent dogs alone.
Two more, Lumar and Blue Ridge Delightful, hold a Golden Paw, and only Selah Doodles doesn’t yet carry a Paw distinction. A missing Paw distinction isn’t automatically a red flag on a newer program, but it’s worth asking about directly.
Because ALAA refreshes this status roughly every 24 hours, buyers should confirm a kennel’s current standing directly through ALAA’s own website rather than a badge image on a breeder’s page.
Virginia’s Fifty-Dog License Rule
Virginia regulates commercial dog breeding under Code of Virginia § 3.2-6507.2.
A commercial dog breeder can’t operate in the Commonwealth without a business license issued by the locality where they’re based.
The law’s standards kick in once a breeder maintains more than 50 dogs over a year old for breeding purposes, though a locality can approve a higher number through its own ordinance after a public hearing.
Covered breeders must keep breeding females between eighteen months and eight years old, get an annual veterinary certification confirming each dog is fit for breeding, and maintain detailed records for at least five years covering acquisition, identification, breeding dates, litter sizes, and veterinary care.
The State Veterinarian, animal control officers, and local health or safety officials can inspect a covered breeder’s premises and records, and violating the law is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Lyme Disease Risk in Virginia
Dogs catch Lyme disease from the bite of an infected black-legged tick, commonly called a deer tick, which needs to stay attached for roughly 24 to 48 hours before it can pass along the Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium.
The Companion Animal Parasite Council’s 2026 forecast specifically flags much of Virginia, alongside neighboring North Carolina and the Appalachian corridor, for an expanding Lyme disease risk as black-legged ticks push into new territory.
Infected dogs often develop fever, reduced appetite, low energy, and a shifting or recurring lameness in one or more legs; left untreated, the infection can eventually damage the kidneys.
The good news is that Lyme disease responds well to antibiotics, typically a course of at least 30 days, and most dogs recover fully.
Daily tick checks after time outdoors, keeping grass mowed short, and a vet-approved tick preventative are the main defenses.
Virginia buyers, especially in the wooded southwestern part of the state, should ask their vet about a Lyme vaccine if their new puppy will spend a lot of time in tall grass or brush.
How the Australian Labradoodle Began
The Australian Labradoodle’s story begins not in Australia but in Hawaii, where a woman needed a guide dog but couldn’t have one because her husband’s allergies ruled out every breed her local guide dog school could normally place.
Wally Conron, working for the Royal Guide Dogs Association of Victoria in Australia, crossed a Labrador Retriever with a Standard Poodle in the late 1980s to try to solve that exact problem.
The resulting puppies had the right temperament for guide work, but their coats still shed more than hoped, so later breeders folded in Cocker Spaniel, Irish Water Spaniel, and Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier to fix that.
Australian kennels Tegan Park and Rutland Manor spent the early 1990s stabilizing that combination into today’s Australian Labradoodle, and those same foundation bloodlines still turn up in the pedigrees of every breeder featured in this article.
Frequently Asked Questions
Seven programs currently hold active ALAA membership in Virginia: four in the Hampton Roads area (Suffolk, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach), one near Richmond, and two in the southwestern mountains.
Great Bridge Labradoodles, Sweet Tea Australian Labradoodles, Southside Labradoodles, and Clinch River Labradoodles all currently hold ALAA’s Platinum Paw, the association’s top tier.
Yes, once a breeder maintains more than 50 dogs over a year old for breeding, Virginia law requires a business license from the breeder’s locality, along with recordkeeping and periodic inspection rights for state and local officials.
Black-legged ticks that carry Lyme disease are expanding their range across Virginia and the surrounding Appalachian region, according to a 2026 parasite forecast, making tick prevention increasingly important for Virginia dog owners.
Confirm the breeder’s current ALAA membership and Paw status directly through ALAA’s own website, ask whether the program is licensed with its locality if it appears to operate at scale, and get any health guarantee in writing before paying a deposit.
Yes. Four of the seven are clustered in the Hampton Roads region on the coast, one is just south of Richmond, and two are deep in the state’s southwestern mountains near the Blue Ridge Parkway, so families anywhere in Virginia have a reasonably short drive to at least one program.
Conclusion
Virginia’s seven ALAA-registered breeders skew unusually strong on health testing, with four of the seven already holding ALAA’s top Platinum Paw and only one program without a Paw distinction yet.
Virginia buyers get a real regulatory backstop once a breeder’s operation grows large enough to trigger the state’s 50-dog threshold.
The expanding range of Lyme-carrying ticks is a genuine regional health factor worth discussing with a vet, especially for families near the Blue Ridge or the southwestern coalfields.
With options spread across Hampton Roads, Richmond, and the state’s southwestern corner, most Virginia families will find a well-vetted, ALAA-registered program within a reasonable drive of home.
Australian Labradoodle Breeders In Other Places
| Alberta | British Columbia | Nova Scotia | Ontario | Ottawa |
| Australia | New South Wales | Queensland | Sydney | Victoria |
