Labradoodle A Strange Name For A Strange Dog

A Labradoodle is a crossbred or hybrid dog created by crossing the Labrador Retriever and the Standard or Miniature Poodle. The Labradoodle was first deliberately bred in 1989, when Australian breeder Wally Conron first crossed the Labrador Retriever and Standard Poodle for Guide Dogs Victoria. His aim was to combine the Poodles� low-shed coat with the gentleness and trainability of the Labrador, in order to provide a guide dog for the blind with less shedding, and hence more suitable for people with allergies to fur and dander.

The Labradoodle is still under development, and strictly speaking cannot yet be described as a purebred dog breed because it does not breed true, i.e. the puppies do not have consistently predictable characteristics. While many Labradoodles display the desired traits, their appearance and behavioral characteristics cannot yet be predicted with any certainty.

As such, Labradoodles� hair can be anywhere from wiry to soft, and may be straight, wavy, or curly. Some Labradoodles do shed, although the coat usually sheds less and has less dog odor than that of a Labrador Retriever. The colour range includes white, cream, gold, apricot, red, brown and black, and most of the other colours available in Poodles.

Some people want to avoid making the Labradoodle into a recognized breed, and/or believe that a true Labradoodle should only have Labrador and Poodle lines. By restricting breeding to early generation dogs (i.e. bred from a Poodle and Labrador rather than from two Labradoodles), they hope to maintain genetic diversity, and avoid the inherited health problems that have plagued some dog breeds.

Others are breeding Labradoodle to Labradoodle over successive generations, and trying to establish a new breed. These dogs are usually referred to as Multigenerational (abr. Multigen) or Australian Labradoodles. Australian Labradoodles also differ from early generation or Multigenerational Labradoodles in that they may also have other breeds in their ancestry. English and American Cocker Spaniel/Poodle crosses, Two Irish Water Spaniels, Soft-Coated Wheaten Terriers and a Curly Coated Retriever have variously been used in some Australian Labradoodle lines.