Australian Labradoodle | Labradoodle Puppies

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The Legendary

"AUSTRALIAN LABRADOODLE"

The following is a detailed explanation of what it took to create the now very famous Australian Labradoodle.

I, Adam Ford, wrote this story because there is so much confusion and disinformation regarding the many different versions of this breed, and their respective names. It has now become necessary to provide detailed information about what has really gone into creating the breed that you know simply as...a Labradoodle!

So why was this breed created in the first place?

This was first done many years ago in the hopes of creating an allergy friendly guide dog for the sight impaired. It all began in 1988 with the Royal Guide Dogs of Australia in Melbourne when Mr. Wally Conran carried out the first purpose bred mating of a Standard Poodle and Labrador Retriever. The results of this cross created dogs that were unpredictable in temperament, high shedding, allergy unfriendly and too big. After too many failures, the original breeder gave up on this new breed. Later on in time, two women picked up on this idea and began their own engineering project. They found that it was like a Rubix Cube. It must be done just the right way, and, at just the right time. You must breed the right two dogs, from the correct breeds, at the right time. It’s like a recipe for a difficult-to-make cake. It’s a combination of good ingredients plus the right timing and good instincts. The original Australian Labradoodle is a composite of five different breeds. Each of these different breeds has its own unique qualities that were needed to overcome a lesser or unwanted trait from a previous crossing. Therefore each infusion of a new breed is done to increase the status of the existing gene pool, and to move towards a desired outcome. So as you now can see − it’s takes a lot more than just one or two crosses of just two breeds to complete the long and complicated process or changing an entire biological design. Think about how long it’s taken for human to evolve. As of the year 2009, it’s proven that upright walking hominids are at least five million years in the making, and I am certain that next year and the year after that we will learn many more things that will amaze us!

The Original Crossing of

the Labrador Retreiver and the Poodle

It's not just as simple as crossing a Poodle to a Labrador. As a Labradoodle breeder, I love the Standard Poodle and the Labrador Retriever, but crossing these breeds only once or even twice does not make an Australian Labradoodle, or anything else for that matter − just as it takes a lot to build a fantastic car, a building or a fine piece of art, there is a lot that goes into any new breed of dog. Let's face it, if it were that easy it would have been done by the dogs themselves a long time ago. The name given to a dog that has a Poodle parent and a Labrador parent is F1. This is like walking into a high rise building on the ground floor. But to get to the top where the view is much better you have to go up...And that my friend, is where the Australian Labradoodle resides.

Now do you get it! In short, the Australian Labradoodle cannot be created by accident, however, an F1 Labradoodle can. It’s when the male dog jumps the fence and hooks up with the girl next door when she's in heat. Last time I checked they call that a mutt! Creating genuine Australian Labradoodle puppies is an engineering project, and a work of art!

Why the funny name?

It took many years for the genetic blueprint of the breed we know today to come into being. Once the breed showed signs of becoming financially lucrative, people all over the world decided to breed the much cheaper and easier version,the F1, and rode the coat tails of the original all the way to the bank. As with everything new and innovative, imitation is inevitable − but this was no compliment to the original. Many people have been, and are still being mislead in regards to this quick and easy version. Even Wally Conran, the original creator found the F1 to be too unruly, untrainable, allergy unfriendly, prone to shedding, and just too big, and he stopped his program dead in it's tracks.

So if you want a Rolex, don’t get one in a dark alley from a guy in a trench coat, you will ultimately get what you pay for. And with a puppy, you'll find out about a year down the track when it's too late to give back. These first generation Labradoodles appear in a few different configurations, and they all have their own names. F1, F1b, F2, or even a misleading term like multigenerational. That's when there are several generations of F1's bred to others. It's still genetically 50% Lab and 50% Poodle, no matter how many times they are bred to each other.

I'm not saying these dogs aren’t nice dogs. What I am saying is they are not the dogs that made the name "Labradoodle", the famous name that it is today.

Animal shelters the world over are full of cute and sweet dogs...

I assure you they are not full of

"Australian Labradoodles"

Adam's Australian Labradoodles