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What is an "Australian Labradoodle????"

6K views 59 replies 32 participants last post by  Stevenzachsmom 
#1 ·
#33 ·
The original breeder of the labradoodle was an australian man hoping to create a "hypoallergenic" service animal. Since most people with dog allergies are allergic to the DANDER they produce, animals with tight curly coats like poodles or porties tend to be great alternatives. Although they still produce dander, their coats trap it in and don't allow it to be released into the environment as much as the average insanely shedding dog *cough*German SHEDDERS*cough cough* ;)

That being said, he quickly realized his attempts were in vain. Yes, at one point all purebreds were "mutts", but the difference between a purebred and a mutt is the ability to breed true. It takes a fair amount of genetic understanding, or just decades of breeding for the same type, to actually produce what would be considered a true "breed". Max Von Stephanitz had a very vast amount of knowledge on genetics, so he was able to produce a type that bred true fairly fast in purebred standards, our wonderful german shepherd.

The problem with all these doodle-poo-poo mutts, is that none breed true because no one is trying to breed for a set standard. They just throw any two dogs together to created their "designer dogs". Some look just like poodles. Some look just like a lab or a golden with a funky coat. Many are somewhere inbetween. And because none breed true, you may not always, and usually don't always, get that tight coat that doesn't shed. Therefor, useless for their intended person.

Seeing as how standard poodles are INSANELY intelligent, one of the top breeds, I never did understand why he couldn't just train poodles to be service dogs, why he felt the need to mix with labs.

Long story short, an "Australian Labradoodle" would be a dog supposedly stemming more from these original lines, and not the designer dogs bred in america. In reality, just a different name for the same old mutt.

As a worker in the medical field, I can personally say I HATE 90% of labradoodles and goldendoodles. They tend to be some of the stupidest dogs I work with, no offense. And the naughtiest dogs. As in, we joke that if you get a doodle puppy expect to be paying for a foreign body surgery within the first year you have it. They love to just eat EVERYTHING. I can't handle that in a dog, just don't have the patience for it, haha.

EDIT: Ok, now I understand why he didn't use a standard poodle after reading this

"If Wally Conron had known what was going to become of the labradoodle, he wouldn't have bred the dog in the first place. It was 22 years ago and Conron, now 81, was working as the breeding manager for the Royal Guide Dog Association of Australia when his boss set him a tough task. A blind woman from Hawaii had written asking if they could provide a guide dog that would not shed hair, because her husband was allergic to it. ''I said, 'Oh yes, this will be a piece of cake. The standard poodle is a working dog, it doesn't shed hair, it'll be great.' I tried 33 in the course of three years and they all failed. They just didn't make a guide dog.'' Conron decided there was one possibility left: take his best labrador bitch and mate it with a standard poodle. They created three cross-breed puppies that needed to be boarded out to be trained and socialised but nobody would take them; everyone wanted a pure-bred. And that's when Conron came up with the name labradoodle. ''I went to our PR team and said, 'Go to the press and tell them we've invented a new dog, the labradoodle.' It was a gimmick and it went worldwide. No one wanted a cross-breed but the following day we had hundreds of calls from people wanting these master dogs.''
The labradoodle proved to be a brilliant dog for the blind and the woman in Hawaii was happy. So what was the problem?
It's how the dog has been used and abused and sold under false pretences, Conron says. ''When the pups were five months old, we sent clippings and saliva to Hawaii to be tested with this woman's husband. Of the three pups, he was not allergic to one of them. In the next litter I had, there were 10 pups but only three had non-allergenic coats. Now, people are breeding these dogs and selling them as non-allergenic and they're not even testing them."


And at least Wally Conron realizes what this truly is. One of my favorite dog quotes, from him
”I released a Frankenstein. … People say ‘aren’t you proud of yourself?’ and I say, ‘not in the slightest. I’ve done so much harm to pure breeding.”’
 
#34 ·
Well I must have the odd banana of the whole lot because he is very smart, one of the easiest dogs I've ever trained(golden poodle)... He has no problem being groomed by me or a professional, he will stand there still for the half hour plus it takes for me to really get through his coat. He loves people more then anything on the planet, children especially even though my husband and I do not have any. He's not without his faults, he has bad separation anxiety and he resource guards against other dogs though we've had MASS improvement in that area with a lot of hard work on my part.

I'm not defending the "breed", just him... when people go on and on about how much they 'hate and loathe' them I just get defensive about him, I know it's stupid.

I never went looking for a "doodle"... We had just lost our GSD Gypsy from complications with her chemo, I wanted another GSD but my husband wasn't ready... He wanted a Golden retriever and when we went to the shelter there was Sam... He was such a sweetheart and I was worried he'd keep being bounced around shelters because of his issues and decided to take him on. It hasn't been a bed of roses but I wouldn't give him up for anything... He's not some horrible stupid high strung monster they apparently all are.

Again I pretty much agree with everyone here, I just feel like I have to stick up for my boy. :eek:
 
#35 ·
That is very reasonable and understandable. Trust me, I relate. In veterinary medicine, you'll find that most technicians and doctors do not like german shepherds. They've either met too many aggressive ones or just assume they're all aggressive. So I'm constantly defending Zeke "No no, I have the best german shepherd ever! He loves people and he's so smart and he knows all these tricks and he's very well behaved!" Then I make them meet him and he's like my own little breed ambassador.

In their defense, every goldendoodle and labradoodle that comes in tends to be the sweetest dog ever. They're [generally] just big goofy dorks. Very loving and sweet, I've only met one aggressive one (and trust me, I see A LOT, probably the second most common large "breed" behind labs). And I know there are exceptions to every rule. It's just, in general, they tend to be very... dumb is the nicest way I can say.

I know it's not nice for anyone to say they can't stand a certain breed. But in general, breed stereotypes do exist for a reason amongst those that work with animals for a living. At least doodles tend to be "disliked" simply because they tend to be stubborn and hard to work with, not really cooperative because they just don't understand. Then you have breeds we generally don't like (chis, dachshunds, schnauzers, shibas) because they tend to bite and scream. I'd rather have a super sweet dog that's just missing a few brain cells.
 
#36 ·
I myself know a couple of 'doodles that are fairly well-adjusted, well-behaved dogs. But the majority of them are, yes, NAUGHTY. That's the perfect word. Sweet, friendly, loving, happy dogs for the most part--but either the type of person who pays several thousand dollars for a mixed-breed dog is the same type of person who doesn't know a thing about dogs or training them... or, the 'doodles are genetically naughty. I have a feeling it's a bit of both. Standard Poodles are generally fun-loving but naughty dogs. Not the easiest to train. Labs are generally sweet, active and playful but kind of thick-headed. Once trained, they can be very obedient, but untrained, they can be destructive and wild. Labradoodles seem to inherit the worst of both breeds.

To be fair, I've never met a mean one.
 
#37 ·
I can't see how or why they would be any more stupid or naughty than the next dog.....maybe it has something to do with the type of people who go for owning these "designer breeds". People who know nothing about dogs and just want something different to show off to their friends like a flash car.....chances are the dogs are super intelligent and the owners are stupid.
 
#38 ·
My daughter takes vocal lessons on Saturday mornings. Sometimes I wait in my car for her lesson to be over and read. There is a guy that brings his labradoodle to the park area in our town square...I see him every Saturday and actually look forward to him bringing the dog out...talk about a free spirit dog...this dog is so happy, very approachable and friendly.
 
#40 ·
"That being said, he quickly realized his attempts were in vain. Yes, at one point all purebreds were "mutts", but the difference between a purebred and a mutt is the ability to breed true. It takes a fair amount of genetic understanding, or just decades of breeding for the same type, to actually produce what would be considered a true "breed".

this is not that difficult at all - dogs are a man made species , designed with to have specialties whether it be lap dog companion or estate hound , herder, or pulling dog , with features of body and internal drives that go along with it. At one time there we NO PUREBRED dogs at all ! But there were dogs with a type of character or structural which were relied on and bred from to serve a purpose. The GSD was a combination of regional types. The herders of the Wurtemberg region had a physical and emotional type - body low set , heavy bone, plush , heavy ear in variations of not erect . Thuringian , longer legged , erect ear - wolf like in appearance . Then there were the wavy and the harsh wiry type coat which surface once in a while -- mostly from the Wurtemberger region . You never lose a gene , you only cover it !
Type was set in the early inbreeding on Hektor renamed Horand .
Dobermann - another German breed , well documented - even speculates that a Thuringian sheep dog line was used in the formation of the Dobermann . This from Richard Strebel , a cynologist , as was von Stephanitz !, who wrote extensively on dogs created in Germany, including the German Shepherd and the Dobermann .
on the GSD he said " his book "German Dogs" published in Munich the cynologist [gr. cyno= dog, logos= study; the study of canines] Richard Strebel lamented, "When will we Germans finally learn to value what we produce at home?" With respect to German Shepherd Dogs he envisioned a model borrowed from British Collie breeders.
He felt that there should be at least two separate breeds - one being the luxury model for urbanites and the upper classes, some of whom, in the form of minor royalty, owners of hunting estates, and retired sea captains, had already expressed an interest in such animals. The second breed should live in the country - with sheep herders and farmers. He thought it meaningful to suggest three "classes or sub-classes": wirehair, stock hair, and longhair.
These assessments were shared by the other great canine researcher of that time, Ludwig Beckman of Düsseldorf, a painter of hunting scenes and animals. The only difference between these two influential men was Beckman's categorical insistence that the three "classes" of dogs proposed by Strebel would have to be "separated into three completely different breeds ".
An entirely different decision was made by Max von Stephanitz, president of the "mightily blossoming Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde (S.V.)" as noted rather tartly by Strebel in 1905.
The man "of legendary vision in matters of club politics" held the opinion that only one breed should be fashioned from suitable lines within the Reich. "
The German Shepherd
and the Dobermann - Origins / History of the Dobermann Breed

shiloh shepherds have a set type and they are a modern creation - maybe 30 years ?
and there are several family named hunting dogs of the USA - the Plott hound "1750 Jonathan Plott and his brother left Germany bound for America. They took with them five Hanoverian Hounds. Jonathan Plott's brother died during the trip but Jonathan settled in North Carolina. It was there that he raised a family and bred his dogs. A mix of bloodhounds and curs reportedly comprised the original stock. For the next 200 years the dogs were bred by generations of Plott family members and were referred to as the Plott's hounds. The dogs worked at hunting bear and raccoon in the Appalachian, Blue Ridge, and Great Smoky Mountains of the Eastern United States. The Plott family rarely put the dogs on the market so they remained rare outside the southern United States. The dogs were recognized for the first time in 1946 by the United Kennel Club. Plotts are hardy and have superior hunting instincts. They are very effective in the search for coyotes, wolves, and wildcats. The breed was carefully developed to be stronger and more persistent. They were able to make good family companions but were seldom kept as one, as most owners acquired the dogs for the hunt. In 2006 the breed was officially recognized by the AKC as the "Plott" and is now shown as a show dog, but there are many who still hunt and breed them as hunting dogs. "

"Madeleine Plott still lives on Plott Creek Road outside Waynesville, 50 miles southeast of Asheville, N.C. (Her house is not far from the Plott Balsams range or from Cold Mountain, the destination for the returning Civil War solider in Charles Frazier's best-selling novel.) She is the French-born widow of Lawrence Plott, whose family has been breeding dogs in the Carolinas for centuries. Johannes Plott, who emigrated from Germany or Bohemia in 1750, settled in what is now Cabarrus County. He brought along a prized group of big-game hunting dogs. Whether they were related to the Hannover'scher schweiss-hund, as Lawrence Plott believed, is unclear. But records clearly indicate that their short, boxy ears and barrel chests differed from those of the droopier, less muscular English foxhounds popular in America at the time."

In many ways the GSD has divided in to 3 "breeds" which satisfy the requirements if one were to set out and develop a breed -- distinct physical uniformity -- the west German show lines, the continental european type working lines , and the American showline bred version. They all tend to concentrate their selection of genetics .
 
#41 ·
I have no problem with them being bred for service work. I know several people who work for a local service dog organization (Paws with a Cause) and have many successful "doodle" mixes. Some of them wash out and go to nice pet homes. I won't write them off just because some idiot people slap them together and breed to make a few bucks. Not really my cup of tea though.
 
#43 ·
I have no problem with them being bred for service work.
I don't either--except that hardly anyone is breeding them for service work and hardly anyone is using them for service work. And it's easy to see why, when I see the general temperament of the "breed" and its tendencies.

Sure, a good trainer could do a lot with a very active, intelligent mixed-breed, but 'doodles are not really being sought by trainers. They are, as far as I can see, mostly sought by well-meaning people who know very little about dogs and training. They read somewhere about this "new breed" that was originally developed as a "service dog" and they trip over themselves to throw money at an adorable puppy that they think will need no training and very little grooming. :rolleyes:

I don't think it's the 'doodles that are stupid--I think they are smart and STUBBORN. That's where the "naughtiness" comes from, I think. Like a poodle, they quickly learn how to manipulate and exploit their owners. Then when I get them in my grooming shop, they tantrum when they don't get their way. It's really not fun to deal with a hairy, matted, spoiled rotten 75 lb. dog throwing a screaming hissy fit on my table. :rolleyes:
 
#55 ·
No, but they've been exploited.
I know an Aussie Labradoodle, she is only about 25# and is of good temperament and health. The breeder was charging $3000 for pups before the economy tanked. I think now they are about half that. I'd still never purchase one, but can see their place in being of demand.
 
#53 ·
what is the breeder actually doing wrong? they are breeding pets that evidently people want. is there any evidence of breeding genetically sick dogs or dogs with poor temperaments or misleading advertising about the capabilities of the dog?? i think the no-allergy claim might be misleading, i don't really know.

a good breeder is a good breeder and a bad breeder is a bad breeder - has zip to do with breed (or non-breed).

these dogs will most likely soon me recognized by the AKC as a breed, what is everyone going to get on their high horses about then?

do you put sport mixes in the same boat as designer mutts - thats right some people do. what about KNPV dogs? some dam fine mutts right there to me.
 
#54 ·
I would never own one, but the breeder linked in this thread seems to be invested and doing it right. Lots of health testing, member of a parent club, etc.
 
#57 ·
My daughter has one, She went to a rescue to addopt a dog and got a puppy that they told her was a terrier mix that would weigh about 30 pounds. He is now a 70 pound, most likley , told by vets A labradoodle. She loves him anyways. Very freindly but a real goofy dog. It is ok someone needed to save him too.
 
#59 ·
To me it just seems more of a 'glamor' thing to own a designer breed, or at least when someone specifically seeks out to buy one. With it's fancy name, fancy names for it's coat colors, and fancy price tag. It would be nice to see more going into the purpose of the breeding rather than the superficial things.
 
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