Speaking of the Poddle Poodle Club of America, get this: It tries to scare its members by saying (seriously) that you could be arrested for allowing your dog to be bred with something other than a poodle.
Do not ever allow your stud dog to be bred to a bitch of another breed. If you are a member of a breed club, this could put you in line for charges being brought against you.
Doncha just love uncited, baseless threats of legal action?
And on the other side (the “catcher” if you will), we have the folks at the Labrador Retriever Club, who say
The Labrador Retriever Club, Inc. is opposed to cross-breeding of dogs and is particularly opposed to the deliberate crossing of Labrador Retrievers with any other breed. These crossbreds are a deliberate attempt to mislead the public with the idea that there is an advantage to these designer dogs.
You think they’re taking themselves just a bit too seriously?
The face of evil:
(Photo courtesy Sunset Hills Australian Labradoodle Breeding Centre. Thanks!)
The Fray
Steve says:
So, if these designer breeds are so tragic (unwanted puppies, freak Frankenstein-esque dogs), why not focus on that?
Raving about legal action and “deliberate attempts to mislead the public” sound raving. Instead, if you want to put cross-breeders out of business, focus on perceived disadvantages; apparently there are many, if you ever get ’round to telling us. I find it weird that the Poodles’ page spends 80% of their text on advantages, then threatens legal action.
Suzanne says:
Willobie, those are valid concerns, but threatening legal action is pretty psychotic. Do members sign a contract promising they won’t deliberately breed their dogs with other breeds?
Mona says:
I am an owner of a 13 month old labradoodle. I have always had a dog and after loosing my last just a year ago I decided to try to find a breed that didn’t shed or have all those bad dog oders that come along with all the other dogs I have owned. I wanted my house to stay just a little cleaner. I had just about decided on a standard poodle when I was introduced to the labradoodle. I bought mine when he was 3 months old and I haven’t had a regret. Durbin in the smartest and best companion dog I have ever had. Can’t say a bad thing about the breed. I don’t care what any dog club says. I have the best qualities of both breeds and none of the bad. I would never own a lab. Must too stinky. I love my dogs in the house and on the furniture with me.
DaveV says:
Not sure if the first one went through.
Nice to here all the good things about the Labradoodle, we will be picking up our 6 week old puppy on July 3rd. Can’t wait.
Julie says:
DaveV: How did you find a breeder? I live in Tx. and would love to have one of these dogs. I love labs but not the hair, this breed seems perfect. Do you know if your pup is from a poodle and a lab or two labradoodles. Thanks I hope you check back to this post.:)
DaveV says:
Julie-the doodle we’re getting is from a male poodle and female lab. We live in Maine. The breeder is Maria Burgess 1.207.865.4869. She has a few pups left that are ready to go 7/30/07. Let us know how you make out.
dogtrainingal says:
Labradoodles are not necessarily non-shedding especially first generation ones. I think this is the biggest misconception about the breed. A few of my doodle client’s dogs shed.
jennifer says:
Labradoodles are NOT a breed…they are MUTTS…albeit cute, cuddly and hopefully with the best of the labrador and poodle BREED qualities. Unless you can reproduce the same qualities in a labradoodle three generations out, you cannot assume how wonderful this breed is…what happens when you mate two labradoodles together, what is the litter like?
Sorry, but I’ve worked at too many shelters where labradoodles, cock-a-poos, and other mixes have been humanely euthanized because someone got a bug in their head that this would be the next great “breed”, but instead ended up with cute but unsellable puppies as that “breed” fad went away…always with something else taking its place….as well as the puppies taking the place in the shelter.(does any one remember the popularity of the pomerian-chihuahua mix….where is that “breed” today may I ask?…just watch the animal planet, animal cops houston or new york, to find out.
MUTTS ARE THE BEST….BUT DON’T BE AFRAID TO CALL THEM MUTTS. WHEN SOME ONE ASKS YOU WHAT IS YOUR DOG…HE/SHE IS A LABRADOR AND POODLE MIX…NOT A MADE-UP BREED!
thanks, Jennifer
Anonymous says:
awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww so cute just wana hoave it and cuddle it
kelly says:
My son just got a labradoodle. His name is Mic. He is now 5 months old and the sweetest dog ever! The combo of the lab and poodle is a great combo. We have always had goldens…but I think we may seriously consider changing to a labradoodle next time. By the way…In Australia, Labradoodles are NOT mutts. They are considered our equivlenent of an AKC…Got a book on Labradoodles at PETCO…imagine that!!
Jennifer says:
Kelly–I am happy to hear of your wonderful experiences with your puppy. However, according to the Australian National Kennel Council, there is no such breed as a labradoodle. Perhaps you are confusing them with the Lagotto Romagnola…a breed that has been around for centuries (not prevalent in the United States) that has similar features to some of the labradoodles I have seen.
Again, I have no problem with anyone owning a labrador/poodle mix. But it is a MIXED BREED by AKC (and apparently Australian and English) standards. Remember, there ARE unscrupulous people out there who will breed indiscriminantly just to sell the proceeds (those cute little fuzzy puppies you are talking about) and dump the ones that don’t sell at the local shelters. We euthanize far too many animals each year. And unless YOU have been the one to euthanize someone else’s profit loss, don’t call me a party pooper. Those who purchase these designer mixed breeds are as guilty as those who don’t spay & neuter because you unintentionally legitimize the puppy mill breeders. As long as there is a market, someone will be trying to make a profit. Stop the market and check out your local animal shelter–you’ll be surprised at how many labradoodles end up there!
[And those who are still determined to have a "Labradoodle"--perhaps you should check out the Portuguese Water Dog, Curly Coated Retreiver or the Lagotto Romagnola...they are established breeds with essentially all the qualities of your labradoodles--except that they been bred centuries ago, by people trying to make a better dog---not a profit!]
puppylover says:
I think she’s adorable!How could you say she’s the face of evil!!!!?The only face she is is the Face of CUTENESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YOU PEOPLE ARE JUST TO MEAN!
jen8933 says:
people who intentionally breed dogs FOR physical deformaties object to ‘designer’ dogs.
bulldogs that can hardly breathe, pugs with eyes that pop out way too easily and all the long breeds who suffer from back problems. i’m sure there’s tons more examples.
those guys are throwing rocks from their glass kennels.
Debbie says:
I, too, have a labradoodle… what we grew up calling a mutt. But whatever she’s called, she’s a great animal and a wonderful pet. I got her as a rescue … her poodle owner was not pleased when the neighbor’s gorgeous lab came over and took advantage of her … who was dumped at a local pet store. I could never afford the HUGE prices that people command ($2500 in The Woodlands) so I was very glad to get the chance to get her for nominal cost. She shed very little, was black and now silvering beautifully and is one of the smartest and best natured animals I’ve ever seen. Labradoodle .. mutt… possdle/lab mix … I don’t care. She’s a honey!
Jennifer Geiger says:
Debbie, thank you for actually having a logical comment. I do not have any objections to labradoodles…simply that people are breeding them deliberately and then financially scalping simpletons who believe they are actually getting a pure-bred dog, when all over this country other mix breed dogs–which are perfectly healthy, loving and would also make GREAT PETS (read: members of the family)–are being put to death.
Anonymous says:
I love my Labradoodle. He is truly the best dog-boy a family could have. I have had a labrador-boy and a poodle-boy (I showed and bred the Poodle and was a memebr of a club). My three year old Doodle-boy is a perfect mix.
The Labrador and Poodle didn’t start out as such. Over the years, breeders invented them. Just as some genius in Australia invented the Doodle.
The fanatics are overbreeding the so-called pure-breds. Introducing new genes into the pool can’t be a bad thing in the long term.
Jennifer Geiger says:
Dear Anonymous from April 2nd…I agree that overbreeding is not a good thing. Generally responsible breeders are looking to cover their costs, make a reasonable profit and continue to have healthy animals placed into good homes. The ALA (Australian Labradoodle Association—who recognize that they do NOT have a recognized pure-bred dog) has strongly recommended that people only purchase their puppies via their recognized breeders. They are trying to get labradoodles recognized and initially began trying to achieve a specific purpose with the breed—non-shedding, intelligent for use as guide dogs with those who have allergic reactions with most dog breeds. This is a lovely, lovely thing. I applaud their efforts. However, the amazing costs that are commanded by puppy mill breeders for these mixed breed dogs (if they aren’t recognized officially then they are still mixed breeds!) is ridiculous and offensive. So all of you who are looking for a labradoodle—please do your research!
Leland says:
People have been breeding designer animals for hundreds of years. Ever since they discovered some tie between the off spring, the father and the mother. I don’t see the problem.
micaela says:
wow you “The Labrador Retriever Club, Inc.” need lives.
they’re just dogs,
who happen to be very cute & well tempered.
the world will keep turning.
promise.
tommy says:
late i am in commenting, but these people are nazis who just can’t practice their art on humans.
come on! how did these effing breeds of dogs come to be? cross breeding.
they need to get over they bad selves, yo.
tommy says:
and afaik mutts are known for having better overall dispositions than ‘purebred’ dogs. i’d rather let my kid play with a mix of a st. bernard/pitbull than any pure-bred chihuahua, viscious little things they are…
MartheNorway says:
Aren’t the registered breeds we have now a result of mixing different breeds…? =)
As long as the breeders knows what they’re doing, i don’t see why it’s such a big problem. Breeders who breed dogs for profit is allso a common phenomenon/problem within “pure-breeds”
Labradoodle is proven to have become a successfull mix/breed and are effectivly used as rescuedogs and so on.
Labradoodle is by the way accepted as a breed in the US…
I’m so glad to hear all the positive comments about this breed, i’ve been thinking about getting one.
jason says:
yo jennifer, you speak perty harshly against the legitimacy of lab-doodles. Correct me if I am wrong, but havent most of the modern “pure” bred dogs began as, you say…”mutts”? rebred and refined over centuries…hmmm.
KIMBERLY in CALI says:
Who, cares!! Come on people, it is a post of mutt which will be so inbred in 10 years that it will look like a cat. Don’t buy pure bred dogs from breeders NOR from Pet Stores unless a rescue is hosting a visit to the real EVIL of this people who unknowingly fund puppy millers and those awful ‘drown the puppy in the toilet if it has a white speck on its brown fur’ ba$tard$. Why am I commenting? Lame-o, p.s. thanks for the website though, I appreciate it. :) Namaste’
KIMBERLY in CALI says:
Edited from my previous comment. Who, cares!! Come on people, it is a post of mutt which will be so inbred in 10 years that it will look like a cat. Don’t buy pure bred dogs from breeders NOR from Pet Stores unless a rescue is hosting a visit at said establishments. These pet stores who aren’t ‘code-enforced’ enough to protect the above ‘evil sweetness types’need to be shut down, but this will never happen. And a big eff-off to the real EVIL, those who knowingly fund puppy millers and those breeders – the bad breeders who give good breeders a bad name, those awful snobs (not all breeders are snobs, just the evil ones) I appreciate honest, and truthful, and responsible breeders who are true to the breed and the beauty that makes the breed whatever that breed is – and no eff-off to those who don’t OVER BREED for the all mighty dollar-dollar bill-ya’ll which only causes more problems,pain, and sorrow… a huge eff-off to you awful ‘drown the puppy in the toilet if it has a white speck on its brown fur’ ba$tard$. Why am I commenting on an almost 3 year old post?, I dunno? Lame-o, p.s. thanks for the website though, I appreciate it. :) PEACE! please spay and neuter your pets. Volunteer at a humane society to see what its like to see all of the pain which is caused by the over population. Long live moderation.. (except with photography and it’s equipment… lol)
Feliks Chase says:
I’ve owned both mutts and purebred dogs, and the advantage I see to getting a purebred is that you can trace the lineage far more easily, get information about inherited diseases and disorders, get an idea of temperament and of likely intelligence – most of which you’re not going to get when someone breeds a designer pooch in their back yard.
My mutt was great, a rescue dog passed through several owners – but my purebred was exactly what I wanted, and expected to get. I wanted to work him in obedience, wanted a calm, well-socialised puppy with an even temperament. I researched a number of breeders before settling on his, and met both parents, AND was able to check his lines for disease and temperament (knowing what ran in the lines helped).
He was worth the $250 I paid for him. Yes, $250, for a non-show Border from a reputable breeder.
Now, what the heck has happened to the dog world? If you want to rescue a pup, you pay hundreds of dollars. If you want to buy a purebred, you pay upwards of $650 for a dog with papers. You pay a minimum of $350 for a NON purebred (non-papered, no effort put into breeding, just put two dogs together and sell the results) pup – and you pay anywhere from HUNDREDS to THOUSANDS for a MUTT!
I objects absolutely to unscrupulous breeders farming out puppies purely for profit. Dogs should not be a way to make cash – breeders that truly care, put in the effort to improve the breed, breed out bad temperament, faults and inherited disease, and for that, I’m prepared to pay a reasonable sum.
But charging over a grand for some quivering mutt, put together from someone’s favourite chihuahua and a maltese terrier, sold in a pet shop (oh, they care alright – that’s the best way to socialise a pup and have it ready for its new life!) – for a companion. A companion that could have anything wrong with it.
Makes me boiling mad. Some people just want a dog to share their life with, to love, or to work with – and anyone who chooses the route of encouraging this ridiculous trend of stupidly over-priced mongrels by buying one is doing the dog world no favours.
If you breed mutts, then charge mutt prices – then at least honest buyers looking for a companion are getting what they pay for – uncertainty, but a creature to love and care for.
Linny says:
While we’re on the subject of stupidity and the Poodle Club of America (seemingly interchangeable):
President Obama said last week that his girls had narrowed down their choice of puppy to a Labradoodle (a crossbred) or a Portuguese Water Dog (a purebred). The Poodle Club of America were so incensed that a crossbred dog was being considered that they put out an immediate press release, saying, “”we felt we needed to speak out and educate the Obamas … about the difference between a purebred and a mixed breed.”
President Obama is a man of mixed race: the son of a white American woman and a black African man. Somehow I think he would already have a comprehensive and very personal understanding of the issue, and certainly doesn’t need to be “educated” on the “difference between a purebred and a mixed breed” by a bunch of ignorant poodle breeders. Idiots!
Alpen Ridge Labradoodles says:
I happen to personally know the breeder whose puppy picture this is. In fact, I have been to her place in Australia and that is where I get my breeding dogs from.
First of all, if you are really curious, these dogs have been being developed for over 20 years in Australia. There is a registry (no not yet recognized by the Kennel Club over there, but they are working on it. It takes decades to develop and get a breed recognized), a breed standard, and breeders who are working and producing beautiful dogs such as the one above.
There was a reason for these dogs being developed. They were looking for a low shedding service dog for those with allergies. A very noble pursuit and the dogs are continuing to be used for this purpose. Think about it, if you need a service dog, you probably can’t deal with cleaning up dog hair very well.
It’s us Americans that have come up with “designer dogs” with all the hideous crosses now being produced.
The Australian dogs are long away from just a Lab x Poodle cross and have a much more consistent result in coat and temperament problems as these early crosses that are seen so much here in the states.
Back to this breeder. She breeds to improve the dogs. She does extensive health testing on all her breeding prospects. (PennHip, OFA, BVA, DNA test for prcdPRA, vWD, thyroid, eye clearances, cardiac) and those are just the ones off the top of my head that I know she does. I have to say, much more than the average AKC breeder. In fact, you can’t register a dog for breeding in the Australian Club unless it has already passed it’s health testing and has been approved. I dare say AKC isn’t going to require that before a dog can be bred, unfortunately.
I have had AKC dogs most my life. But when visiting these dogs in Australia, I knew they were the ones for me. Maybe not for you, but just because they aren’t yet recognized, doesn’t make them bad either.
I don’t agree with the breeders that are out to make a quick buck here in the states by imitating what someone else has spent decades trying to perfect. But don’t lump them altogether without doing your homework.
There are those even here in the states that are working to preserve what was started in Australia and do the health testing and careful breeding.
Remember, all the “purebred” dogs were developed by someone, at some time, to enhance the desirable traits that they found in their “mutts”.
Kaylee says:
That dog is so cute and i wonder how big they get and they look like good dogs to be around!!!!!
kimmilee says:
In your opinion, how is the wavy australian labradoodle coat shedding-wise?
kelly says:
If that is the face of evil….the face of angel must be out of this world!
My son has a labradoodle who is the sweetest dog ever. I have a golden, and as much as I am a golden lover, my next dog may be a labradoodle.
Jen says:
We live in a victorian house in a small town on Main st. We live 15 feet from our neighbors, who moved in 7 years ago. In October 08 our neighbors decided to be Labradoodle breeders. By January they have had 33 puppies. January two of their females gave birth to 22 puppies. They erected a 32′X12′ dog run 15 feet from our home, 5 feet from our barbeque grill. We have an 8 room home and 5 of our rooms overlook a dog run full of labradoodles. They sell them for $750.00 each. May 15th they had 11 more. I have a 2 year old son. We don’t go outside anymore. The back yard stinks. The dogs bark at us and the neighbors have yelled at us. We haven’t grilled out since last fall. We have appealed our city and zoning. They put a red toilet on our property line when we did so. Recently they strung shower curtains in the trees to block our view. Don’t ask ME how I feel about Labradoodles! When we want a dog, we are going to the pound.
JAYLA says:
OMIGOD!THAT IS THE SECOND MOST CUTEST DOG IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WILLOBIE says:
Dear Andrew,
Breed clubs are formed by fanciers who are devoted to their breed and wish to improve it. They take this very seriously because it is their entire raison d’être. Breeds are not improved by wholesale commercial breeding, by puppy mills, or by breeding so-called designer pooches. Of course the puppy is not the face of evil, but maybe its breeder is.
A designer pooch breeder is someone who is trying to do in one dog generation what devoted breed fanciers have taken decades or centuries to do: produce a dog with superior characteristics that conforms to an agreed upon standard. The problem is that there is no standard for these expensive mutts and any superiority they may achieve is good only for that single generation. Designer pooch breeders are just supplying animals for a fad and they charge purebred prices for their concoctions. Since interbreed crosses are unpredictable, there is a lot of waste. For every “good “ specimen in their litters there are probably several mutts that nobody wants, because they don’t resemble the public’s idea of a good LabradOodle, PeekaPoo, CockaPoo, or, god help us, GreatDaneaPoo.
The poodle club is right to be concerned when its members stop trying to improve the breed and rent out their champion studs to provide window dressing for someone anxious to produce an impressive pedigree for a mutt. Especially since it appears to be poodle genes that are most sought after in the designer mutt business.
Many people seem to regard the purebred as an anti-democratic affectation (why should dogs be better bred than we are?). In many cases they are merely blaming ethical breeders for the sins of puppy mills and commercial breeding who exploit superficially good stock to produce animals of unregulated quality. If there were no breed clubs or recognized breeds there could be no designer dogs either. Just mutts.