labradoodles

[auntie c]

As zefi knows this is a topic close to my heart....

day after day I am meeting more and more of these cross bred dogs, and this morning I was doing my usual search on the various websites looking to see if there are any standard poodles needing rescuing. It is becoming very apparent that there are now several labradoodles awaiting homes in the various shelters here in australia. And still they are being bred, and sold for astronimical prices on these poor babies heads. I have just found out today that  there is a Labradoodle Association of Australia.  How can this be!!!  How can we educate these so called breeders.  Is it possible that we, as a community, email these breeders and inform them correctly......

carlene and harry who
australia

[zefi]

Carlene, this is a very interesting subject. And one you know that I too feel very passionate about. In fact, this site and forum came about from the very same sentiments... About a year ago I said something on PSG very similar to what you said below. Given that I'm an outspoken type and already have a page on the whole 'doodle' myth on my Pantone Poodles website, I wrote to PSG and said that I would be willing to do the work to put up a website to educate people on POODLES and what was true and what wasnt about the claims of these doodle breeders. I had some interest in the project from a few people wanting to help and contribute, but mainly it was Michael that I started the discussions with. In a way this IS our answer to the doodle thing. Eventually, the Poodle Room website itself will have loads of information and links on why poodles are better and what the truth is about all the doodle designer dogs out there. We wanted a place where people could not only come and meet and chat about their poodles, but also a place where people could come for information on the breed - not least about why the REAL thing is so much better than any designer dog can be.

I hope this made sense... I'm tired. I've just come home from work and my head is a bit muddled.

Anyway, eventually I hope to have more information available on this site which MIGHT open the eyes of the naive puppy buyer. However, I wont hold my breath. Anyone stupid enough to pay twice the price of a purebred to buy a mutt, or worse to import one from overseas, is a fool and deserves what they get.

[Helen]

That's exactly what I was going to say!  We used to call them MUTTS!  And now they are "Designer" breeds!  Heck, I've loved many a mutt in my lifetime.  But why on earth would anyone want a diluted poodle when they can get the real thing!?

My favorite site to  look up different kinds of dogs is www.dogbreedinfo.com   But the other day I happened across their page on all the poodle mixes.  OMG!  The list went on and on.. with breeders, etc.  It was made to look like these were true Breeds! 

[zefi]

Yep. I've seen that too. Look up any mix at all, and there's a page on sites like that which make it seem like its a legitimate breed and some sucker will go looking for one to buy. 

We hope that with this site we are able to inform and direct people towards the RIGHT dog for them, without putting down any breed or mix, just letting them know the truth about what they are paying top dollar for... and what they can (or cant) expect for their money.

[silverdog]

I think the worst part (more so for those on this site from Australia) is that the breeders of these "created mistakes" are using the outdated Australian service program as their crutch.  Almost every US site I have found has boasted the glories of these dogs and that they have bloodlines leading back to the very begining in Australia.  I have no idea how things could have spun so far out of control.  I have also found numerous sites that say these dogs are eligible for registration in Australia and that it is only a matter of time before the AKC comes to their senses.

Now I know, and many will agree, that the AKC and UKC are not the end all of the dog world but they set the standard in the USA and one of their biggest protocols for a newly registered breed (or at least one eligible for the Foundation Stock Service) is that they breed true to THEMSELVES. This is not so with Labradoodles and believe me I've been looking for someone to prove me wrong.  I have not been able to find a breeder that can create a consistant gene pool by ONLY breeding Labradoodles to labradoodles (or the version made by goldens, maltese, pugs.......).  They will always have to go back and reintroduce either a full blood of one breed or another eventually.  And even if they do successfully breed two or three generations of "pure" doodles then the pups come out so different that they could have been from different studs!

Now, I will admit that there are "registered" doodles but we all know that I could create a registry in my living and from my home computer if I really wanted to (I've found a registery titles "Gaurd Dogs of America" that has only registered one dog breed - which the registry owners have created).
Ah so much to rant about and so little time.........    Sigh gotta get back to work!

[zefi]

Yeah well dont get me started on the stupidity of these people and the 'breeds' they create. I groomed a labradoodle the other day. A lovely sweet girl who looks like an irish wolfhound - tall and lanky and moves with the same low head carriage and lopey movement. She has next to no hair on her legs (terrier type coat there) and the coat on her body is a mix of dense poodle like undercoat which mats like hell, and a terrier type topcoat which sticks out. Very unattractive. She cant help it. She is a lovely dog... Apparently they got her 'cheap' cause she shed. And boy does she shed. My bath was full of her hair after I blasted her (in the bath luckily!) This was AFTER I clipped all the mats off her and she was next to naked. Every labradoodle I've seen so far is different and they all have awful coats, except the ones that have so much poodle in them they look like poorly bred poodles. In which case I ask... why not get a real poodle?

I've been asked by the Poodle Club of Western Australia to design a T-shirt for them and I will be doing it. I also plan to design a series of t-shirt to promote pure breed dogs over designer dogs. This just gets to me...

The fact is that these dogs WERE originally bred as seeing eye dogs, but the fact that none of these 'breeders' tell you is that the Australian Assoc for the Blind stopped breeding them cause they were a failure. They wouldnt breed true, they could never predict the coat quality or temperament and almost all the pups they bred were useless for the program. They coined the named 'labradoodle' to sell the unwanted puppies to the public and unfortunately someone took it and made them the newest 'in' thing. So, if an association with the best breeding practices and science behind it gave up on the dogs... what makes anyone else think these are BETTER than purebreds? It really makes my blood boil. And no, they are nowhere near being recognised as a breed in Australia.

[Helen]

And actually Zefi, Standard Poodles are being used as Guide Dogs now (at least in the USA) and doing a terrific job of it!  No need to mix in anything else.

[Fluffy]

"oodles" are also one of my pet peeves.  When I meet people who say my dog is a labradoodle I reply "oh! I new it was some kind of cross.  Did you get it from the pound?  Kind of takes the gloss of that ol designer label.

[zefi]

ROFLOL!!!!! now THAT is a comeback! LOL

[silverdog]

LOL That's so bizarre, I've gotten evil evil stares when I refer to them as mixes or mutts or crosses.  I don't think the owners want to be told that they've spent 2500+ on a pound puppy. It's all so very harmful to the poodles themselves too. 
 
I've found sites that list 20+ breeding age females!!!!!!  They woo the general public with the "new breed, hybrid vigor" junk and then attach the phrase "comes from champion lines" to the ad and that's enough to sucker the owners in.  Part of me says - if they are so simple that they believe this then let them!  But I just can't.  Because I've never met one of these breeders that fully health test and half of them don't even keep pedigrees or at least list them.  Which means the dogs that are being created are doubly cursed.  When the fad is over they will be seen as "old news" and then they will most likely develop some health condition because no one ever took the time to make sure that would never happen.

If they don't like the look or attitude of poodles then get a lab!  If they want that "ragamuffin" look that EVERY poodlecross seems to get then why don't they get a Cairn or a Spinone Italiano or any of the other rough coated breeds.  Grrrrrrr

[zefi]

Terri, on my site I say the exact same things. I even have a list of dogs with the look of the crosses that people might find attractive. I just dont see the need for this 'new breed'. humph.

As for the 'pound puppy' someone once said something hilarious to a lady who was bragging about her 'purebred' 10th generation or whatever labradoodle. She said 'oh you mean the mudblood'. ROFLOL!

(If you arent a Harry Potter fan the humour might escape you, but trust me, its an insult!) 

[silverdog]

LOL yes, I am a Harry Potter fan though not as big a one as Alena and that is too funny. 

Well, I guess this is just the fad of the moment but I sure wish the fad would die already.

Is it just me or do all of the poodle crosses look pretty much the same?  Oh I just don't understand......

[zefi]

By pretty much the same, do you mean messy, hairy in a wavy, sort of kind of curly wiry way? Yep. Then they do look the same. Although they mostly just look messy to me. And I cant understand how you can get dogs that look like irish wolfhounds by crossing a standard poodle with a labrador! LOL

[silverdog]

Yes!  That's exactly what I mean!!!!!

They all look like they just rolled out of bed!!!!!  And it's beyond me how the breeds they combine with a poodle can make that.  And they all seem to inherit the poodle face hair which is odd as well.  All of the poodle crosses I've met have facial hair that will keep growing and growing unlike the goldens or labs etc that are the other half.

And watch how loudly you speak of irish wolfhounds! lol  The next thing we know they will be calling them "Miniature Continental Wolfhounds" or something along those lines, giving them a long and illustrious history and charging even more for something most of us would call a big fat oops.  I can't believe no one's thought of that before!

[Helen]

I was so naughty the other day.  I was talking with one of my hubby's patients.  She was telling me about how excited she is because she's getting a labradoodle.  I said, "Why would you want to do that?"  She gushes about how wonderful they are and telling me about them being a cross of a poodle and a labrador (as if I didn't know).  I say, "So basically it's a mutt!"  (evil snicker)  She got all flustered and kept trying to explain how it's not a mutt, and blah blah blah... 

I thought I'd better behave, so I left the room.  After all, this was a patient!  Egads.  I'm SO BAD!!