50 Fun Facts About Labradoodles

A Labradoodle is a cross between a Labrador Retriever and which breed?

Either a Standard or a Miniature parent can be used, which is why sizes vary so much.

Labradoodles were originally intended to suit people with what problem?

The low-shedding coat was meant to make a guide dog usable by allergic handlers.

Which Australian breeder is credited with inventing the Labradoodle?

He later said he regretted starting the trend.

Which organisation did the Labradoodle's inventor develop the cross for?

He hoped the poodle's low-shedding coat and the Labrador's trainability would make a guide dog for allergy sufferers.

In which Australian state did the Labradoodle guide-dog programme begin?

Guide Dogs Victoria no longer breeds Labradoodles, though other assistance-dog groups do.

What was the name of the first-litter Labradoodle that became a guide dog in Hawaii?

He worked as a guide dog for a woman there for ten years.

What monster did the Labradoodle's inventor say he had created?

He blamed himself for the spate of unethical breeders and puppy mills that followed.

Why did Conron think a catchy name was important for his first litter?

He also leaned on the allergy claim to help sell the puppies.

How do the AKC and other major kennel clubs classify the Labradoodle?

Technically it is a hybrid of two pure breeds rather than a breed in its own right.

In which year did the AKC start letting mixed-breed owners register for an ID number?

The alternative listing programme gives mixed breeds an AKC ID without breed recognition.

When did Jonnie, Western Australia's first guide Labradoodle, graduate?

The Association for the Blind of Western Australia had added Labradoodles to its training programme.

Which breed was tried in Australian Labradoodle lines but dropped as unsatisfactory?

The other three were all kept in some Australian lines.

What are the three size names used for Labradoodles?

The names follow the size categories used for poodles.

A standard Labradoodle typically weighs roughly how much?

Miniatures run about 18-28 lbs and mediums about 26-45 lbs.

Labradoodle coats are divided into which three categories?

The hair itself can run from wiry to soft and from straight to curly.

Which of these is listed as a Labradoodle coat colour?

Chalk, café, parchment and blueish gray are on the list too.

Which coat pattern term describes a Labradoodle with white abstract markings or two tones?

Solid, phantom and tri-coloured are the other listed patterns.

Labradoodles often inherit a strong affinity for what from both parent breeds?

Both Labradors and Poodles began as water-retrieving dogs.

Which joint problems does the Australian Labradoodle Association call common in the cross?

The association still describes the dogs as generally healthy.

Which hormonal disorder has been recorded in Australian Labradoodles?

Eye diseases and epilepsy have also been reported in the cross.

A UK study found Labradoodles had more of which eye condition than Labradors?

The rate was 4.6%; cataracts ran at 3.7%, similar to Labradors.

Why are Labradoodles especially prone to ear infections?

Cockapoos suffer the same way for the same reason.

Which Australian group continued Conron's work into a purebred called the Cobberdog?

The two breeding and research centres set out to fix the cross into a definable breed.

How many existing breeds contributed to the Australian Cobberdog?

They include the Irish Water Spaniel, Curly-coated Retriever and Soft-coated Wheaten Terrier.

What does the Australian slang word "cobber" in Cobberdog mean?

The name was chosen to keep an Australian identity while distinguishing the breed from the Labradoodle.

In which year was the Australian Cobberdog accepted as a new breed by the MDBA?

The Master Dog Breeders and Associates also published its breed standards that year.

The Australian Cobberdog was bred chiefly to excel at which job?

No earlier breed had been developed solely to be an ideal therapy and assistance dog.

In which year was the Labradoodle Association of Australia founded?

It aimed to standardise the Labradoodle and win breed recognition.

The Australian Labradoodle Association mandates exactly which three progenitors?

As many as 22 purebred contributors sit in the wider accepted heritage.

Which breed did Rutland Manor add to its lines in 2004, sparking the Cobberdog split?

One of the two infused terriers was a Melbourne Royal championship show winner.

What is the principal cause of dog allergies, rather than the hair itself?

This is why even hairless dogs still produce the allergen.

What do prominent allergen researchers say about hypoallergenic dog breeds?

Allergen levels vary between individual dogs, but breed is not a significant factor.

How often does research suggest bathing a dog to minimise allergic reactions?

Bathing cuts the allergen protein on the coat and the amount in the air.

Designer-dog names like Labradoodle are what kind of word?

Schnoodle and Puggle are built the same way from two breed names.

Why is the Labradoodle an exception among blended-name designer dogs?

Working crosses like lurchers and eurohounds usually get type names instead.

What is the genetic advantage a first-generation cross may enjoy called?

Also called crossbreed vigour, it dilutes when two crossbreeds are bred together.

In which magazine did Conron ask whether breeders were checking dogs for faults?

He asked whether they were simply delivering the next status symbol to hungry customers.

The name Goldendoodle combines "golden" with which word?

Goldendoodles were first widely bred in the 1990s as an alternative to the Labradoodle.

Which great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens crossed Golden Retrievers with Poodles in 1969?

The novelist's descendant beat the 1990s doodle boom by decades.

Which musician paid $12,000 for a Goldendoodle puppy at a 2012 charity auction?

Australian puppy prices hit A$15,000 during the 2020 pandemic demand spike.

The Cockapoo is a cross of which two breeds?

The two have been deliberately crossed in the United States since the 1960s.

What does the F1 label mean on a doodle or cockapoo?

Breeding two F1 dogs together produces an F2.

The breed called Pudel in German and Caniche in French began as what type of dog?

Wildfowl hunters used the larger ones to retrieve game from water.

The German word Pudel comes from a Low German verb meaning what?

Most cynologists think the breed began in Germany, though the FCI favours France.

Where were poodles bred down in size to create the miniature variety?

Smaller dogs were easier to transport, and they performed tricks from tightrope walking to card tricks.

The Labrador Retriever descends from water dogs imported from which colony?

Despite the name, the breed was developed in Britain from St. John's water dogs.

Which three coat colours are Labrador Retrievers registered in?

Chocolate was originally called liver and first appeared at the Buccleuch kennels in 1892.

Which Dorset town received the first St. John's water dogs on ships trading with Canada?

The dogs arrived in the 1830s on ships trading between Canada and the English south coast.

In which decade were Goldendoodles first widely bred?

Breeders in Australia and the United States wanted an alternative to the popular Labradoodle.

Poodles were the AKC's most registered breed from 1960 until which year?

Their US popularity took off after Nunsoe Duc de la Terrace won Westminster in 1935.