As a responsible breeder who frowns upon inbreeding, I feel it is necessary to contribute actively to the development of unrelated lines so the Labradoodle can someday stand on its own merits. I do this NOT to join the ranks of any organization like the AKC (American Kennel Club), but instead to hopefully prevent the future of this hybrid from falling into the same fate as our pure breeds.
I am sure many of you have read that the Australian Labradoodle is comprised of a minimum of three breeds used specifically for either temperament, size, color and/or coat type. Some of the mini and medium sized doodle lines were
outcrossed with pure Spaniel types which include the American Cocker, English Cocker and Irish Water Spaniels. Later in this process of development, another popular hybrid called the 'Spoodle' (Australian name for a Cockapoo) was used to set the type further. Although these hybrids were introduced to improve a trait on the originals; - none of the reasons were more important than
for the
hybrid vigor that occurred. Without hybrid vigor, the Labradoodle will face the same end as most of our AKC breeds. The more times you keep breeding 'the same lines to the same lines', or close stud books, the more you increase the percentages of strengthening the
good genes as well as
the bad ones. By outcrossing to other breed types, you are able to 'dilute' common genetic issues that affect both health and temperament.
The American Labradoodle, which is only comprised of the AKC Poodle and AKC Labrador is the original Labradoodle hybrid. This is what Wally Conran created for a blind woman whose husband had allergies. Although Wally was successful in providing a non-shedding service dog to his client, his future endeavors were not and he sold some of the original stock to Australian breeders who further developed the Labradoodle by outcrossing to other breeds and the name
'Australian Labradoodle' was born. The beautiful, gentle, sweet natured, but shedding Labrador was only used
once as a foundation parent. To my knowledge, the Labrador was never, ever bred into the Australian lines again like the pure Poodle and Spaniel types were.
When you look at the Australian Labradoodle, you can definitely see where repeated breed infusions have occurred. Too much of the Poodle influence shows particularly in the coat with tight curls and thickness. (see Maple Sugar) Although this type of coat is great for allergy sufferers, it is a costly upkeep. Another indicator is the narrow skull with a long, pointy nose. The body is rectangular rather than more square and their boning can be too light.
Those lines infused with the Spaniels/Cockapoo have a much different look. They are more 'boxy' with thicker boning and have a shorter, square snout. (see Willis and Rumple) Their heads are broader and many of their coats have a softer feel and loopy-er, not tightly spun curls. Most do not have an undercoat. Although smaller in size than the standard Australian Labradoodle, they are not fragile looking like a Toy or Mini Poodle. They tend to be less 'yappy' than backcrossing to pure AKC mini Poodles as well. You cannot deny the intelligence and beauty of the Poodle; however, it has always been my choice to pick and raise dogs from breeding stock which included more hybrid infusions than pure Poodles who tend to be heavily line bred.
So I searched for a well tested Cockapoo which was daunting because very little testing (if any at all) are done on this hybrid. Although the coat, color(s) and hybrid vigor of Cockapoos did make them a worthy addition to the Australian Labradoodle, I feel it is unethical to bring a breed into a line without a complete health testing protocal.
A responsible breeder should stringently test all breeding foundation stock whether Cockapoo or Labradoodle or any other infusion breed for that matter.
To this end, my co-partner and I have had the good fortune to purchase a Cockapoo stud for infusions with some of our curlier/Poodle coated Australian/Multigen Labradoodle females. We are delighted to introduce 'CORIANDER' of Annabelle Doodles & Ocean State Labradoodles.
Coriander and Maple Sugar will have a litter available for homes in May of '09. The litter will consists of apricots, apricot-red and creams. I am also expecting some pups to have white markings and possibly partis as well. It is an exciting time!! :+)
'Cori' has been fully tested with qualifying scores and will be used in both our programs to improve coat, body type and promote the development of new foundation Multigen Labradoodle lines. His very desirable size of 16 1/2 inches and 27 lbs. is such a plus as he can be used for both our large mini and medium girls. Coriander has a wonderful, non-shedding, wavy coat and is a mellow young man. Coriander gets along beautifully with all dogs no matter the gender or size. He has a gentle manner and passive nature.
The Australian Labradoodle is STILL developing and requires numerous new and unrelated lines in order for this hybrid to actually become a true breed. We are both thankful that the originators of our unique hybrid saw the wonderful traits the Spaniel and Cockapoo gene pool brought into the Australian Labradoodle.
