Origin of the term "Labradoodle"
The first use of the term “Labradoodle” was by Sir Donald Campbell. The Labradoodle and Poodle in his 1955 book “Into the Water Barrier”. The Labradoodle breed started by Wally Cochran in Austrailia in 1988 for a guide dog for the blind. The Labradoodle is a breed from a Labrador retriever and Standard Poodle.
There were only three puppies in the first litter. They were bred for the use of a blind woman in Hawaii whose husband had allergies. They had tested 33 different poodle’s hair and saliva. They all caused an allergic reaction. Wally then again crossed a Labrador Retriever and a Standard Poodle and was successful in producing a non-allergy affecting dog and the Australian Labradoodle breed got its start.
What is an original Australian Labradoodle?
The Australian Labradoodle is different from all other Labradoodles.
In the early days, the Australian Labradoodle was simply a cross between a Labrador Retriever and a Standard Poodle. Dogs from this cross typically were bred to each other over future generations, whereby the Australian dogs are also know as “Multi-generational” Labradoodles.
Then, in the late 1980’s, Tegan Park and Rutland Manor, the two founders of the Australian Labradoodle as we know it today, began carefully infusing several other breeds into early generations of their Lab/Poodle crosses, to improve temperament, coat, confirmation, and size. The infused breeds include Irish Water Spaniel as well as the American and English Cocker Spaniel. The resulting Labradoodles subsequently have been bred to each other, continuing the multi-generational tradition.
Today, Australian Labradoodles are wonderful, intelligent dogs with lush coats that are more reliably low to non-shedding and allergy friendly than other types of Labradoodles such as first generation Lab/Poodle crosses, or first generation crosses bred back to Poodles. Even when the other types of Labradoodles are bred on for generations, the result is not an Australian Labradoodle, as the attributes of the infused breeds were not included in their ancestry.
Reprinted by permission from the Australian Labradoodle Club of America website. www.australianlabradoodleclub.us