In the late 1980's Pat Blum a vision impaired woman from Hawaii contacted Royal Guide Dog Association of Australia. Due to her husband's allergies, Pat hoped to get an "allergy friendly" guide dog. Wally Conron, the breeding manager for Royal Guide Dog Association of Australia bred the first intentional litter of labradoodles. Harley, a Poodle, and Brandy, a Labrador, produced three labradoodle puppies. Out of the three pups, one fit the mold. Sultan, not only was an allergy friendly pup, but his temperament and trainable nature made him the perfect guide dog companion. He was successfully trained as a guide dog and at the age of 18 months was united with Pat. Over the years, this union has proven to be a superior combination. Not only are the pups as cute as can be, they are incredibly smart, trainable, and have excellent temperments. These attributes, along with their allergy-friendly, and light to non-shedding coats, makes the labradoodle an increasingly sought after pet.

Wally Conron's Full Story can be found here.

Temperament

Labradoodles are sociable, friendly, non aggressive, and extremely intuitive. Their intelligence and high trainability make them well suited for guide dogs, therapy dogs, and other assistance dogs. Their non allergic coats make them popular among people who have not been able to enjoy pets because of their allergies.

Colors

The coats come in a variety of colors including: Black, Silver, Cream, Apricot Cream, Chalk, Gold, Red, Apricot, Chocolate, and Café.

Life Expectancy

Labradoodles will usually live for about 13 - 15 years.

Labradoodles are bred to have either the truly Fleece coat or the Wool Curly coat. Both coat types are non-shedding and allergy friendly. The Fleece coat has a distinctly soft fleecy feel unlike any other dog coat. The fleece non-shedding coat type is acceptable for people with allergies. It hangs in loose loopy spirals like that of the Angora goat. The Wool Curly coat resembles that of a poodle and feels like a soft woolly sweater.

White Fleece Coat

Silver Wooly Coat

White Wooly Coat

Labradoodle Generation Glossary

To help you understand the generation and breeding terminology we have provided the following glossary and explanations. A Labradoodle is a cross between the Labrador and the Poodle (usually the Standard Poodle). In general we will call the first purebred "purebred-A", and the second "purebred-B".

F1 = 1st generation puppy - 50% purebred-A and 50% purebred-B - for example, a Labrador to Poodle cross, this is first generation, resulting in healthier offspring. In this particular Labradoodle cross hair type can be smooth like a Labrador, fleece/wooly like a Poodle.

F1b = backcross puppy - 25% purebred-A and 75% purebred-B. For example, an F1 Labradoodle and Poodle cross; this is Labradoodle bred back to Poodle.

F2 = second generation puppy - F1 hybrid crossed with an F1 hybrid - for example, an F1 Labradoodle crossed with an F1 Labradoodle. This combination you get the same percentage of purebred-A as purebred-B as you would an F1 hybrid.

F2b = second generation backcross puppy = F1 bred to a F1b (hybrid backcross)

F3 = F2 hybrid to F2 hybrid

Multi-generation = F3 or higher generation hybrid crossed with F3 or higher generation hybrid