What is your opinion on Labradoodles and hybrids in general?

Discussion in 'Labrador Breeding & Genetics' started by Emily_BabbelHund, Mar 7, 2017.

  1. charlie

    charlie Registered Users

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    I know you're not getting at me :) I think with the Labrador x Poodle you get a really good mix, the keeness of the Labrador, the intelligence, and trainability, of the Poodle and an all round great temperament. Hattie was also our first dog and to be honest I was a bit nervous of getting a 'pure' breed which I know sounds daft but after all the research I did the temperament of the Labradoodle was just right for our family, which has been 100% the case with Hattie :heart:

    It's true, you just don't see many Standard Poodles around, in fact the last one I saw was Hattie's mum and she was gorgeous, gentle and so friendly :)

    As for health issues it seems addisons disease, gastric dilation volvulus, eplilepsy, HD and PRA which is not as many issues as a lot of 'pure' breeds. xx
     
  2. Emily_BabbelHund

    Emily_BabbelHund Longest on the Forum without an actual dog

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    I regularly see three standards and five or so miniatures around the town I live in in Germany. These three act the way the ones I knew as a kid and the one I had as an adult acted: a bit neurotic, hyper and standoffish with strangers. It is strange because if you read about poodle temperaments, "nervous and standoffish" isn't what you'll see at all, but all the ones I've known were that way. But that's a small sample size and I'm not saying all are that way, just the ones I've known.

    The breed has probably also suffered a bit of a PR problem - you say poodle and people don't think the rather majestic sporty standards, they think neurotic little ankle biters owned by little old ladies. I actually like the little ones - growing up we had a miniature and I had a toy as an adult. They are smart little clowns who usually love their own people even if they hate (or just ignore) everyone else. I did a quick search and in the US, poodles are still the 8th most popular breed (right in front of Rottweilers), so there a still loads of them out there apparently!
     
  3. snowbunny

    snowbunny Registered Users

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    I quite fancy one down the line to do some gun dog work with. Just "to show people" who think they're a bit poncy. A bit like what I'm wanting to do with having a chocolate show Lab doing gundog training. I obviously have a perverse bone or two in my body ;)
     
  4. lucky_dog

    lucky_dog Registered Users

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    My experience with poodles is that the standard ones seem easy going, but the smaller ones are a bit neurotic. Maybe it's "small dog syndrome" not poodles...
     
  5. pippa@labforumHQ

    pippa@labforumHQ Administrator

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    Gene pool for standard poodles is not in a happy place
     
  6. Stacia

    Stacia Registered Users

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    I was rather shocked to meet a puppy yesterday which was the result of a Miniature Poodle mating a Labrador, two disparate heights and sizes. It was a deliberate mating. The puppy was gorgeous, like a small Wirehaired Vizsla to look at, but I still thought it a dreadful thing to do.
     
  7. drjs@5

    drjs@5 Registered Users

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    Pippa, is this the case for most "Pure Breeds"?
    Increasingly sounds like this to me to be honest.
    I think we have had this discussion somewhere before.
     
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  8. Boogie

    Boogie Supporting Member Forum Supporter

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    Is this true in the US too?
     
  9. MF

    MF Registered Users

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    Similarly the new trend here is miniature poodle x golden retriever. You get a gorgeous ultra-fluffy Disney dog with lots of character that is small enough to handle - kind of medium size. The std Poodle x golden produced huge dogs that quickly became unpopular for families with small children. Well, that is from my observations at our local dog park.
     
  10. bbrown

    bbrown Moderator Forum Supporter

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    I think the standard poodle is particularly bad with effective population size somewhere around the 30s which is utterly unsustainable.

    https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/media/686300/poodle__standard_.pdf
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2017
  11. Emily_BabbelHund

    Emily_BabbelHund Longest on the Forum without an actual dog

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    I don't know about standards, but I looked for a purebred toy or miniature in the early 2000's and it was very true. A lot of overbreeding, a lot of breeding for size and not smarts or temperament. I gave up at about the 5th breeder visit where I arrived to find most of the breeder's dogs de-barked. Of course that's a separate issue nothing to do with genetics, but to me it kind of symbolised the problems of breeding for looks and not temperament to the point that you get a dog so neurotic that people cut their vocal cords to be able to live with them. :(

    I'm sure there are great breeders and dogs out there, but they are hard to find (or at least that was the case back then). I ended up getting a rescue from a puppy mill bust - sadly there were lots and lots of those to choose from.

    What I've HEARD about standards in the US is that they have much better temperaments and are healthier than the smaller sizes because they are not so overbred. I don't know if that's true or not, and I've just not known enough standards to make any sort of judgement. The ones I've seen in dog shows in the US certainly seem much calmer than the little guys.
     
  12. Ski-Patroller

    Ski-Patroller Cooper, Terminally Cute

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    My sister-in-law has had two Standards. Both were nice dogs, and pretty calm, though I think the second one was in the back of the room when brains were being distributed. He was just a very sweet dumb dog.
     
  13. Ski-Patroller

    Ski-Patroller Cooper, Terminally Cute

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    My understanding is that the original Labradoodles were developed in Australia by a breeder that was trying to get a very low allergenic dog breed for use as a service dog, primarily for people with alergies. While they were called Labradoodles there were actually a number of breeds involved, and he worked to develop a line that would have the consistent characteristics he wanted. I know that most of the Labradoodles we see are just Lab, Poodle crosses, not the specifically developed line.
     
  14. Tracey D

    Tracey D Registered Users

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    I think this crossing is a lot better than some deliberate x breeding around. I feel there is no justification for what breeders are charging for these dogs. They cost more than a purebred. That is just a case of people taking advantage.
    As mentioned , different aspects of the breeds are going to come out. I've seen all sorts of Labradoodles.
     
  15. Tracey D

    Tracey D Registered Users

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    Hmmmm dreaming of a purebred non shedding Labrador......................
     
  16. Ski-Patroller

    Ski-Patroller Cooper, Terminally Cute

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    I'm starting to have a better opinion of Labradoodles. Two of our neighbors have them. One is Cooper's size and just a little younger. They are soul mates. They play exactly the same way, chasing, boxing, tug, etc. It seems that the trade off is going from a dog that sheds a lot, to a dog that has to have baths.
     
  17. drjs@5

    drjs@5 Registered Users

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    Oh yes, I totally relate to this, give me a wipe clean labrador and a bit of hoovering any day!
     
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  18. charlie

    charlie Registered Users

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    I wouldn't swap my Hattie (Labradoodle) for a bundle of Labrador puppies :D x
     
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  19. Boogie

    Boogie Supporting Member Forum Supporter

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    Keir is a 3/4 Golden Retriever 1/4 Flatcoat. So far he hasn’t shed at all. I groomed them this morning and got ten times more fur out of Tatze than Keir.

    Will this continue? I doubt it!

    As to this GR/FC cross - I am in touch with one of his brothers and two of his sisters PWs and they are all as wonderful and easy as Keir - and I’ve never had such an easy pup. I also knew Keir’s cousin, Picasso, and he was clever, gentle and incredibly well behaved too :angel:

    Here is Picasso, the same mix as Keir - now a working Guide Dog.


    FDAC4F98-F795-491B-AB8E-F6B49B703310.jpeg
     
  20. charlie

    charlie Registered Users

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    Absolutely stunning :) I'm loving some of the Guide Dog crosses, they are beautiful xx
     
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