Читать книгу Doodle Dogs For Dummies - Miriam Fields-Babineau - Страница 13

The start of the Doodle craze is credited to an Australian breeder, Wally Conron, the breeding manager for the Royal Guide Dog Association of Australia. He bred Labrador Retrievers to aid those who were physically challenged. He was tasked with obtaining or breeding a dog who didn’t shed or distress someone who had an allergy to canine dander. While Conron tried to teach numerous Poodles to work as service dogs, he wasn’t successful until he bred a Standard-size Poodle to one of his Labrador Retrievers. A few of the offspring of the pair turned out to be good service dogs, plus low shedding. But although Conron eventually fulfilled the request for that one client, his crossbred puppies didn’t sell well because most people preferred purebred dogs.

Conron marketed his new designer dogs as Labradoodles, a term used for a mix between Labrador Retriever and Poodle, in Donald Campbell’s 1955 book, Into The Water Barrier. Through the brilliant publicity of proclaiming Labradoodles dogs who don’t shed, and because they could be a multitude of colors, Labradoodles’ popularity took off. There was a bit of deception in their marketing ploy, however, because while some Labradoodles are low shed, many shed almost as much as purebred Labrador Retrievers do! But the marketing ploy worked nevertheless.

It wasn’t long before other purebred dogs were crossbred with Poodles of all varieties. One of the major reasons for doing so was to create non-shedding dogs, but it has turned out that very few of them actually are non-shedding. Plus, much like their Poodle parent, they require professional grooming.

One of the reasons that Conron required so much time to create a Labradoodle who worked well as a service dog was that not all the Labradoodles he produced were of the appropriate character to perform the job of an assistance dog. There were a large variety of personalities in one litter, from super-hyper and unable to focus to outright fearful. A service dog must have confidence, intelligence, and the desire to work hard. Those traits are rare and require working with many dogs from puppy to adult to ensure that one can make the cut. That’s why you’ll come to know more dogs who have failed assistance dog training than those who have succeeded.

The current reasons for creating Doodles are their popularity, adorable appearance, and ability to fit well into most families. And although some (such as Goldendoodles, Labradoodles, and Bernedoodles) can be trained to be assistance dogs, most are able to be emotional support companions, which is basically why we have dogs in our lives anyway. There are still some Doodles, however, who can be outright fearful or reactive, usually due to lack of early training and socialization.

Overall, Poodle dogs of all varieties — Standard, Miniature, and Toy — tend to enjoy longer life spans than most other dog breeds. The smaller the Poodle, the longer they tend to live. It’s not unheard of for a small Poodle to live beyond 17 years, whereas there are few other purebred dogs who can achieve such longevity.

Having a Poodle parent improves Doodles’ possibility of living a long life, provided those great Poodle dog genes have been inherited. Unfortunately, because Doodles are a mix, you never know which genes will be prominent and in which capacities. For example, a Doodle can have a curly Poodle coat, instead of the straighter coat of the other parent dog, and have behavioral characteristics more like the non-Poodle parent, instead of the Poodle parent.