A short history of the breed

The Australian Labradoodle is the result of a search for an allergy friendly guide dog and has been bred since the early 1970s. Wally Cochran was the first person to cross a Labrador with a standard Poodle and named the result a Labradoodle. Tegan Park and Rutland Manor in Australia continued Cochran’s work and became the founders of the Australian Labradoodle. The Australian Labradoodle is not a simple crossing of a Poodle and a Labrador. A very selective breeding programme with regular infusion of other breeds has given the Australian Labradoodle its unique characteristics. The Australian Labradoodle has a friendly, social character and an allergy friendly coat. Australian Labradoodles have a wavy or curly coat and do not give off any body or coat odour. All these factors make the Australian Labradoodle the ideal family dog for people who normally would not be able to own a dog.

Breed description
The Australian Labradoodle has an athletic, graceful and compact appearance. It is a cheerful and energetic dog, but a trained Labradoodle is gentle and calm. They are easily trained and react in a friendly happy way to people and children. They make special eye contact. They are also very suitable as an assistance dog and are also being used with children diagnosed with ADHD and ASD. They have a wavy or curly coat that should not shed and is allergy friendly.

The length x height proportions should be 10 to 12 and give a compact impression with square shoulders and solid elbows. Average angulation of the hindquarters with a short and strong hock. Strong extended movement at trot, which gives the impression ‘we are going places’. When relaxed or playing they will prance about and lightly touch the ground. They are galloping dogs and therefore the flanks need to be well placed on the chest.

Colour
Colours vary and include chalk, shades of cream, black, café au lait, chocolate brown, apricot and silver. The pigment is liver-coloured or black. Hazel eyes are frequent for dogs with liver-coloured pigment, brown or black eyes with black pigment.

(These are guidelines, variations do occur)

Labradoodle? Australian Labradoodle? Multi-generational?

What are the differences?
By Curtis Rist of Hudson Labradoodles, based on information received from the founder of this breed; Angela Rutland Manners of Tegan Park (retired breeder) Freely translated by Nanja de Koning, Dog’s Paradise Labradoodles.

The funny name Labradoodle really doesn’t do justice to these dogs that are direct descendants from the Tegan Park and Rutland Manor lineage. The breed originally started as a Poodle - Labrador cross, but through the mixing in of at least 6 other breeds by Tegan Park, the Australian multigene Labradoodle is much more than just a Poodle - Labrador cross. In order to clarify the difference, here follows an explanation of the gene-composition of the different generations of Labradoodles (Such as the F1, F1B and F2) and the Australian multi-generational Labradoodle.

F1
From the moment Gregor Mendel started experimenting with peas, the first generation of a crossing has been called F1. In the case of Labradoodles this is thus the cross between a Labrador and a Poodle. In this way, an F1 carries 50% of the Labrador genes and 50% of the Poodle genes.

F1B
Due to the fact that the F1’s usually shed, they are sometimes crossed back with the Poodle in hopes of creating a more stable coat. These offspring have 3 Poodles as grandparents, and therefore 75% of their genes are of the Poodle. As a result, it is logical that they will not shed; the Poodle itself is a non shedding dog.

F2, F3, F4 and Multigene Labradoodles
When two F1’s are crossed with each other, you get an F2; two F2’s produce an F3 etc.

From the third generation onwards they are called multi-generational. “But these are still not Original Australian Labradoodles”. Genetically, they are similar to an F1; they carry 50% of the Labrador genes and 50% of the Poodle genes.

When an F1B is crossed with an F1, the percentage of Poodle in the resulting F2 will be even higher, namely 62.5 % ((50% + 75%)/2). The same goes for F2B x F2 or F3B x F3.

The original Australian Labradoodle
The genetic composition of the Australian Labradoodle is different from the “multi-gene” because various breeds have been mixed in (at least 6 other breeds by Tegan Park alone). An Australian Labradoodle therefore carries a considerable added percentage of genes from these additional breeds. The percentage of Poodle genes is also a bit higher than the percentage of Labrador genes, but less than 50%. Of course this is the ideal composition for the breed, which can differ somewhat per individual Australian Labradoodle.

The gene percentage of the additional breeds make the difference...