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FAQ:
AUSTRALIAN
LABRADOODLES
History
The
Labradoodle story begins
with Wally Conron, the head breeder
of the Australian Guide Dog
Association, who coined the name in
1989 when he bred a litter of Labrador
Retriever - Standard Poodle cross
pups. Pat Blum had lived with vision
impairment for many years, but never
could apply for a Guide Dog because
of her husband's problem with
allergies. Pat approached Wally and
was overjoyed when the AGDA agreed
to breed a litter of Labradoodle pups,
hoping the Poodle cross would lessen
the likelihood of an allergic reaction.
Harley the Standard Poodle was bred
to Brandy the Labrador Retriever and
three pups, Sultan, Sheik and Simon
were conceived. As Pat and her
husband lived in Hawaii, fur samples
of the 3 pups were sent to Pat at
different ages. Sultan's coat was the
only one that caused no problem at all.
Sultan trained well as a Guide Dog and
was united with Pat for the first time at
eighteen months old.
Labradoodles became very popular
among the blind in Hawaii, and Wally
has said that 29 of the first 31
Labradoodles he bred were
successfully trained as Guide Dogs,
although only one in ten were reliably
allergy friendly. The Australian Guide
Dog Association continues to breed
one or two litters of Labradoodles a
year due to their popularity. Dr. Kate
Schoeffel, a friend of Wally Conron, is
an honours geneticist and Vet in
Condoblin, New South Wales,
Australia. Kate was the first to breed
pet Labradoodles, and still breeds
miniature Labradoodles to this day.
In the early 1990's two associated
kennels in Australia, with a
background in Spoodles (Australian for
Cockapoos, a Cocker Spaniel - Poodle
mix) began to breed Labradoodles to
Labradoodles and Labradoodles to
Poodles, breeding toward a
consistently allergy friendly and
nonshed dog. Other breeds were
introduced into the mix as well. (The
IALA is in the process of confirming the
use of these purebreds)
• Curly Coated Retriever - this didn't
work out and these lines were
abandoned
• Irish Water Spaniel - two dogs were
used in the program, one time each
The other breeds successfully
introduced to the program were
Cocker Spaniels.
• English Cocker Spaniel
• American Cocker Spaniel
In
1999
these new lines of dogs were
introduced to North America where
they took off like gangbusters!
Those breeders who carefully selected
breeding dogs and promoted health
testing joined together to form the
first association created to protect the
qualities of the multigeneration
Labradoodle, the Labradoodle
Association of Australia (LAA).
The LAA was founded in June of 2000,
and began a computer database to
record and track the pedigrees of the
multigeneration Labradoodle. As the
founding parent body of the Australian
Labradoodle, it is their goal to submit
the Australian Labradoodle breed
standard to the Australia National
Kennel Club (ANKC) for breed
recognition when the required criteria
are met.
The International Labradoodle
Association (ILA) was incorporated in
2004 and began to work with the LAA
towards the protection of the
Labradoodle's future. Their goal is to
focus on nurturing the development of
the Labradoodle and promoting
uniform breeding standards to insure
the health and integrity of the breed.
The Australian
Labradoodle Today
In 2005 The International Australian
Labradoodle Association, IALA, was
founded as a global organization,
uniting the existing sister
organizations. These sister
associations include :
• the Australian Labradoodle
Association, ALA (formerly the LAA)
• and the Australian Labradoodle
Association of America, ALAA
(formerly the ILA )
Working together, the breeders have
developed stringent guidelines in
health testing and a more
comprehensive breeding program.
One of the most important qualities
for a healthy, viable new breed is to
build a large and healthy number of
foundation stock with a broad
genetic diversity. The IALA oversees
new lines being added from around
the globe, each bringing renewed
health and vigour into old lines.
They have compiled the largest
Labradoodle database in the world. As
of September 2006, there are almost
3000 registered dogs and over 3000
additional ancestors in the database.
Health Testing
As science moves forward, the IALA
breeders embrace new technologies
that offer them more insight into their
breeding programs. Although each
sister organization has its own specific
code of ethics and conduct, all IALA
members are recommended or
required to administer certain tests to
their breeding dogs.
The Planned Future
Steps Towards Breed Recognition:
Breed recognition is many years away,
both in Australia and in the U.S. New
breeds develop through a series of
processes -
• Foundation dogs - For the next
decade or so, new bloodlines will be
added to the Australian Labradoodle
to create a healthy and diverse genetic
background. Guided by their breeding
committee, they will breed towards the
breed standard they have set.
• Breeding to purebred -- When the
`books are closed' on the Foundation
lines, only the intact dogs within this
pool will go on to breed towards a
purebred Australian Labradoodle.
ANKC Breed Recognition
Breeders in
Australia have contacted the ANKC and
discussed more specifics on the
requirements for breed recognition,
and have updated and improved the
breeding program accordingly.
ANKC requirements for breed
recognition:
“In regard to the Regulation that
requires a minimum time the breed
has been in existence be fifteen [15]
years, means that there has had to be
an organisation (usually an
Incorporated Club) covering the whole
of Australia that has acted as the Stud
Book Register for the breed for a
minimum of fifteen [15] years. This
organisation must have kept records
of all dogs bred in the breed.
The minimum number of dogs
registered be 500. This means that at
the time of application there must be
500 of the breed alive and registered
with the above organisation. All of the
500 dogs must be entire (none of them
to be neutered).
The minimum number of generations
registered be 5. This means that only
those dogs with a 5-generation
Pedigree will be eligible for acceptance
on to the ANKC register at the time if
and when is adopted as an official
ANKC Breed. The 5 generation
Pedigree does not apply to the 500
dogs on the Register.”
AKC Breed Recognition
The ALAA has contacted the AKC,
although the Australian Labradoodle
does not currently meet its definition
of a possible purebred, the ALAA is
taking all the necessary steps to allow
the AKC to accept the ALAA's database
into it's foundation services program
at a future date.
AKC requirements for breed
recognition:
After the books have closed, the
Foundation dogs must then be bred to
each other for a minimum of 3
generations. There must be at least
300 dogs in the U.S. in at least 20
states with this background (of only
Foundation dogs breed to each other
for 3 generations) for the breed to
even petition for recognition.
The
National Club will then petition the
AKC for recognition to the Misc. class.
Once accepted the AKC offers Open
registration to only those dogs (that
are 3 generations from the Foundation
dogs) and are whelped in the US. This
is independent of original pedigree
and number of breeds in the mix. The
pedigree for the early Foundation dogs
will be kept by the National Club
database. The AKC will track the
pedigree in their system but will not
list AKC numbers for Foundation dogs
but the National Club numbers.
Steps Towards Breed Health and
Longevity
The IALA encourages all Member
Breeders to health test their breeding
stock. Recommended basic tests
include hip and elbow exams, yearly
physicals with CBC and biochemical
profiles, and annual EYE/PRA exams.
Breeders who have submitted DNA
parentage identification profiles on all
breeding dogs an IALA/ALAA member
may place the following statement on
their website.
"Our breeding dogs are IALA/ALAA
DNA profiled. All of our breeding dogs
have been DNA'd and their DNA
profiles have been submitted to the
IALA/ALAA. This has been done to
protect the buyer and support
parentage identification. The
IALA/ALAA strongly recommends this
profiling of its members and we are
proud to be an IALA/ALAA/DNA
breeder."
Steps Towards Ethics in Breeding
All IALA/ALAA members have pledged
to a stringent Code of Ethics which
includes Rules & Regulations that are
updated quarterly. The ethics code is
extensive and includes;
• standards in housing and caring for
dogs and pups
• candor about all aspects of the
breeding program
• ethical treatment of dogs and choices
in breeding practices
• identification and record keeping
requirements
• a pledge to represent the dogs
honestly and provide materials to
better educate owners
Some of the statements in the Code
are broad and open to interpretation,
and so with each new quarter year,
new procedures and standards of
excellence are sent to all the breeders,
refining and defining specific parts on
the Code.
Bi-monthly letters are also sent out
with updates in health testing, or any
issues that may affect the health of
these foundation lines of Australian
Labradoodles.
(Many thanks to Krista Waitz of
Rainmaker Ranch Australian
Labradoodles and the IALA, and to
Kathy Young from Cloudcatcher
Labradoodles and the AALA, for all
their efforts in helping to put together
this informational page.)
(top photo courtesy of
Olympic Labradoodles)
Pat Blum, Sultan and Guide Dog
Services manager John Gosling
in 1999
Cloudcatcher Labradoodles
Eden Valley Labradoodles
Rainmaker Labradoodles
Olympic Labradoodles