Dear Daring: Originally, the “Labradoodle” was a cross breed of a Labrador retriever and a Standard Poodle. The breed was developed as a non-shedding, low allergy alternative to guide dogs for the blind in Australia approximately 20 years ago. The early litters were very unpredictable in coat type, temperament and size. Breeders had to wait until the dogs were adults to really see what characteristics they had. Many of the early dogs weren’t low allergy and very hyperactive because of their high intelligence. For more information about the breed, I found an excellent website www.labradoodle.org that seems to take the breeding of this foundling breed very seriously.

The reason you didn’t find any mention of the breed on the AKC website is because a Labradoodle is not a recognized purebred dog. In fact, even its breeders acknowledge that the dog is an unregistered breed. There will be no papers or certificates stating as such and if a breeder tries to present you with any – beware.

As with all popular breeds – and the Labradoodle has gotten a decent following in recent years for it’s non-shedding, low allergy coat and good temperament – there are those that want to cash in on the popularity. Beware of a “breeder” who just happens to own a Labrador and goes down the street to his friend who happens to own a Poodle, does a breeding and voila, creates a Labradoodle. This is not a dog that is part of a controlled gene pool promoted by the fanciers of the breed who are developing the sizes, coat textures and temperaments. Many breeders start to breed Labradoodles back to Poodles to get more of the curly coat that is non-shedding. As you can see this is an evolving breed.

To date the Labradoodle comes in three sizes; Standard (22 inches tall), Medium (17-21 inches tall) and Miniature (12-16 inches tall). They come in a variety of colors including black, brown, silver, gold, cream and apricot. Breeders are now working on red and caramel as two new colors. There are several coat types including curly, borderline, and wavy. While the curly and borderline are more “low” allergy than the wavy they need trimming and clipping two to three times a year, similar to a Poodle. The wavy is the easiest to maintain but higher on the allergy scale.

Their temperaments are good but because of their high intelligence they need training and need it early. If left unchallenged, a Labradoodle may start to exhibit attention-getting behavior. In other words, he’ll be naughty to the point of playing destructive games to gain your attention. To a dog negative attention is better than no attention at all.

Purebred Dogs

To better understand what it takes to be a “pure breed” one can look to the requirements for recognition from the American Kennel Club. For example, the Bullmastiff started its road to “breed-dom” as the cross breeding of Mastiffs with bulldogs. In essence all breeds where created by blending gene pools to create a dog which humans needed to do a specific job from hunting to herding to just being a great companion.

 To stand on its own a breed must demonstrate that it has recognizable breed type for many decades, sometimes centuries. How is this accomplished? First, a breed must have a detailed written history. This usually comes about through a club of fellow enthusiasts who document the breed through pedigrees, ownership and breeding records. In addition, a written standard is developed. A standard is a description of the ideal dog. In the case of the Labradoodle it would document the three sizes, the acceptable colors and coat styles, among other attributes. A breed develops to the point of being recognizable and then applies to a kennel club for recognition.

Part of this road to recognition comes from detailed record keeping of the breed. The AKC offers emerging breeds a way to keep records through its Foundation Stock Service. This service is an optional record keeping service for all purebreds not currently able to register with the AKC and ultimately wishing to gain recognition. For a more detailed description go to www.akc.org and look under registrations. After a breed has met all the criteria then it applies to AKC for recognition and its Delegate body votes to accept them based on their history and ability to prove they are their own breed.

Lisa Peterson, a breeder and exhibitor of Norwegian Elkhounds, is a Delegate to the American Kennel Club and the owner of Peterson Pet Sitting. Ask Lisa questions at elvemel@aol.com or P.O. Box 197, Newtown, CT 06470.