By Adria L. Henderson

“What kind of dog is that?”

“It’s a Labradoodle.”

“It’s a what?”

This is the standard opening conversation when meeting a Labradoodle and his owner for the first time. Yes, the Labradoodle is an actual breed of dog … a breed that has been in existence since 1980 when it originated in Australia. A cross between a Labrador Retriever and Standard Poodle, the breed was originally developed as a guide dog for people with allergies. Crossing the hypoallergenic, non-shedding, and extremely intelligent Poodle with the even-tempered, people-oriented, easily trained Labrador Retriever (already well known as an excellent guide dog) created the ideal dog for the disabled with allergies.

“Doodles,” as they are affectionately known, have been bred for generations in Australia and are now multi-generational. That is, the Aussies are breeding pure Labradoodle to pure Labradoodle. In the United States, the most of the breeders here are still developing their blood lines and are breeding, albeit carefully, labs and poodles.

Labradoodles come in solid colors such as cream, black, coffee, with fur from tightly curled like a Poodle to soft waves, with a weight range from 40 to 70 pounds. The temperament ranges from extremely friendly to even friendlier.

When the cross turned out to have the best of both the Poodle and Labrador Retriever, or “hybrid vigor,” breeders decided that they would make terrific family pets.

And Trish Dardine of Pleasant Hill Road in Newtown, owner of Zoe, an 18-month old Labradoodle, agrees.

“She’s a great family pet,” she said. “Zoe’s active and playful with my children, Molly and Sean, but she can also be quiet and mellow. And, she’s very friendly and affectionate.”

And most important, according to Trish, she takes whatever her active Jack Russell “Terrorist” Rosie “dishes out!”

It was serendipitous that Trish found out about the Labradoodle breed while surfing the web since she had never heard of the breed. When the Dardine’s lost their Wire-Haired Fox Terrier, Cosmos, they wanted to get another dog as a companion and playmate to their very demanding Jack Russell, Rosie. The new dog had to be people and child-friendly, since Sean was five and Molly was only one year old at the time.

The temperament of the Labradoodle sounded just like the kind of dog the family was looking for. Finding one was a little more difficult. There are very few breeders in his country actively developing the breed. Trish finally located Leanne Dehler, in Maine, who had been breeding for five years

A trip to Maine solved the puppy dilemma. It was here that Trish found Zoe. She was perfect. Zoe’s father was an apricot Poodle and her mother was a Yellow Lab. Zoe has loose, wavy fur, a poodle tail, brown eyes, is a lovely cream color and weighs in at 50 pounds. She made an impression as soon as Dardine’s saw her and became a Newtown Labradoodle that day.

As far as Trish knows, there is only one other “true” Labradoodle in Newtown. His name is Charlie and is owned by Linda Sobo on Castle Hill. Charlie and Zoe recently took part in the First Annual Newtown Doodle Romp.

You can see some greats shots of Zoe and her new Labradoodle buddy Charlie at www.finetoons.com/doodleromp.

Sean, now nine, and his sister Molly, now five, are both students at Head ‘O Meadow and take turns caring for and feeding the dogs, turtle, hamster and three parakeets that also reside at the Dardine residence. Since Trish works out of her home office running Fine Toons, a company that develops instructional media, she gets to spend the most time with Zoe, now almost two years old, and Rosie.

As Sean says, “They’re really Mom’s dogs.”

Dad Andrew, a research analyst at Forecast International in Newtown, rounds out the Dardine family.

However, when you enter the Dardine residence, Zoe definitely stands out as the star of the household. Maybe its because she’s the first one to come running over, happily greeting anyone who comes ‘a callin’.

Find Out More

For those interested in the breed there are several resources on the web to get information and puppies. A great place to start is at the New England Doodle Association’s web site, www.godoodles.org. Here you can find available puppies and other resources directly linked to Labradoodles (and Goldendoodles, the Golden Retriever and Poodle cross.)

For pure Australian Labradoodles, the two local sources are www.landmarklabradoodles.com/ in South Windsor and www.wodoodles.com/ in Westchester. Vicki Roosevelt owns this breeding kennel and has been very active in promoting the breed here in the United States. In Maine, you can find Zoe’s breeder Leanne Dehler at www.labradoodlesbyleanne.com. Labradoodles are currently not recognized by any of the national kennel clubs and therefore cannot be shown in the breed show ring.

Newtown Paw Prints will be profiling a Newtown pet and their “person” in a series of regular articles. Know an interesting pet or animal person who might be a candidate for a profile? Contact Adria Henderson at Safe at Home Pet Sitting, 426-5784 or e-mail at petfocus@aol.com.