The Australian Creator of the Labradoodle Speaks Out

[Jennifer & Truffle]

Check out this article in today's NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2014/02/06/us/ap-dog-show-labradood....

I thought it'd be of interest to all of you!  

[F, Calla & Luca]

I have heard of Wally Conron's regrets before. Many of us share his dismay over the current breed anything with a poodle trend. And of course we abhor puppy mills and unscrupulous breeders. But I , and many others, have wonderful labradoodles and wouldn't trade them for the world. So it is not all as black as Mr. Conron painted things.

[GBK]

Ditto!

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Totally agree with you F!

[Jennifer & Truffle]

I agree with you, wholeheartedly. We love our Truffle - he's brought us much happiness and joy since joining our crazy household a few short months ago. I, for one, am very glad Conron created the labradoodle.

[Emily, Bentley, & Maserati]

I agree! 

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Life without my 2 Labradoodles would be very different, indeed. Our lives revolve around them. But I can understand Conron's regret with all the backyard breeders and puppy mills trying to make a fast buck off of 'designer dogs', all at the dogs' expense.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

I had started a thread, before I saw this, with the same link, and just deleted it.

I can fully understand his train of thought and I absolutely hate the term Designer Breeds, but like it has been mentioned, so many wonderful dogs have come out of this.  I am not sure why it is so different from any other Breed...they all had to start from a mixture of Breeds somewhere.  Next year, when Disney makes a movie featuring a certain breed, then the BYB's will jump on the band wagon with them too!

[Stephanie and Ragley]

That is exactly what I think every time someone posts something about how the "designer dogs" are rip offs cause people are paying a premium price for a mutt. I saw someone's response to a post such as that that went something along the lines of, "oh how quickly you purebreed people forget that at one point in history, your dog was just a mutt also"  I thought it was rather insightful. 

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

There are good breeders and bad breeders across all dog breeds. This argument can be applied to any one of them and  is not exclusive to Labradoodles. 

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

I've read Mr. Conron's regrets before but I think he could take heart if he met some of our doodles. The retriever-poodle cross has produced a lovely cross that excels as a therapy dog and a companion, thanks mostly to the good breeders who have tried to weed out the sick dogs and breed for health, temperament, and consistency (not the self-professed founders).  Perhaps he should get out of Australia more often ;) Sometimes I think he's too willing to take full responsibility for starting the evil designer dog craze… and that discounts our labradoodles and golden doodles that are beautiful in body and spirit and leading useful lives. Crossing a poodle with anything and everything to make a buck is awful, I agree, but bad breeders and puppy mills will find a way to exist as long as people buy all kinds of mixes from them. BTW I think the pocketbook manufacturers bear some responsibility here ;)

[F, Calla & Luca]

Amen : )

[Jennifer Tramell]

I'm afraid the poor guy gives himself a little too much credit.  We had a Cockapoo in the early/mid 80s - he was just a "mutt" but it wasn't long before Cockapoos became a "breed" (term used loosely here, as in a recognized cross-breed).  I was just a teenager and wanted a Golden Retriever but my parents weren't interested in such a heavy shedding dog.  I commented that if they have Cocker/Poodle mixes, why not Golden Retriever/Poodle mixes.    This was before the "first" labradoodle and it was in Michigan - far from Australia.  If I, as a young teen, thought of this, I'm sure someone else would have.  I, for one, am thrilled to have the option of a larger dog with the potential of lower shedding.