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WHAT IS A DOODLE and WHY SHOULD YOU BUY ONE ?
If you take a Retriever, and mix it with a Poodle, you get a first generation (f1) "Doodle". A Labrador Retriever mixed with a Poodle makes a "Labradoodle", while a Golden Retriever mixed with a Poodle makes a "Goldendoodle". If you take an f1 Doodle, and breed it back to a different Poodle, you get a f1b (b for backcross) Doodle. And you can breed a f1 to a f1 to get a f2, or second generation Doodle.
But why would someone want to take a "pure breed" Labrador or Golden Retriever and mix it with a "pure breed" Poodle to get a "mixed breed" Labradoodle or Goldendoodle ? As it turns out, there's quite a few reasons:
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The most obvious reason is that both the Labrador and Golden Retrievers shed buckets of fur, and the Poodle does not. In fact, the Poodle is the only dog in the top 10 smartest breeds listed by the American Kennel Club to be "hypoallergenic" (click akc.org/smartest-dogs and akc.org/dog-breeds/poodle/).
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A less obvious reason is known as "hybrid vigor". World renowned dog trainer Cesar Millan explains under the heading "Mixed breeds are generally healthier" that "Hybrid vigor derives from the idea that the more breeds in a dog’s genetic mix, the less likely it is that the genetic problems of purebreds will manifest themselves (click How-To-Pick-a-Healthy-Pup by Cesar Millan).
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Not only does the Poodle bring the non-shed quality, and good for those who have dog allergies, but the Poodle is THE 2nd SMARTEST OF ALL DOGS !!! Some people will find that hard to believe, but it's true, and there is little to no debate about it (click The 10 Smartest Dogs). The AKC reveals that the Poodle is THE 7th MOST POPULAR pure breed dog, and for good reason, because they are "exceptionally smart, active and excels in obedience training" (click akc.org/poodle/).
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The AKC reveals that the Labrador Retriever is RANKED #1 as THE MOST POPULAR of all pure breed dogs, describing them as "gentle, intelligent and family-friendly". (click akc.org/labrador-retriever) Now you don't get to be the most popular dog of 189 pure breeds unless you have some pretty good qualities. The Labrador Retriever is also THE 7th SMARTEST OF ALL DOGS !! (click The 10 Smartest Dogs).
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The AKC ranks the Golden Retriever as THE 3rd MOST POPULAR of all pure breed dogs because they "are good at whatever they do, be it hunting, serving as guide dogs, working search-and-rescue, or being devoted companions" and "also enjoy being downright silly !" (click akc.org/golden-retriever/). The Golden Retriever is THE 4th SMARTEST OF ALL DOGS !! (click The 10 Smartest Dogs).
SO HOW POPULAR ARE THE
GOLDENDOODLES and LABRADOODLES ?
No one knows for sure. The American Kennel Club (or AKC) was founded in 1884 to register "purebred" dogs, and to this day, they still only register pure breeds, not mixes. Goldendoodles and Labradoodles are mixed breeds and do not qualify for registration with the AKC. (There are other dog clubs that do register mixes, but they are not the AKC, and they do not provide statistics.) Since a dog's popularity is determined by AKC "registration" statistics, no one knows exactly where the Goldendoodle and Labradoodle rank. But you only need to watch today's TV commercials to know that the popularity of Doodles has taken off.
SO HOW SMART ARE THE
GOLDENDOODLES and LABRADOODLES ?
The smartness of various dogs was determined in the book "The Intelligence of Dogs" (click The 10 Smartest Dogs). But since this book only included "AKC registered" dogs, Goldendoodles and Labradoodles were not included in the study. However, we can make a pretty good guess as to the smartness of Doodles.
The Goldendoodle is a mix between the Golden Retriever, THE 4th SMARTEST DOG, and a Poodle, which is THE 2nd SMARTEST DOG. The Labradoodle is a mix between the Labrador Retriever, THE 7th SMARTEST DOG, and THE 2nd SMARTEST Poodle. And this is out of 189 different pure breeds that the AKC registers. It only makes sense that if you mix the 4th smartest with the 2nd smartest, or the 7th smartest with the 2nd smartest, you're going to end up with ... one smart dog.
One smart dog ... that sheds very little (an f1) or practically none at all (an f1b) and lives a little longer. While the life expectancy of both the Labrador and Golden Retrievers is up to 12 years, the life expectancy of the Poodle is up to 18 years.
WHERE YOUR DOODLE PUPPY IS RAISED TO BE YOUR COZY PAL
