Anecdotal Research and the First Labradoodle Gatherings

Throughout those early years  Kate Shoefel, a vet in NSW Australia began breeding first generation (F1) Labradoodles from Labrador and Poodle matings.  Her F1's  were amongst the first Labradoodles to be exported from Australia to America.  As at 2007, Kate breeds predominantly 'Designer Dogs' which are crosses of many different types of purebreds.

Tegan Park and Rutland Manor have maintained their record keeping and development of the Labradoodle to the present day   Different combinations were tried, back crossing to Poodles or Labradors, breeding Labradoodles to other Labradoodles, and checking back each twelve months to see the results of these trial matings.  An annual  Labradoodle gathering was held,  usually in one of the larger parks in Melbourne, although some were held at either Tegan Park or Rutland Manor. 

At the first such event in the year 2000, sixty Labradoodles  turned up, including some from other breeders, and what a variety of type they were!  All were welcome, and competitions were held, with prizes, to encourage attendance.  Training and grooming help was given and each dog was examined, with records compiled regarding health, temperament and coat types and then cross referenced back to the breeding lines where possible.

The Labradoodle Association of Australia (LAA) is Formed in 2000

Founded by  Angela Cunningham of Tegan Park (now Angela Rutland-Manners  of Tegan Australian Labradoodles)  and her mother Beverley Rutland-Manners of Rutland Manor,  the LAA was incorporated in Melbourne Australia, on 14th June 2000 Incorporation # A0039798P.  

A database of pedigrees was built and members began to join the Association.  Both Angela and Beverley were struggling to learn the Computer and Internet, and progress was slow. 

A combination of the loss of the entire database in a major computer crash, and difficulty in raising enough interest in the community to form a committee quorum, saw the LAA collapse and it went into recession in 2000 for a period of approximately two years before being revived by Beverley via a dedicated series of advertisements in magazines and newspapers and an emailing campaign.  This was successful, the LAA was revived and later joined with the ALA and ILA to form the IALA.

In 2003 Beverley Manners, who was still Secretary and Public Officer of the Labradoodle Association of Australia (LAA) instituted a campaign to re-start the Association.  This was successful and when it was once again fully established and running, she set her sights on forming an International Association, with a transparent database and she introduced a world first for non registered dog breeds with mandatory health testing for breeding stock across the world.  She founded the ILA, with board members in Hawaii, North America, Holland, the U.K. and Australia.

International Labradoodle Association (ILA) is founded by Beverley Manners in 2004.

In an effort to protect the developing Australian Labradoodle from the scourge of over popularity and its imminent deterioration Beverley Manners (Rutland Manor) founded what she hoped would be a transparent global association which would provide protection across the world, both for the breed and its fanciers. 

Rutland Manor's Pedigree Database Donated to the ILA

Beverley provided the basis of the ILA (now IALA) dog database with the donation of several hundred pedigrees and photos from Rutland Manor's archives.  She was the ILA's  president until its second term when she became disillusioned with the struggles for power within its ranks, and what she considered to be dishonest practice amongst those in power. 

In 2004,  the entire board of the ILA  including some of its  current board members, walked out without notice, leaving no access to website,  database, or financial records and  redirected all emails to Beverley's private email address.  She struggled to keep faith with the public whose money had been entrusted to the ILA and set up a new committee, with the help of a conscientious breeder in Maine USA, who together with her husband, did their best to manage the membership queries and database.  Once  the ILA  was on its way again, Beverley resigned her presidency and membership towards the end of 2005. 

Early Breed Problems

During the early years of its development the Labradoodle was mainly a very large dog.  Most were over 26 inches high, and anything under 20 inches was considered to be a Miniature!

Too many had a 'hard headed' hyper active temperament and both Tegan Park and Rutland Manor Rescue Services were kept busy taking in Labradoodles which were turned in by families who were unable to handle these large, dominant, - and very smart dogs. Most were able to be re-homed after rehabilitation and training, although  unfortunately many were too habitual with their behaviors to integrate into a family situation.

The most common experience shared was that the breeder had not told the family how large their cute little puppy would grow.  Many were also told that their dog would be allergy friendly 'because it was a Labradoodle'.  Sadly, this was all too often not the case and there were frequent tearful goodbyes as the family drove away leaving their dog behind, to an uncertain future at the Rescues.

But in spite of this, there were also some beautiful dogs being bred, which was enough to encourage  continuing  research and trial and error selective matings  by both Breeding and Research Centers.  Progress was slow, but consistent and promising.

There are some first generation Labradoodle breeders who claim that it is impossible for a multi generation breeder to guarantee that a puppy will not shed.  If the breeder is experienced and 'knows their oats'  it is not only possible, but very easy to distinguish the future shedders from the reliable future non shedders.  But do your homework with your breeder to see if they have done their homework too!

CAUTION! Because some first crossed (F1) Labradoodles (Labrador to Poodle) can be non shedding, inexperienced or unscrupulous breeders still sometimes claim  that all of their puppies are non shedding or allergy friendly, and this has led to sad stories, with many  families having to give up the dog they have grown to love, because it causes their allergies to react.

In Australia, some of the early generation Labradoodles were great dogs, but the main problem was their unpredictability as to coat temperament and size. Basically, you had to wait for a puppy to grow up to know what you really had. A common problem in these early generations was a 'hard headed' attitude, willful and sometimes hyperactive, which, when combined with high intelligence, made for a difficult dog to manage in the typical family situation.

Some strains did have sweet natures and these were concentrated on by breeders who bred for temperament as well as other desirable features.

Some pet shops and lots of backyard 'breeders' in Australia still offer puppies of unknown background as "Labradoodles"  and this is now prevalent  in other countries as well, especially the United States where the Labradoodle's explosion of popularity amongst such a large population has been an inducement for breeding practices lacking in integrity. 2007 sees Rutland Manor introducing a new initiative in an effort to provide more alternatives for those seeking their new family member.  See ASD notes below.

As the popularity of the Labradoodle grew as a family dog there arose a need for a much smaller Labradoodle to be bred and the Miniature Poodle was introduced to reduce size, along with other carefully chosen pure bred dogs.

Research carried out at Rutland Manor found that by using Miniature Poodles over Labrador Retrievers the size in the offspring for at least three generations was unpredictable, with some of the puppies being smaller than either parent, but others in the same litter being as large or larger than either parent at maturity.

When the smallest Labradoodles were bred to other similar sized Labradoodles the progress was in some ways slower, but more dependable. The infusion of American or English Cocker Spaniel further stabilized the smaller size over time.

The programs which used the latter method, have resulted in reliably smaller  dogs across the litter, of b whilst the offspring of the former method are still producing what has become known as our 'Medium' sized Labradoodle of between seventeen and twenty inches in height.

There is no such thing as a 'hypo-allergenic' dog in our opinion. But our carefully bred  ASD Australian Labradoodles have been developed to have the most allergy friendly coats possible in a dog.

RE-INVENTING THE WHEEL

The first Australian Labradoodles were exported to America in 1998. American families fell in love with them in a big way, just as had happened previously in Australia.  Within two years  more than four hundred new 'breeders' had  jumped  onto the bandwagon in the United States, to cash in on the word 'Labradoodle'.  Most bred Labradors to Poodles, and other crosses, but claimed their dogs were the same as the developed breed.   At 2007 this number has more than trebled.

One USA breeder and high profile board member of the ILA went public in 2006  stating she had been breeding Labradoodle to Labradoodle for eight generations - an impossibility !

It seemed everyone had to breed Labradoodles! 

The concern of the Breeding and Research Centers Tegan and Rutland Manor, was that people were so confused that they thought every Labradoodle was the same kind of dog.  It was thought inevitable that someone would lose their life or become very ill from allergic reaction to a dog they believed had the same allergy friendly qualities as the genuine Australian Labradoodle.   Something had to be done!

WHAT'S   IN A  NAME !

It was decided that in order to differentiate between the different kinds of 'Labradoodle' the word 'Australian' would be used.  Within a month of this statement being issued on the Tegan and Rutland websites, the ILA (now combined with the ALA and ALA)  decreed  that dogs could be registered as Australian Labradoodles  even if they came from American Lab mixes. 

ASD  (Australian Service Dog) LABRADOODLE

In mid 2006, Angela and Beverley internationally trademarked the 'ASD' Australian Labradoodle - standing for Australian Service Dog, which was the original purpose for which these dogs were developed.  A select group of truly dedicated breeders are now licensed to breed ASD  Australian Labradoodles and they have pledged to breed using only dogs descended directly from the pure Australian lines.

 Internationally Licensed ASD Breeders

In September 2006, Curtis Rist launched 

The Australian Labradoodle Protection Society (ALPS)    to help educate people re the difference between the American Labradoodles and the genuine Australian Labradoodles. 

The original Australian Labradoodle was developed using carefully thought out infusions of several other breeds, which produced the dog the world has fallen in love with.  The Labrador/Poodle mix alone would have created a genetic dead end, as no new blood would have been introduced to protect health and vitality in the new breed. Also, the Lab and the Poodle share some 49 hereditary diseases. 

Beverley  and Angela  believed that it  was necessary to bring in fresh blood to dilute the genetic influence of the two foundation breeds of Lab and Poodle and this was done at strategic intervals after much research and gathering of breed data from the breeds infused. 

The history of the Australian Labradoodle is far from over.......       More....

MISSION STATEMENT

    To preserve, protect and nurture the qualities of the Labradoodle dog
   To be guardian over its well-being
   To carry out judicious research and development
   To safeguard its endearing and very special ways for future generations
   And to encourage responsible ownership

Our Babies have travelled to-   Nth America,    Hawaii,    Canada,    Netherlands,   Germany,   France,  Belgium,    Norway,  Iceland,  Sweden,   Switzerland,    India,   Dubai,    Bermuda,   Japan,   Hong Kong,   Singapore,   New Zealand,   and    Indonesia,