Australian Labradoodle History
The Labradoodle history began with a blind woman in Hawaii who needed a service dog, but could not consider one because her husband was allergic to dogs. When she requested an allergy friendly dog, a bright soul in Australia thought to cross the traditional Labrador Retriever service dog with a Poodle, known for it’s non-shedding, allergy friendly coat.
One of the three pups from the second Lab/Poodle cross suited the husband’s allergies, and the breed was off and running. Early generation crosses were found to be inconsistent in producing the non-shedding, allergy friendly coat, and some of the dogs tended to by hyperactive.
In 1989 Angela Rutland-Manners, later joined by her mother, long time GSD breeder Beverley Manners, took on the challenge of creating a consistently non-shedding allergy friendly coat, in a dog bred specifically to serve humans, rather than earlier breeds that may have been bred to hunt, guard or herd, etc. They acquired their breeding stock from earlier labradoodle breeders, and amassed a large list of breeding dogs, of wide genetic diversity.
Under their able guidance and genetic expertise, the TIG Group’s Tegan Park and Rutland Manor Breeding and Research Centers have succeeded in producing the multi-generational Australian Labradoodle that is taking the world by storm today. They have produced a dog that is highly intelligent, intuitive and easily trained, ideal for a career as a service dog, particularly to those with canine allergy issues. The Labradoodle is also a superlative family pet. Strict attention has also been paid to producing healthy dogs. Several other breeds, including the Irish Water Spaniel, American Cocker Spaniel, English cocker and most recently, the Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier, were carefully considered and chosen for infusion into the breed, each adding not only genetic diversity to the emerging breed, but each adding valuable traits and good health to the Australian Labradoodle.
Tegan Park and Rutland Manor are now at the forefront of what is now seen as a developing new canine breed, the Australian Labradoodle. A handful of licensed breeders exist in the United States who remain true to the work begun in Australia.
The first Annual Labradoodle Conformation Show was held in Malibu, California in September 2006, and will be repeated in 2007. The world famous Monopoly game has just replaced the Scottie dog with a Labradoodle for it’s board game.
