UK Labradoodles
The photo above left is of 'Tegan Park Heirloom' I found this photo whilst originally searching for Labradoodles in 1999 and this to me is a 'Real Labradoodle' and I am sure I am not alone in my thinking. Kushti is our F3 UK Labradoodle.
Rutland Manor (Beverley Rutland-Manners) & Tegan Park (Angela Rutland-Manners) are the founders of the ASD Labradoodles. They have been developing Labradoodles as a breed for 25 years.
Lots of people in the UK have started breeding Labradoodles and people are buying them expecting them to look like 'Heirloom' as they have seen them on the internet in Australia & America with their beautiful long wavy non-shedding coats but we are years behind in the UK and far too many people are doing it purely for monetary reasons without knowledge and understanding of health issues associated wtih Labradors and Poodles. I am continually hearing sad stories of families who have brought a Labradoodle into their fold having been told by an unscrupulous breeder that their puppy is non-shedding and perfect for allergy sufferers. Allergies are far too complicated to say that any one breed of dog is suitable for allergy sufferers, we do not promote our ASD's as ideal for allergies, we also have dogs who live in the house that shed, therefore it is not possible for us to invite allergy sufferers into our home.
Please click on the logo for the Labradoodle Rescue and read their article about the allergy myth and have
a good look at their website, the team do a fantastic job helping Labradoodles all around the country.
What many people do not realise is that the Australian Labradoodles are also a mix of other breeds and not just Poodles & Labradors, there are only a few dog breeds in existence which have been created from the combining of just two parent breeds. Beverley & Angela recognized the dangers in continuing to breed Lab/Poodle mixes. Both breeds share an alarming number of serious hereditary diseases. Many of these illnesses skip many generations, so health testing of both parents will not in itself guarantee that affected offspring will not result. They met this challenge by carefully infusing other breeds at specific intervals. This not only kept the gene pool wide, but also lessened the probabilities of shared diseases surfacing.
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.
Each time this was done, it was called an 'infusion' and had the effect of widening the gene pool of the new breed and also correcting faults, increasing health status, or otherwise introducing desirable traits which were thought to be missing. Some of our modern day 'pure' breeds have had up to four and even five additional breeds and breed blends infused over the course of their history.
The Irish Water Spaniel, American and English Cocker Spaniels and Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier.
The Irish Water Spaniel was chosen as he is closely related to the Standard Poodle, he also gave the first Labradoodles in Chocolate, however he was only ever used once in any line in order to avoid thier characterisic tail and smooth muzzle.
The American & English Cocker Spaniel were introduced in the pursuit of a smaller size and the thinning of coat thus avoiding the too Poodly coat and also luxating patellas common in Toy and Miniature Poodles.
In 2002 Beverley decided that it was time to introduce another breed into the development of the Labradoodle. After exstensive research she decided to infuse the Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier.
In 2004 frozen semen from pure Irish lines were artificially inseminated into two of the woolliest tightest curliest coated females. Misty, a Café Miniature and Bunnie a Standard Cream. Both girls had a history of producing mainly thick curly wool coats in their offspring regardless of the Labradoodle sire used.
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.
