Q: What is a Golden Doodle?
A: A Golden Doodle is a hybrid dog, created by breeding a Golden Retriever with a Standard Poodle. Normally the Retriever is chosen to give birth, as they are more robust and make excellent mothers. Golden Doodles are somewhat different from a "Labradoodle", which is a cross between a Labrador Retriever and a Standard Poodle.
Q: Is a Golden Doodle a purebred dog?
A: No. Hybrids are crosses between two different breeds. Many people (we call them "dog snobs") think that its inappropriate to mix pure stock - they have their reasons; we think those reasons are generally self-serving.
Q: What is the advantage of a purebred dog?
A: To breeders, the narrow genetic definition means that all of the litter-mates will be very similar. This means that purchasing a purebred puppy is pretty simple - like getting a burger at a fast food franchise - every choice will be the same. The franchise prides itself on customers getting predictable outcomes. Ideally, the outcome should meet a "standard". For French Fries, the standard is for salt content, colour and oil temperature. With dogs, it's the "breed standard". Is there anything wrong with breeding to a standard? That's a subtle question. You need to consider the answer from two perspectives - ask two more questions:
Is the breed standard appropriate? We'd answer that by saying that a breed standard that corresponds very closely to healthy performance and longevity makes sense. For example, a Golden Retriever's desirable characteristics are geared to fetching ducks and snuggling by the fireplace. Those are normal dog attributes. However, you'll see some quirky results. Check out the Retriever's tail; it is thick, strong and rope-like. Why? Good Retrievers are powerful swimmers - ducks land in open water some of the time - so Retrievers must swim quickly to be worthy of being bred. Therefore qualities that enhance fast swimming are selected - Darwinian concept of natural selection being applied by the breeder instead of mother nature. Does this matter? Well, when your Retriever walks happily past the coffee table wagging their tail, you better not have a hot cup o' joe waiting! What about other breeds? The most frequent issue which crops up is the selection for qualities that are designed to fulfill ill-advised, arbitrary standards. This results in dogs with health issues. For example, breeding to a standard for narrow hips means that dogs can't give birth naturally. For us, this means that a purebred dog selected towards a performance standard, rather than an arbitrary, unhealthy 'human' standard of attractiveness, is preferable. Why choose a dog with a snout that's too small to permit breathing? Both Retrievers and Poodles are sporting dogs, bred to perform naturally, and we think that makes sense.
Q: How does a breeder seek out the standard?
A: A breeder wanting to win in the ring needs to produce the largest number of puppies that most closely match the ideal standard. From these, the best of the best are selected to breed to other dogs which show the 'best of the best' qualities. The offspring compete, and the cycle continues. With purebreds, there is a finite number of available mates. Of these, there is a fraction which demonstrate the ideal characteristics. These are the ones that are bred most frequently. Over time, all pure breeds trend towards genetic commonality. Even without taking shortcuts such as inbreeding, the effect is inevitable. The result is a breed with an increasing probability for inheritable diseases and a decrease in longevity. How can you avoid this? Hybrid dogs solve the problem by uniting bloodlines that have never met. What's the catch? Isn't this too good to be true? In a way, yes! Purebred pups all look alike, they all act alike, they all sound alike. They are the franchise standard on commonality - if you purchase "off the rack", you'll get what you expect. Imagine walking into your neighbour's home, the kids look like siblings, because they're genetically related. By contrast, imagine walking into a classroom at school, the kids look different because they're genetically different. When you adopt a hybrid, the litter-mates are not all the same, they vary in many qualities. Is that a problem? Not for the people adopting a puppy, but it is the reason for how we need to conduct business. We raise our puppies in the house, under foot. We live with them daily. We watch them from the moment they're born until the moment they're adopted. We can match a pup to a family. Yes, we need to get to know you, but that's not a huge intrusion. The result is a healthy dog being adopted by the right people for the right reasons. You can therefore expect us to ask you as many questions as you ask us about the puppies.
Q: How large will he grow to be? Will she shed?
A: Golden Doodles come from two breeds that each grow to be 24 inches tall at their shoulders. But complicating the picture somewhat is that their offspring are "hybrids" and will generally grow to be at least as large as either parent, and generally slightly more. Expect a Golden Doodle to be 24 to 25 inches tall over their shoulder, with a weight very similar to a Golden Retriever, or around 55 to 65 pounds.
Many people wish to purchase a Poodle hybrid in order to achieve a 'low maintenance' dog, and all Golden Doodles would qualify in that respect. We've found with our previous litters that the creamy coloured pups shed very lightly, or not at all. If absolute cleanliness is the goal, however, the black pups have never shed (to date) as it seems they have taken after their father, a non-shedding, black, Standard Poodle. Actually, Poodles do lose their hair just like people.