I had owned a Black Lab before, so I wanted a big dog. My husband is allergic to animals, so he wanted a Poodle, same as his parents had. I pictured us dealing with monthly grooming bills. We got so far as to look at a few Poodle pups, but at $1250, I decided to look a tiny farther.

What I found surprised me. The breed that kept coming up in my research was the Labradoodle. A cross between a Labrador Retriever and a Poodle, the Labradoodle has many advantages. Both breeds are highly intelligent, both are friendly, and both are great family dogs. The advantage to crossing the two is that the low dander of the Poodle seems to take dominance and the result is an allergy friendly dog, usually with the best traits of both breeds. I say usually, because hip dysplasia is an ailment common to both breeds and that could be an inherent weakness for the animal. Doodle pups are tested for both that ailment and for eye diseases that are common to both breeds.

Other facts about the Labradoodle, or LD, that surprised me were that though they were just recently introduced to America, Australians have been breeding and refining the breed since the 70s. The difference between an American LD and an Australian one is that the Australians used several breeds of dogs in their program. In an effort to standardize the breed, each breeder was granted to use only certain breeds in their mix. One breeder was permitted to include Portuguese Water Dogs in their mix. Another was allowed only Wheaten Terriers to be added. Though the American LDs are still considered hybrids, the Australian LDs are now recognized as a breed by their kennel clubs. In 1997, the breed standard was written to state the only approved parentage of an Australian LD is the Poodle, Labrador Retriever, Curly Coated Retriever, American Cocker Spaniel, English Cocker Spaniel, and Irish Water Spaniel. In 2004, the mix officially became a breed in that country.

There are certain terms used to define Labradoodles. An F1 is a first generation cross, or a Labrador to a Poodle. An F1B is a Labradoodle backcrossed to a Poodle, which usually results in pups with more of a Poodle coat, a Lab Poodle. An F2 is the offspring of two F1 LDs, and the offspring of two F2s would be referred to as “multi-gen”, or multi-generational.

Coats vary from Doodle to Doodle. An F1 may have one of three coats: a wool coat, a hair coat or a fleece coat. Wool coats and fleece coats don't shed, hair coats do. I've a hair coated