This Doodle'll Do
In a world full of crossbreeds, say g’day to the new king: the Australian Labradoodle, a friend to children, allergies — and your wallet.
We get it: like podcasts, the world doesn’t need another doodle. When people in the U.K. talk about buses, they say you wait ages for one and then two come along up at once. Doodles are not dissimilar: they arrive regularly and often in pairs. As the colonial cousin of the regular Goldendoodle, Irishdoodle, Bernedoodle and Cockapoo (yes, it counts), I am self-effacing enough to know that, in order to enter into people’s considerations, I need to make a good case. Fortunately, I have just that.
First thing to know is that we are doodle by name but not background. Whereas Labradoodles have been around since the mid fifties, our kind was created in the late 1980s by a breeder who was sent on a mission by the Royal Guide Dogs Association of Australia to create a dog that was hypoallergenic and smart enough to be a guide dog.
Our creator brought together all the hypoallergenic and smart dogs he could think of to create a sort of super breed that also had the temperament of a family dog. Of course, you have the Poodle and the Labrador but also the Wheaten Terrier, Portuguese Water Dog and a bit of Spaniel, too. This means we can be red, white, caramel, black — the list goes on.
Once the ‘blend’ (a horrid word, but I’m Australian, so don’t beat about the bush) was finished, the breed carried on as a mongrel, but a consistent one. Why is this good? Well, for people in need of non-shedding dogs, if you take a Labrador and a Poodle, there is little way of knowing how much of each you’ll get and whether, after months of waiting and anticipation (not to mention the handing over of a lot of cash), you might find yourself bringing home a dog you can’t be around.
Our way is to be unfailingly friendly from the moment we leave Doodle Hall. Adults feel soothed in our company, children are safe with us, heartbeats slow, and sweet oxytocin floods their brain just by sensing we are close. If you have a child with special needs, we will always be up for playing with them, and if they want to be calm and still, we can become their pillow.
For a while there were not that many of us, but the word seems to be getting out, and I find myself g’day-ing across the common much more than my parents did. It seems the case has been made, and people are rethinking us as the new king of doodles. If you see us coming, you’ll be twice as pleased if we arrive in pairs.
