Editing Labradoodle (section)

== Breeding history ==
===Origins===
Australian breeder Wally Conron introduced the cross-breed to the [[Royal Guide Dog Association of Australia]] in Victoria. Conron hoped that the combination of the low-shedding coat of the poodle, along with the gentleness and trainability of a Labrador retriever, would provide a [[guide dog]] suitable for people with allergies to fur and [[dander]]. He hoped the catchy name and claims regarding allergies would offset the stigma associated with mixed breeds and thus help him sell his litter.<ref name=Hot-Dogs-2007/><ref name=AnimalWorld-Labradoodle-2008/><ref name=Conron-ReadersDigest-2007/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Witness History – The world's first labradoodle – BBC Sounds |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct4xfz |access-date=2023-09-26 |website=www.bbc.co.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Sultan, a dog from this litter, displayed all the qualities Conron was seeking and worked as a guide dog for a woman in Hawaii for ten years.<ref name=Hot-Dogs-2007/>

Conron has since repeatedly stated that he regrets initiating the trend for this type of crossbreed and maintains it caused "a lot of damage" and "a lot of problems", largely stemming from the genetic unpredictability of combining breeds. He felt he was to blame both for the spate of unethical breeders producing labradoodle [[puppy mills]] and for creating a "[[Frankenstein's monster|Frankenstein]]", adding that problems were being bred into the dogs rather than selectively breeding away from problems and towards a recognizable standard. Conron is further quoted as claiming that "for every perfect one, you're going to find a lot of crazy ones."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Ben |date=February 6, 2014 |title=Labradoodle creator laments designer dog craze |url=https://apnews.com/general-news-pets-9e2dd5dcac1045ad9251743d0e0c3ee5 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424084250/https://apnews.com/general-news-pets-9e2dd5dcac1045ad9251743d0e0c3ee5 |archive-date=April 24, 2024 |access-date=January 27, 2025 |work=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

===Follow-on guide-dog breeding programmes===
[[Image:Labradoodle Assistance Dogs.jpg|thumb|A group of labradoodle [[assistance dog]]s]]
Currently, as with other mixed breeds, labradoodles are not considered a purebred or [[breed]] by the [[American Kennel Club|AKC]] and other major kennel club associations in North America and across the world.<ref name=AKC-breeds/> Technically, they are a hybrid of two pure breeds rather than a new breed. In 2010 the AKC began allowing owners of mixed breeds to register their dogs through an alternative listing programme to receive an AKC ID number.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.akc.org/press-releases/akc-announces-new-program-for-mixed-breeds/|title = AKC Announces New Program for Mixed Breeds}}</ref>

Guide Dogs Victoria no longer breeds labradoodles,<ref name=Hot-Dogs-2007/> although they are bred by other guide and assistance dog organizations in Australia and elsewhere.<ref name=guidedogswa-2010-09-07/> The Association for the Blind of Western Australia has introduced labradoodles into their training programme. Their first, Jonnie, graduated in November 2010.<ref name=guidedogswa-2010-11/><ref name=guidedogswa-2010-09-02/> Labradoodles are now widely used around the world as [[guide dog|guide]], [[Assistance dog|assistance]], and [[therapy dog]]s.<ref name=Colchester-GazetteNews-2008/><ref name=Altonn-2004/> They are also popular family dogs.<ref name=Hot-Dogs-2007/>