Famous labradoodles: the real dogs behind the crossbreed's rise

Part 1

Where the labradoodle story begins

In the 1980s, Wally Conron worked as the breeding manager for the Royal Guide Dog Association of Australia, now called Guide Dogs Victoria. Most of his work involved breeding Labrador puppies for guide dog training. Then he received a letter from a blind woman in Hawaii whose husband was allergic to dog hair. She wanted a guide dog that would not trigger her husband's allergies.

Conron first thought a standard poodle would solve the problem, since poodles have a low-shedding coat. He tested 33 different standard poodles over three years, but none had the temperament needed for guide work. So he decided to cross a Labrador with a poodle instead, hoping to combine the Labrador's working ability with the poodle's coat.

In 1989 he paired Brandy, a Labrador, with Harley, a standard poodle owned by his boss, John Gosling. The litter produced three puppies, later named Simon, Sheik, and Sultan. Samples from each pup were sent to Hawaii for allergy testing, and only Sultan came back compatible. Sultan was trained and sent to Hawaii to begin work as the first labradoodle guide dog.

Part 2

The dogs that made the breed famous

Sultan went on to work as a guide dog in Hawaii for about ten years. Meanwhile Conron still had two labradoodle puppies in Australia, and no one wanted to adopt them, despite a six-month wait for a Labrador guide dog. Out of frustration, he asked the Guide Dogs Victoria press office to tell reporters about a new breed, non-allergenic, and called it the labradoodle. He later said it was a gimmick, because nobody wanted a crossbreed but everybody wanted a labradoodle, even though it was the same dog with a different name. Conron later recalled that he could not have imagined the publicity the crossbred dog would get.

You may already know one famous labradoodle from television rather than history. Lester Holt, an NBC news anchor, has a labradoodle named Lucy who has become part of his morning routine. Barack Obama's family considered getting a labradoodle before choosing a Portuguese Water Dog instead.

Part 3

From guide dogs to celebrity accessory

Once the labradoodle name spread, demand for the dogs reached far beyond guide dog users. Guide Dogs Victoria was contacted by people around the world asking about the crossbreed. Dog behavior researcher Jessica Hekman has said the labradoodle caught on partly because it had a good story attached to its name, rather than being seen as just a mixed breed. Breeders in Australia later built on that early litter, developing the Australian Labradoodle with its own breed clubs and standards from the 1990s onward.

• The cockapoo, a cross between a cocker spaniel and a poodle, became one of the first popular crossbreeds in the United States.
• The goldendoodle followed a similar path, with credible reports of breeder Monica Dickens raising them in the 1960s to provide guide dogs for people with allergies.
• Other oodle crosses, from the schnoodle to the cavoodle, followed the trend the labradoodle had started.

By the 2000s, labradoodles had shifted from working guide dogs into popular family pets. Other portmanteau crosses followed a similar pattern of catchy names driving public interest.

The American Kennel Club does not recognize the labradoodle as a breed, since it is a cross rather than a purebred line. Even so, breed clubs such as the Australian Labradoodle Association of America had registered tens of thousands of dogs by 2020.

Part 4

What Wally Conron later said about his creation

In a 2019 interview, Conron said he had come to regret creating the labradoodle. He described the situation as opening a Pandora's box and releasing a Frankenstein's monster. His concern was that his invention had led to unethical breeders producing dogs for profit without regard for their health. He said that healthy labradoodles were few and far between, and that many had hip dysplasia, elbow problems, or other hereditary issues.

Not everyone close to the story shared his regret. John Gosling, whose poodle Harley was one of the two original parents, said the labradoodle's popularity turned out to be something quite fantastic and that he had no regrets. Hekman has pointed out that many dog breeds go through periods of runaway popularity, and that people trying to meet demand for crossbred dogs are not unique to labradoodles.

Part 5

Labradoodles in working and service roles today

Despite Conron's regret, labradoodles are still used in guide, assistance, and therapy work today. The Association for the Blind of Western Australia added labradoodles to its training program, and its first graduate, a labradoodle named Jonnie, completed training in 2010. Guide Dogs Victoria itself no longer breeds labradoodles, though other assistance dog organizations continue to do so.

Guide dog organizations outside Australia have also trained labradoodles for assistance work over the years. If you're considering a labradoodle for a working or public-facing role, it helps to know why the cross has suited that kind of work.

Whatever role your own dog plays, the mix that started as one guide dog's solution has carried on well beyond Conron's original assignment.