Labradoodle: Obama's reported dog choice is the bane of dog breeders. (Christmas, Clinton)
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IIRC - the Labrador Retrievers were bred to accompany duck hunters and swim in the frequently icy water to bring back the dead birds so the hunters wouldn't have to get even colder than they were. Labs have a thick and essentially waterproof coat so they can survive this entertainment. At least most of the Labradors I have know loved to swim in water too cold for contemplation. They make great, if sometimes smelly, companions. Newfoundland are bigger with more fur and the couple I have met thought they were giant puppies.
Also, IIRC - Poodles were bread for herding and protecting sheep. They look like sheep so they won’t scare the flock. They are also near waterproof as rain is common where there are sheep pastures. Poodles are not a gentile as labs because poodles were bred as protection dogs. PS – they do not have that weird hair cut when left alone.
I can only wonder what a cross would be. A gentile dog that does not smell but like to swim or a curly haired attack dog that eats ducks?
PPS – Weren’t we discussing the president’s God a while ago? Now we are discussing the president’s Dog. I think that is going in the right direction. Never question a man about his god or his Dog.
My cousin has a really cute Goldendoodle but he's more Golden Retriever than Poodle. He's big and oafish, he dwarfs my aunt's Standard Poodle, he loves to swim, and he's much more outgoing than my aunt's Poodle. But he does have curlyish hair, it's like a cross between Golden and Poodle hair, it's almost wavy-ish. I assume a Labradoodle would be similar but I'm not sure if the Lab or Poodle temperament would be more dominant.
Oh, and for the people who are upset that he chose a Labradoodle, you still don't know where he's getting it. A cursory search on google led to several Labradoodle/Goldendoodle mixes.
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Originally Posted by RoverOver
The Obamas are said to be considering the odds-on favorite "Labradoodle" over the dark horse Portuguese water dog.
Dog breeders think the high price mixed-breed Labradoodles and Goldendoodles are disgusting. Retrievers were bred for hunting, tracking, and detection. Now they are being crossed with poodles solely so owners can have a house pet that doesn't shed!! How pathetic.
Does it surprise anyone that the Obamas are going the mutt route when it comes to picking a dog?
If they were really "liberal" they'd rescue a mutt. Instead they are choosing to purchase a purposeful mongrelized breed, and pay a high price for it! The entire situation is predictable on all levels.
IF you'd searched for poodle history among the things you'd find is:
"The Poodle's history is shrouded in antiquity and hypothesis. By the 15th century we see dogs that actually resemble the Poodle as we know it, in writings and in art work It is believed by some that the poodle is the original water spaniel. It is known that the Poodle was, and even today, is used as a working hunter and duck retriever. The very stylish hair trim that is distinctive with the Poodle, and seen in conformation, actually has a real function and purpose. The Poodle's coat protects the dog from water and debris in the water, it buoys the dog, and adds insulation to keep the joints, and the rest of the dog, warm while working. The hindquarters of the dog is shaved so that the dog can swim more easily rather than being weighted down with the equivalent of a diaper and long footed pajamas. "
So, you're whining about breeding one retriever breed with another because?
I hate the "so called" designer dogs. But I'm not the one living with it. I'm sure they make great pets and his children will probably adore it. Isn't that the reason they want one? I really don't care what dog they want in the White House. I am only responsible for my own pets. As said by an above poster, there are more serious issues in this world to be concerned over.
Thank you, burdell. I did not realize that poodles were also used as retirevers. We were out camping one rainy fall weekend and our friends had brought along their sheep dog. The creature was geting a huge amount of attention by looking soaked and miserable. When I patted him I noted that only the outer 1/2 in of his fur was wet. The rest was bone dry. He was the only warm dry skinned camper there.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,326 posts, read 54,344,425 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Blutime
I hate the "so called" designer dogs. But I'm not the one living with it. I'm sure they make great pets and his children will probably adore it. Isn't that the reason they want one? I really don't care what dog they want in the White House. I am only responsible for my own pets. As said by an above poster, there are more serious issues in this world to be concerned over.
How many breeds are there that weren't at some point 'designer dogs'? The result of selective breeding to enhance certain characteristics and/or eliminate undesirable ones?
How many breeds are there that weren't at some point 'designer dogs'? The result of selective breeding to enhance certain characteristics and/or eliminate undesirable ones?
Pretty much every one, with the possible exception of the 'natural' dogs - Akitas, Malamutes, Siberian Huskies and the like - although even they were, no doubt, bred for size, teamwork, strength, etc.
Last I heard the Obamas were planning to adopt. There are currently over 19,000 labrador-type dogs available for adoption on Petfinder and 9 Portuguese Water Dogs. Surely they'll be able to find some deserving pup to bring home.
How many breeds are there that weren't at some point 'designer dogs'? The result of selective breeding to enhance certain characteristics and/or eliminate undesirable ones?
You are right about the selective breeding to attain certain characteristics. Now let me explain my point of view on designer dogs.
I have seen the work that many labradoodle breeders are doing to promote their dogs. Such as working toward soundness, doing medical screenings and temperment testing. These people I can hold respect for.
Now when the labradoodles come out with their high price tag due to the breeders time, effort and screening cost incurred. WOW!! Now everyone with 2 breedable purebreds or not want to jump on the bandwagon. Backyard breeders are not caring if their dogs are sound or not. LETS BREED THEM AND MAKE MONEY!! Many of these dogs are only once removed from a pure poodle or shnauzer and given a cutsey name . All the sudden these mutts are bringing 500, 1,000 and even higher prices. Many of the dogs they are whelped from aren't even quality enough to be recognizable as a purebred.
I was in the vets office when a man came in with his"rare" puggle. He paid the hefty price of $5,000 for this misfit of an animal. It was in the vets office for multiple health issues at only 8 months old. How long is the public willing to be taken for a ride?
If you want a quality animal do your homework. Go to a reputable breeder, find out about the dogs medical background. Meet the parents. Are the parents dogs you would be willing to live with? The pups will most likely resemble them in looks and temperment.
If your not wanting to go that route you can give a DESIGNER dog from your local shelter another chance at life. And they won't charge you 500 for the privilege.
If I sound harsh it is for a reason. I see responsible breeders working their butts off for the betterment of the breed. They also ask fair prices for what they have invested. I also see rescue groups cleaning up after the impulse buys of people caught up in the designer dog craze. people then dumping the dogs when they mature into something that isn't so hot.
Sorry about the long post. This is a constant sore spot with me.
Last I heard the Obamas were planning to adopt. There are currently over 19,000 labrador-type dogs available for adoption on Petfinder and 9 Portuguese Water Dogs. Surely they'll be able to find some deserving pup to bring home.
It is laughable that one could find a Labradoodle puppy up for adoption. They cost $750+. The Port Water Dog costs $1500+. I doubt the Obama girls want an adult dog... As usual, Obama is pandering...
You are right about the selective breeding to attain certain characteristics. Now let me explain my point of view on designer dogs.
I have seen the work that many labradoodle breeders are doing to promote their dogs. Such as working toward soundness, doing medical screenings and temperment testing. These people I can hold respect for.
Now when the labradoodles come out with their high price tag due to the breeders time, effort and screening cost incurred. WOW!! Now everyone with 2 breedable purebreds or not want to jump on the bandwagon. Backyard breeders are not caring if their dogs are sound or not. LETS BREED THEM AND MAKE MONEY!! Many of these dogs are only once removed from a pure poodle or shnauzer and given a cutsey name . All the sudden these mutts are bringing 500, 1,000 and even higher prices. Many of the dogs they are whelped from aren't even quality enough to be recognizable as a purebred.
I was in the vets office when a man came in with his"rare" puggle. He paid the hefty price of $5,000 for this misfit of an animal. It was in the vets office for multiple health issues at only 8 months old. How long is the public willing to be taken for a ride?
If you want a quality animal do your homework. Go to a reputable breeder, find out about the dogs medical background. Meet the parents. Are the parents dogs you would be willing to live with? The pups will most likely resemble them in looks and temperment.
If your not wanting to go that route you can give a DESIGNER dog from your local shelter another chance at life. And they won't charge you 500 for the privilege.
If I sound harsh it is for a reason. I see responsible breeders working their butts off for the betterment of the breed. They also ask fair prices for what they have invested. I also see rescue groups cleaning up after the impulse buys of people caught up in the designer dog craze. people then dumping the dogs when they mature into something that isn't so hot.
Sorry about the long post. This is a constant sore spot with me.
I agree with you. There are LOT of bad breeders out there.
We bought 2 female Poms several years back and though we are happy with the dogs and love them immensely, in hindsight we were not happy with the conditions the dogs were kept in there (not the puppies so much, but the adults). Later we decided to breed "the girls" and bought ourselves a male puppy for that very purpose - but went to a better quality breeder - even then however I was still a bit dismayed and we decided that when we bred "our babies" we would make sure and treat the puppies as household pets and members of the family rather than as a commodity.
That is exactly what we did - and it was a wonderfully rewarding experience. We kept the puppies in the room next to our bedroom until they were old enough to get around (and then gave them the run of the house just like their moms and dad) and gave them LOTS and LOTS of attention every single day. It was in effect a full-time job - especially since the litters (which arrived within 3 days of each other) were large for such small dogs (especially for the first litters) - with 4 pups in one litter and 6 in another (7 actually - but one was stillborn and resisted our efforts to revive it ). In any event some of them were very small and we ended up having bottle feed 2 of them 6 times/day for quite some time.
It was a ton of work and cost us a fair amount of money - but it was worth every tear, bead of sweat, dollar spent, and lost hour of sleep. WE LOVED IT - and would gladly go through it again. We had house full of adorable loving puppies and played with them ALL THE TIME - inviting all our grandkids, nieces, nephews, brothers and sisters around as much as possible because we wanted to make sure the puppies were given lots of love and attention and were well adjusted and used to people.
The end result seems to some exceptionally nice dogs. We never rushed anyone to purchase a dog - in fact we discouraged rash buying - and encouraged potential buyers to come over and spend a few hours with us in the house just playing with the pups and their parents (the daddy dog was WONDERFUL with the puppies) in an informal family setting so they could get to know the particular puppy's personalities and choose the one that most suited them. Several people came back several times (one family came here 3 times, spending 2-3 hours on each visit laying on the floor playing with the pups).
In many ways we were VERY reluctant to see ANY of them go - as we considered each and every one of them "family" - but at the very least we wanted to make sure that they had good PERMANENT homes as our nightmare scenario was for someone to take the dog then later grow bored with it and take it to the pound once it was no longer a cute little puppy. We did of course want to make some money but that really was somewhat secondary to finding them good homes - and on one occasion we we sold a puppy to person on very limited income at a drastically lower rate because we thought he was terrific match. Fortunately I think we succeeded in what we intended and we keep in touch with several of the owners and they all seem totally in love with their dogs and rave about how smart, wonderful and well-adjusted their puppies are.
It was WONDERFUL experience and we LOVED every moment of it. We ended up keeping one of the pups (one of the ones that we bottle-fed) as we were just plain too attached to him to let him go and he's the most loving little guy you can imagine. We would love to do it again, but decided to have our girls fixed instead because the strain on the dogs (because of the litter size) was pretty severe and we didn't want to risk them again.
Photos of the pups throughout the entire time we had them:
Last edited by LordBalfor; 01-16-2009 at 04:56 PM..
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). In any event some of them were very small and we ended up having bottle feed 2 of them 6 times/day for quite some time. 
