Wally Conron, the man who
‘created’ the Labradoodle many years ago has publicly stated that he has
“created a lot of problems” and that he is regrettably responsible for puppy
mills producing ‘Frankenstein’ versions of his ‘designer dog’. As Australian
Labradoodle breeders, we feel obliged to comment and indeed, help to educate
the public.
It’s not as if puppy farms and
unscrupulous breeders didn’t exist before Labradoodles, or indeed any other Poodle
crosses became popular. Wally Conron isn’t responsible for the creation of
puppy farms…it just so happens that Labradoodles have become popular and therefore puppy farmers have started to
breed them as opposed to other dogs which they can’t make as much money out of.
Unfortunately, the media is wrongly portraying that all breeders producing
crossbreeds are essentially puppy farmers. We feel that this portrayal does
have some grounding – yes, there are people out there mass producing crossbred
puppies trying to make a ‘quick buck’ out of what currently seem to be
‘fashionable’ dogs, however, it is extremely unfair to tar all breeders
producing crossbred dogs with the same brush! There are a number of excellent
breeders of crossbred puppies who are licensed, breed responsibly, use low
inbreeding coefficients, health test their dogs and provide their customers with
good service. In fact, it wasn’t so long ago that the media actively portrayed
that breeders of purebred dogs were disreputable – Google ‘pedigree dogs
exposed’. So are there no good breeders out there at all? At the end of the
day, puppy farmers will always breed whatever dogs they can make the most money
from. Puppy farming is a huge problem for pure breeds and crossbreeds alike,
and the most important thing is that people looking to buy a puppy do their
homework and make sure that they find a good breeder with a good reputation. It
is very important that all breeders are not tarred with the same brush that
puppy farmers are, because there are some very good and credible breeders out
there – you’ve just got to find them, and indeed, be willing to put in the
effort to find them! The only people that have the power to prevent puppy
farming are the general public; if puppy-buyers demand higher standards, puppy
farming can be stopped. People should not buy a puppy because they “feel sorry
for it”, that simply fuels the fire.
Good breeders will produce
puppies from health-tested breeding stock, work with low inbreeding
coefficiencies, will breed no more than one litter from each of their girls in
a 12 month period, the mother of the puppies will be available to meet
prospective puppy buyers, the puppies will be kept in clean conditions and
should be visibly healthy. Breeders should also be willing to spend time with
their customers, first of all asking them questions to ensure that they can
provide a suitable home for a puppy, but also educating them as regards how to
look after their new puppy properly. The best breeders also provide ongoing
support for their customers for the duration of their puppy’s life.
Wally also commented that
“Instead of breeding out the problems, they’re breeding them in. For every
perfect one, you’re going to find a lot of crazy ones”. Whilst this can happen
if the breeder doesn’t know what they are doing, doesn’t do the health testing
and closely inbreeds their dogs, there are a lot of breeders out there who have
high standards and consistently produce fantastic puppies. The Australian
Labradoodle is a crossbreed by definition, but it is very different to any of
the other Poodle crosses. They have been developed over the last 35 years and
we are now seeing consistency in the puppies being produced – there are
certainly not “a lot of crazy ones for every perfect one”!
Wally Conron should not be held
responsible for unscrupulous breeding or puppy farms on any level – crossbreed
or not, it makes no difference. Unfortunately, puppy farms will exist as long
as there are customers willing to buy puppies from them, so it seems the onus
really needs to be placed on the public to do their homework and ensure that
they are buying from a reputable breeder.
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