Meet Meeryn. She's the first smooth coat Goldendoodle since beginning our Goldendoodles in 1999. Meeryn was born in July of 2007. I always knew it was possible to create a smooth coat Goldendoodle but wasn't so keen on the idea out of fear I would have a difficult time finding the doodle with a smooth coat, a home. Meeryn was the only doodle that was a smooth coat in her litter. Her sibling brothers all had a shaggy coat. She was the first one sold. Meeryn can be seen to the left with her owner, Robin, during obedience training. You can check out her webpage on our site by clicking on her link "Meet Meeryn".
I've suffered from asthma since 1994 when I had my first asthma attack while stationed in Germany. Over the years, it eventually turned into COPD. Some people believe their allergy issues will go away. Most of the time they do NOT go away nor do allergy issues become better over time. My respiratory problems over the years, have been severe enough on occasion to put me in the hospital. It was thought from the Australians, who first created the Goldendoodle dog, that Goldendoodles would work out very well for those who have allergies. For many, the dogs work out just fine. However, some people have allergies to the point that they can not own a dog of any type. Since creating the Goldendoodle in 1999, it has been our own personal experience that indeed, our Goldendoodles do have much less shedding than most typical dogs. The main reason I created the smooth coat doodle was not for low shedding but for easier coat maintenence. Shedding in dogs is always going to be different per individual dog, regardless of coat type. Many people like myself enjoy short coated dogs.
I've had a great interest for many years in creating what I deem the "ultimate" family dog and for good reason. Don't get me wrong. I think all Goldendoodles are the ultimate family dog but I'm a Golden Retriever fan and I am also at the age where I do not have the time or the desire at constantly grooming a dog. The downside to the shaggy coat Goldendoodle...God love them....is they require near daily coat maintenence unless you shave them down. I love my Goldendoodles, but I just knew there had to a coat type that would be easier to care for. So, I came up with the smooth coat Goldendoodle. Before I considered breeding a Goldendoodle to a Golden Retriever, I was concerned with shedding. So I began to study the basics in genetics and tried to grasp the difficulty of understanding how genes worked...for people. There isn't alot of information about canine genetics, but since dogs are very close to humans in many ways, I began to study human genetics. I theorized that if a Golden Retriever and a Poodle produce supposed low shedding offspring, then the Poodle coat had to have something to do with it since the Golden Retriever sheds very heavily...24/7. Since 1999, the customers who have kept in contact with us over the years have stated their Goldendoodles have shed very little. We created our first Goldendoode/Golden Retriever litter in 2007. Out of that litter we were not sure what coat type we would have since the father had a curly coat and the mother was a Golden Retriever. Within a few weeks, we noticed that we had no curly coats at all and that one of the doodles....a female...had no facial hairs sprouting about her face like her brothers. Over a few weeks, she began to appear more and more very similar to a purebred Golden Retriever. She was the only doodle in the litter who continued to not have the usual facial hairs we saw since 1999, in our doodles.
We called her a "smooth coat" because her coat was short like a Golden Retriever and she had a very similar appearance as that of a Golden Retriever with the exception of some fluff about the ears and the neck. During the first 8 weeks of their lives we did not see any shedding differences between her or her brothers. All Goldendoodles go through shedding phases, so we want to make it perfectly clear that Goldendoodles DO shed. How much they shed, we can't tell you but we do know that every single living thing sheds to some degree whether you see it or you don't see it. Its very wrong for breeders who advertise their Goldendoodles to make claims that their doodles are non shedding, hypoallergenic dogs because that is not true. What we have come to know since 1999 based on information provided to us by our past customers, is that their doodles have low shedding, but we can't promise that.
RE: Meeryn's first birthday!
From: Meeryn & Robin Hudspeth
Sent: Sat 5/31/08 4:54 PM
To: Goldendoodle World
Hi Dee! Meeryn's birthday is coming up! We are excited. She is growing into such a wonderful dog. She's 42 lbs now and very healthy (reports her vet). Next week we are going to the Bark Ball which is a fundraiser for the Washington Humane Society, held at a very fancy hotel where around 600 people and their K9s come for a formal dinner and dance. My roommate does work with the Society, and last year I took my mother's dog. But this year will be Meeryn's opportunity. I will make sure to send you lots of pictures.
My mom is converting to love the smaller dogs. If you end up with any more smooth coated goldendoodles please let me know!!!! Her coat is shedding a little (especially when wet), but is significantly less than a pure golden. Her personality is very playful and she gets along with people and dogs excellently. She's a little skiddish around kids, but we're working on that.
Pictures to come!!!
~Robin
We received the following recent email from Robin, who owns Meeryn now.....She has the most information about our first smooth coat Goldendoodle created in 2007 since she now owns her:
Robin reports that her smooth coat, Meeryn, is very low shedding especially compared to the purebred Golden Retriever, of which her mother owns. We know also from the male to the right, who is a smooth coat doodle, that he too has been low shedding so far. We personally, so far, have not experienced any high shedding with him to date.
So, lets get back to our original discussion. When we bred a curly coat Goldendoodle to a Golden Retriever, we did not know what coat type would occur. Theoretically, I thought since the Goldendoodle had a curly coat, that we'd get at least a curly coat doodle but that did not happen. To my surprise, all of the offspring had a shaggy coat with the exception of one female being smooth which was very similar to a Golden Retriever. Thankfully, she has not shed (according to her owner) like a purebred Golden Retriever. Her owner reports that her doodle is highly intelligent and so far, she has been doing very well in obedience training. Her owner is very pleased with her.
In late 2007, we bred two curly coat Goldendoodles together. In their litter, we had theorized that we would get some curly coat doodles since both Goldendoodles themselves were curly coats. Both doodles carried the blue eyed gene. Looking back over what I had learned about eye color and genetics, I then theorized that of course we'd get some blue eyes in this litter as well as some curly coats. To my surprise, We instead did not have a single curly coat Goldendoodle come out of this pairing! One smooth coat boy (see to the left) was cream with green eyes and a chocolate colored nose; One male had blue eyes and white markings and was apricot in color (see his photo up above); One female was apricot with blue eyes and she too was a smooth coat and then we only had one cream male Shaggy coat in this litter. NOT A SINGLE CURLY COAT came out of this pairing to my surprise.
Paden (see to the left who is cream with green eyes) now resides with his family in Maryland and we are awaiting new photos/update from his owner so that we can see how his coat has progressed. We still have the blue eyed doodle male (in photo up above and below) and Gracie's photos can be found on our past doodle pages for 2008, part I & II and below with the ball in her mouth. The other doodle who is shaggy, we haven't heard from them in awhile so we are not sure what his update or progress has become.
What is a Smooth coat Goldendoodle ? Simply put, a smooth coat Goldendoodle is a Goldendoodle that has very similar features as a purebred Golden Retriever who is a "field style" retriever, which is what the majority of our Golden Retrievers are. We do not own short snout, big blocky head Golden Retrievers with thick necks. Our Golden Retrievers have a beautiful round head when they are young and as an adult, they have long muzzles that serve them well as Retrievers.
Our purebred Golden Retrievers have distant Pekay lineage with some Master Hunters and Utility dogs down through their lineage. Our smooth coat doodles may have similar features as our Golden Retrievers. They may also pick up features of the Poodle such as a longer muzzle and longer, thinner legs or petite body build. They are completely void of a facial beard which is a feature of the shaggy coat Goldendoodle. Also, our smooth coat Goldendoodles tends to have a bit of fluff going on about their head, ears and neck and they may have some feathering about their underbelly and legs but their feathering may not that long. Their ear length may or may not be as long as the Golden Retriever and not have as much hair on them as the shaggy coat doodle. In the case of our blue eyed gentleman up above, his ears are the same length as our purebred Golden Retrievers and he has a slender, long muzzle similar to both our Poodles and our Golden Retrievers, but he has some fluff going on up on top of the ears which is very cute! He is simply adorable. He is slender in build, but it is not for certain that all smooth coat Goldendoodles stay slender in build. It is very important for people to understand that breeders can not guarantee how much or how little any dog they create will shed. If someone has shedding or allergy issues, they may want to visit their allergist first. We absolutely do NOT imply nor guarantee anyone can own a doodle dog of any type. There is no way for us to know how much or how little these dogs will actually shed. If a breeder has sold you a dog with the claim that it is a non shedding, hypoallergenic dog, please make sure that breeder gives you this information in writing. A dog of this nature simply does not exist.
In 2008, we had another Goldendoodle/Golden Retriever litter and as we saw in our 2007 Goldendoodle/Golden Retriever litter, we again have a litter where just 1 smooth coat was produced with the remaining pups being a shaggy coat. I have heard some Goldendoodle breeders say, "well, why create the smooth coat when the popular coat is the shaggy coat?". Well, yes, the shaggy coat is very popular and many people enjoy that fluffy, adorable doodle. But there are many fans out there who love the look of the Golden Retriever. They would like to own a purebred Golden Retriever, but they do not want a dog who sheds 24 hours a day, seven days a week as heavily as a purebred Golden Retriever sheds. Or like myself, they do not want a dog they have to constantly have groomed due to such a long shaggy coat. The smooth coat Goldendoodle is the answer to those who love the personality of the Golden Retriever and who desire to own a dog that has little coat maintenence. As far as the shedding goes, I personally do not have any problems with my asthma or my COPD around the smooth coat doodle boy we still have available for sale. I can not guarantee anyone with allergies can own a Goldendoodle, nor can I guarantee the amount of shedding a doodle may or may not have. That would be impossible for a breeder to guarantee. I am not an allergist. I can only pass on information that has been provided to me by my past customers and what I myself have experienced as far as allergies and shedding goes. The smooth coat Goldendoodle can be of any color and have any markings anywhere about their body. As with all Goldendoodles, there are no rare markings and there are no rare colors. If a breeder has a chocolate Goldendoodle and pairs it up with a purebred Golden Retriever, they may be able to create some black smooth coats but it has been our unfortunate discovery that black Goldendoodles are not very popular and they do not sell well at all. At least, never for us anyway. Which is why you will hardly ever see us have a black Goldendoodle available for sale, even though my black Standard Poodle "Blackie" produces some of the most beautiful black Goldendoodles I've ever seen. But it does me no good and certainly does not do any good for the pups, if we can't sell them. The most popular color of the Goldendoodle of any coat type is apricot. The second being cream and the third being red. Chocolate and the other dark colors come in fourth and fifth. We are always asked why we have this dog and that dog STILL available for sale....when the only answer I can come up with is "The market is fickle". Perhaps girs are hot one year and boys are hot the next. Perhaps the flavor of the month is white and then its apricot and then its black. One can never speculate for certain what drives the market where dogs are concerned.
I can only tell you with certainty that no matter what hybrid or purebred dog we have available, if it is black, it is always the last to sell and that's really sad! One of my very most memorable dogs was named "Blackie" and he was a solid black lab mix. Then another black dog I owned as a child was named "Skipper". I don't know why people are so against black dogs but honestly, we've never been able to sell them and I always dread having a black puppy in the group because it is my ultimate fear it will not find a good home. As lovely as the Goldendoodle is, we've always had a hard time finding a home for it if it's black. But as I said, a smooth coat Goldendoodle can be of any color. You'll recognize the smooth coat Goldendoodle no later than 7 weeks of age. So if you are about to purchase a Goldendoodle from a breeder who tells you that the doodle's coat "will come in by the age of one year" and it does not have a facial beard of any kind, you are being deceived. If your Goldendoodle puppy does not have a facial beard of some sorts by the age of 8 weeks, it will never have one. Granted that some Goldendoodles who are a 50/50 mixture, are late bloomers but I've always seen some sort of hairs sprouting out away from the eyes even if its just a little bit, if they are going to have a facial beard. You can also recognized the smooth coat Goldendoodle by its smooth legs. There will be some feathering about the back of the legs, but NOT on the top of the legs.
A smooth coat Goldendoodle will have a plume tail and yes, their tail will also ride high up over the back. However, the thickness of the plume will vary per doodle. Every Goldendoodle that we've ever created has a tail that rides high up over the back or at least stands outward and upward. Sometimes the tail will stick straight out, but only for a short time! The moment they get that tail wagging, it goes UP and over! This curling of the tail does come about from the Poodle, believe it or not! I never would have believed the tail of a Poodle would curl up over the back until I saw it for myself. "Blackie" did not have his tail docked or his dewclaws removed when we got him as a young adult. I had my vet dock his tail and remove his dewclaws. Before his tail was docked properly, his tail rode high up over the back and I said right then....YEP!!! I see now where that curling of the tail comes from!!!!
Now I am going to tell you how the smooth coat comes about. I've never seen a smooth coat come from a 50/50 mixture so far.
CURLY COAT GOLDENDOODLE /GOLDEN RETRIEVER:
To keep the shedding low as much as possible, it is best to use a curly coat Goldendoodle to a purebred Golden Retriever. This pairing WILL produce a smooth coat Goldendoodle or two, but will ALSO produce the shaggy coat as well.
GOLDENDOODLE SIRE TO GOLDENDOODLE DAM:
While many breeders believe they will get shaggy Goldendoodles from this type of pairing, this may not always be the case. A shaggy coat Goldendoodle bred to a shaggy coat Goldendoodle may produce smooth coat Goldendoodles that may produce a high amount of shedding. This information came from customers who purchased Goldendoodles from other breeders who produced litters from 2 shaggy coat Goldendoodles and who had emailed us about their own doodle's coat type and shedding. We have not produced any litters from this type of pairing.
CURLY COAT GOLDENDOODLE/CURLY COAT GOLDENDOODLE:
This type of pairing may or may not produce any curly coat Goldendoodle offspring but it definitely WILL produce smooth and shaggy coat offspring. Breeders who are trying to create curly coat Goldendoodles may not want to breed two curly coat Goldendoodles together believing they will have curly coat offspring.
"Meeryn is our first smooth coat Goldendoodle. Visit her personal page by clicking here."
Meeryn's owner reports that she weighs just 42 pounds and sheds entirely less than a purebred Golden Retriever.
