GOLDENDOODLE WORLD
CREATING THE GOLDENDOODLE DOG 101
In order to produce Goldendoodles that have the more desirable temperament of the Golden Retriever and yet continue with the low shedding coat, the following breeding method must be adhered to. The breeder must ensure that neither dog are related:
Goldendoodle to Goldendoodle: (both parents will produce smooth coats that may have higher shedding if both parents are shaggy caot Goldendoodles. In order to keep shedding to a minimum, either two curly coat Goldendoodles must be bred together or one curly coat and one shaggy coat Goldendoodle must be bred together. Both parents must be unrelated. Goldendoodles bred together and that are unrelated will produce FIRST GENERATION puppies. Even if two curly coat Goldendoodles are paired together, they may not produce curly coat offspring. Both the shaggy coat and the smooth coat will be the resulting outcome of two Goldendoodles paired together. On occasion, a curly coat will be produced.
Goldendoodle to a purebred Golden Retriever : This is by far my favorite mixture simply because I am a Golden Retriever fan and it has been my experience thus far that the temperament traits favor the Golden Retriever in the offspring. It is not true that shedding will be higher. Again, this mixture will produce mostly shaggy coat offspring with 1 or 2 pups being a smooth coat. More than likely a curly coat will not come out of this mixture. So far, we've never seen it. Sizes will not be determined by either parent. The entire lineage of a Goldendoodle plays a 100% role in what size an individual puppy will be as an adult. Every Goldendoodle puppy within any given litter will be a different size. This is why the Goldendoodle can not be placed into size categories like a purebred dog. Weights will vary from 5-10 pounds per individual puppy amongst each other. Shedding and dander are kept to a minimum even if the puppy is a smooth coat.
Goldendoodles are hybrid dogs and as such, consistancy is not a friend to the breeder where size is concerned. Hybrids will usually produce a litter of puppies that will vary in sizes amongst each other. Goldendoodles can range in all sizes even if they come from the same litter with the same parents. Since 1999, we have created the Goldendoodle in nearly every way imaginable with the exception of AI (artificial insemination). The reason we stay away from AI (artificial insemination) is because this method does not always produce desirable litters, much less any litters. My preference is and has always been, natural conception. Since 1999, we have come to know that Goldendoodles have ONLY three distinct coat types.
1. Shaggy
2. Curly
3. Smooth
Since 1999, we have come to know that there are only two distinct temerament types with the Goldendoodle. The Goldendoodle dog will either have a Poodle temperament or a Golden Retriever temperament. We have also come to know that families with young children have the best experience with their Goldendoodle, if the doodle dog has more of a Golden Retriever temperament. The reason for this is because the Golden Retriever, over many many years, has always exhibited traits that are very desirable when it comes to owning a family oriented dog. Purebred fanatics of the Golden Retriever as well as the Poodle have been in an uproar since the doodle dog began in Australia right around the mid 1990s. Some Golden Retriever sites to include the Golden Retriever club do their very best to turn people against the Goldendoodle dog. They've been quite unsuccessful to date. Anyone who has owned a Goldendoodle dog will know that this hybrid is the best dog anyone could ever own and many will never go back to the purebred dog once they've owned a Goldendoodle.
The photo to the left show a smooth coat with blue eyes and a shaggy coat with brown eyes. We are the only Goldendoodle breeder thus far who has achieved the blue eyed Goldendoodle. Other breeders create what is called the "Aussie doodle" and that is actually an Australian Shepherd mixed with Poodle. Those dogs can have multi color as well as light colored eyes but they are not Goldendoodles. We've been asked by quite a few Goldendoodle breeders to allow them to purchase one of our blue eyed Goldendoodles so they can add it to their breeding program but these requests have been denied. The blue eyed Goldendoodle will remain exclusive to us for as long as possible. We do know that brown eyed dogs are dominant where eye color is concerned, in our doodles. So even when we paired two blue eyed Goldendoodle dogs together, we did not achieve all blue eyes.
Many people assume that if you breed a Goldendoodle to a Goldendoodle, that all of the Goldendoodle offspring will be shaggy and will look just like their parents. It doesn't quite work like that. Pairing two curly coat Goldendoodle dogs that are unrelated does not produce curly coat litters. Whether two shaggy coat Goldendoodles are paired together or two curly coat Goldendoodles are paired together...whether one curly coat Goldendoodle and one shaggy coat Goldendoodle are paired together, these mixtures always produce at least one or two puppies that have a smooth coat. Unless the breeder has a waiting list for smooth coat doodles, this type of pairing may not be desirable for the breeder. Smooth coat Goldendoodles are low shedding/low dander dogs, but yes, they do shed more than the curly coat or the shaggy coat Goldendoodle. I personally love the smooth coat Goldendoodle for several reasons! For one thing, the coat is much easier to maintain and for another, if someone is seeking the LOOK of a purebred Golden Retriever, yet does not desire a high shedding coat, the smooth coat Goldendoodle is the ticket! The above method must be ahered to if the breeder desires to produce Goldendoodles with the Golden Retriever temperament as well as produce the low shedding smooth coat:
Low shedding, smooth coat Goldendoodles can be achieved by using the following breeding methods:
Goldendoodle to Goldendoodle: (Whether both parents are curly coats; one curly coat/one shaggy coat or both have shaggy coats, shedding will be low but more than the shaggy coat or the curly coat Goldendoodle.) In order to keep shedding to a minimum that is very similar to a shaggy or curly coated doodle, One or both parents should have more Poodle traits and have a curly coat.) Goldendoodle parents who have more Poodle traits, that are bred together, will produce at least 1 shaggy coat with the remainder being a smooth coat. The temperament and personalities of the offspring in this type of pairing will closely match that of the purebred Golden Retriever, which by our personal experience, has been more desirable by families with children of various ages. Smooth coat doodles will still occur even if one Goldendoodle parent is curly and one Goldendoodle parent is shaggy. Unless the dogs are directly related, this type of pairing produces first generation dogs.
Goldendoodle to a purebred Golden Retriever : When a Goldendoodle is bred to a purebred Golden Retriever, it has been our experience that only 1 or 2 puppies will have a smooth coat, while the remainder pups will have a shaggy coat. This pairing "sets" the Golden Retriever temperament and is by far, my personal favorite type of Goldendoodle dog. Shedding is still kept to a minimum. This type of pairing will produce one or two smooth coat Goldendoodles with the rest of the offspring having a shaggy coat. Unless the parent dogs are directly related, this mixture is first generation. A curly coat will not be produced with this pairing method.
The shaggy coat Goldendoodle up above is "Marley". He is the brother to the smooth coat female to the right named "Meeryn". Both doodles came out of the same litter. Meeryn is a smooth coat Goldendoodle with purebred Golden Retriever features and personality traits. Marley on the other hand has the same coat type we've seen since 1999 in the majority of all of our Goldendoodles but he also has the Golden Retriever personality.
Both Marley and Meeryn came from a Goldendoodle sire/Golden Retriever dam pairing. The interesting thing is that the sire to both dogs has blue eyes and carries the blue eyed recessive gene, yet this pairing didn't provide us with one single doodle with blue eyes. It appears that our Golden Retrievers are very dominant when it comes to eye color, personality and retriever traits. The Goldendoodle that we used was Star Dust. He was born to us here at our Goldendoodle World and has twice the Poodle, even though he himself is a first generation Goldendoodle. Star Dust has a curly coat. Had we used a Goldendoodle with a shaggy coat, we would have ran the risk of having all smooth coated Goldendoodles with high shedding similar to the Golden Retriever and as such, the litter would not have served much of a purpose for those seeking a low shedding dog. In 2008, we used a Goldendoodle dam to a Golden Retriever sire and we saw the same type of offspring produced which proved conclusively that the Goldendoodle parent can be either gender.
Since 1999, we've produce very few curly coat Goldendoodles. With us, on occasion we will have a couple of curly coat Goldendoodles born to us even though they have come from a 50/50 mix....meaning one parent is a Golden Retriever and one parent is a Poodle. The curly coat doodle is more often achieved by breeding a Goldendoodle to a Poodle. It's important to note that any time a breeder pairs up a Goldendoodle to a Poodle, ancestral research is very important so that the breeder knows the Poodle within the Goldendoodles' DNA structure is NOT closely related to the other parent which is a Poodle. The risk of undesirable traits will occur such as genetic defects if both parents are closely related or directly related. I like to ensure that neither parent are related within the first three generations. This keeps the risk of genetic defects down to a bare minimum but does help type the temperament and coat type. The curly coat doodle is very pretty but the coat is higher maintenence. A Goldendoodle with a curly coat has very relaxed curls all through out the coat and when brushed out, has a "cotton candy" fluffy affect. The curly coat doodle does not have an exact coat type as that of the Poodle. All curly coat Goldendoodles exhibit the same curled tail, but their facial beard is a bit different than the shaggy coat doodle. The curly coat doodle has curls from the tip of its nose down to the base of its tail. Since the coat is a single coat, they will sport a two toned affect in the coloring if they are an apricot or dark apricot in color. All Goldendoodles are reverse from the Golden Retriever where color is concerned. They will lighten a shade as they mature where as Golden Retrievers darken. The curly coat doodle has a facial beard.
Every Goldendoodle we've ever created and having the Golden Retriever personality has worked out for families with children of all ages. Our Goldendoodles are some of the happiest, loving, well bred dogs in the United States. Every Goldendoodle we've ever created since 1999 has gone through at least 10-15 coat changes/phases from birth to their first birthday. Some go through more extreme changes/phases than others but they all go through the same similar phase of losing their baby coat. Back when we first began, we would read the postings of people who freaked out about their doodle shedding and we had to chuckle over this! We even read one posting where the person freaked out because her doodle had been given a hair cut and they assumed the hair would never grow back! What a silly notion. Hair always grows back.
It has been our experience since 1999, that families with children have a higher adoption success rate if they purchase a Goldendoodle with a Golden Retriever personality vs. a Goldendoodle that has a Poodle personality. Goldendoodles with more Poodle can sometimes have a quirky personality that is not desirable to those with young children. Since 1999, we've had 2 rehoming issues and both involved a doodle with twice the Poodle and both were what could be considered as a TOY sized Goldendoodle.
Because we are now aware that the smaller doodle does not work out well for those with young children, we no longer will allow families with young children to adopt a Goldendoodle under 25 pounds in genetic body weight. We also will not allow families with young children to adopt any doodle with twice the Poodle if they have not had any Poodle experience or if they are not familiar with the purebred Poodle. Many Goldendoodles with more Poodle DNA within their genetic structure can have a higher drive than Goldendoodles with more Golden Retriever DNA structure and as such, they can bark quite a bit....can be more reserved around strangers and may not have the desire to befriend strangers immediately. This poses a problem for young children who have alot of friends who may come over to their home and want to befriend the "family dog". It is possible to turn this sort of personality around through obedience training, so we don't discourage anyone from adopting a Goldendoodle with more Poodle DNA, but we do feel that people seeking a Goldendoodle should be aware that there is a difference in the temperament.
The shaggy coat Goldendoodle is the most common coat type of the Goldendoodle hybrid dog. This coat type is achieved most often from a 50/50 mix....meaning one parent is a Golden Retriever and one parent is a Poodle. Size of the Poodle does not matter as far as coat type is concerned, or shedding for that matter. Some assume that the shaggy coat and the smooth coat shed more than the curly coat but that is not factual information at all. We have seen very low shedding with all three coat types. If a breeder does not create their doodle properly and does not have a basic concept in genetics, then of course, they will not achieve a low shedding coat regardless of coat type. The Goldendoodle to the right has a shaggy coat. Shaggy coated Goldendoodles all share similar features, regardless of breeder. Just as the curly coat doodle shares similar features and the smooth coat shares similar features.
Every shaggy coated Goldendoodle has a full facial beard, plume tail that rides high up over the back, almond shaped eyes, smiling face, low shedding, thick, single coat. Some assume this all comes about at an early age. Sometimes yes....sometimes no. Some Goldendoodles must grow into their coat as well as their ears and their face. Every Goldendoodle has a single coat. Every Goldendoodle, if created as described up above, regardless of coat, will be low shedding. 98% of our Goldendoodles have the shaggy coat and the above features. Every shaggy coat Goldendoodle has a Golden Retriever temperament, regardless of breeder. The curly coat Goldendoodle can have either a Golden Retriever temperament or a Poodle temperament, depending whether the doodle came from a 50/50 mix or from a Poodle/Goldendoodle mix. The majority of all Goldendoodles who come from a Poodle/Goldendoodle mix have a Poodle temperament. All Goldendoodles that come from a Goldendoodle sire/Golden Retriever dam mix have a Golden Retriever temperament. The majority of Goldendoodles who come from a Goldendoodle to Goldendoodle mix have a Golden Retriever temperament. Sizes of the Goldendoodle dog are never dependent upon the size of the parents. Goldendoodles can pick up their sizes based on their entire lineage of ancestors. Goldendoodle offspring can vary in size per puppy, per litter regardless of the size of either parent. If a breeder sells you a smooth coat Goldendoodle and tell you the doodle came from a 50/50 mix, they are not being truthful. Since 1999, we've never experienced a smooth coat Goldendoodle out of a 50/50 mix. A smooth coat Goldendoodle can only be achieved by the breeding methods described up above. Period. Feel free to browse through our entire website as we have hundreds of photos for your viewing pleasure as well as many terrific pages that discuss grooming, shedding, coat colors and so on.
Creating the Goldendoodle dog is not as simple as most people assume. You don't just toss two dogs together and then guess at the outcome. There is actually a bit of science mixed along with a basic concept of genetics that must go into each litter. So many people assume that if you pair up a Goldendoodle to a Goldendoodle you will get puppies that will look exactly like the parents and will be exactly the same size. On the contrary.
The reason purebred dogs can be bred to purebred dogs and have nearly the same outcome each and every time is because the purebred dog has been refined for centuries. We know the purebred dog for its features because many, many years have been dedicated at producing near identical clones. Not so with hybrids.
