What do you call offspring from a Goldendoodle and Golden Retriever parent? Simply put....it's a Goldendoodle. Or you can call it FANTASTIC! A UNIQUE HYBRID THAT IS SIMPLY TERRIFIC!! We created our first Goldendoodle/Golden Retriever litter in 2007. We had been creating Goldendoodles simply by breeding one of our terrific Standard Poodles with one of our superb Golden Retrievers since 1999........but we wanted to step outside of the box, just a little. What was the reasoning behind our Goldendoodle/Golden Retriever mixture?
We have learned quite a bit about the Goldendoodle hybrid over all the years of creating them. From first hand experience. I have been writing about the Goldendoodle; documenting the coat changes and phases; researching the shedding issues, temperament and photographing the doodle dog since my first litter was created in 1999. My information has had to constantly be updated because my original assumptions of what I thought about this, this and that regarding the Goldendoodle dog, turned out to be just that.... "assumptions". No sooner than I would learn ONE thing....I would learn something completely new and of course, my information has had to change as the years continue to pass me by and as I learn more and more.
The Goldendoodle has become extremely popular for quite a few reasons, but the main reason has and will always be, because of their low shedding coat. Secondly, because of their terrific personality and temperament and thirdly, because they are just so darned cute you can't stand it!
Our website is full of material that will provide you extensive and very educational information about the Goldendoodle dog...as I have come to know it and I've also added some nice information that I myself have located over the internet that I deemed would be beneficial to first time dog owners. However, all of the information that I have placed upon this website regarding coat changes, phases, shedding and so on, came strictly from my own personal experience as a breeder and owner of Goldendoodles.
I became more interested over the years of creating Goldendoodles in various ways so that number one, I could bust the myths that have been out there on the internet by various breeders who really just write things just to "write things". They don't write things to help YOU, the inexperienced doodle person who wants to learn fact from fiction, and secondly so that I as a breeder could know what works and what doesn't work for those who seek the ultimate family dog. Shedding will always be a part of life for a human and a dog. Simply put, it would literally be impossible for us as breeders and us as living beings, to ever remove ourselves and our dogs entirely from shedding hairs upon our bodies.
As perfect as it would be to own a dog that would never shed, I'm afraid unless you buy a robotic dog from Toys R Us, you will never find a dog that is "non shedding". Having said that, Goldendoodles DO shed but the majority of them shed VERY little. I say "the majority" of them simply because we as breeders can not give anyone a guarantee of how much or how little their doodle will shed. Like human beings, hairs are going to fall out at various times of the year.....per individual dog and per individual human being. We humans have no control over the amount of shedding we or our dogs will have. Even if a breeder tells you that an F1 this and that will shed less or more....tell me how do they know this? They surely have not submitted their doodle dog hairs to any canine laboratories for testing because I personally inquired about this from numerous canine laboratories and asked if they would test my doodle dog hairs so that I personally would know whether or not their hairs were NON shedding..LOW shedding....HIGh shedding and HYPOALLERGENIC. I was told there were no such tests available. I suspect they also thought I was a bit on the nutty side for asking given their reaction over the telephone. I could envision their smirky expression. Well....I wanted to know! I was tired of reading all over the internet how these supposed TOP QUALITY breeders were creating these RARE doodle dogs!
Surely I wasn't losing my mind after having photographed all of the coat changes and phases since 1999 that these dogs do indeed shed! What were these supposed TOP QUALITY breeders doing that I was not doing myself? Absolutely nothing. What I was doing is telling the truth. What they've been doing is conning YOU, the inexperienced doodle person. So, I decided to create a couple of litters of doodles by breeding a Goldendoodle to a Poodle. Yes, sure the pups were very cute. Yes, sure, I was able to get a few curly coat doodles in the bunch but I wasn't as impressed with the over all temperament of the doodle that picks up more Poodle traits. I didn't see any less shedding just because there were more Poodle traits and if you are a Poodle fan, a Goldendoodle with more Poodle traits including the curly type coat is perfect for you. I, myself, am a Golden Retriever person and so what works for me is the Golden Retriever personality, a shaggy or smooth coat, with low shedding. In order to obtain this in a Goldendoodle, a breeder has to either create a 50/50 mixture (Golden Retriever/Poodle) or create a Goldendoodle/Golden Retriever mixture. If a breeder wants to get all three coat types, they may want to breed a curly coat Goldendoodle to a curly coat Goldendoodle. While we personally did not obtain a single curly coat doodle in a mixture we did back in '07, we did get the smooth coat and the shaggy coat. To the right you will see 'Meeryn". She may look like a purebred Golden Retriever puppy, but she is actually, in fact, a smooth coat Goldendoodle that came out of a Goldendoodle/Golden Retriever mixture. We generally see only 1 or 2 smooth coat doodles come out of a litter when one parent is the Goldendoodle and one parent is the Golden Retriever.
While Meeryn (see photo above) is a smooth coat Goldendoodle, her owner reports that she has remained low shedding. Will a smooth coat Goldendoodle shed more than a shaggy or curly coat doodle? Not always. Nor can we predict whether they will or whether they won't. What we do know is that their temperament and their personality is simply undeniably fantastic! Meeryn's mother is Maragold. One of my lovely Golden Retrievers. Our Golden Retrievers have a long list of Master Hunters, Utility dogs, Companion dogs and Show dogs as well as just plain old family pets, down through their lineage. The certified MH, UD, CD and show dogs come out of Pekay Kennels which began in the early 1960s. It was said that Pekay Kennels originated from North Carolina but eventually moved to Atlanta, Georgia. I honestly don't know the exact history of Pekay Kennels but I do know that I own some of the most fantastic Golden Retrievers I could have ever asked for. Much of what we own now was born right here and bred by us. My original Golden Retrievers have crossed the rainbow bridge due to old age. As a matter of fact, one of my original Standard Poodles, Darby, crossed the rainbow bridge on July 27th, 2008. It was very sad to lose him. He was one of our founding Poodles for our Goldendoodles and carried an impressive lineage of Champions that dates back to the early 1930s! Because of his passing, we have kept 2 of our Goldendoodles that was born in March of '07 of whom he was their father. We indeed want to continue Darby's legacy because he sired some of the most fantastic doodles we've ever seen since 1999. Scisco's Kid was a relative of Darby's and he was neutered due to old age, in 2007....but he is still, thankfully, for now....with us. Scisco's Kid was also one of my founding Poodles for our Goldendoodles. We stayed true to our original dogs.
Many breeders make the mistake of using outside sires, but we stayed true to our own personal dogs. We never used outside sires for breeding, although we've had numerous breeders offer us their services because they wanted to get a "pick of the litter". Sorry...if anyone is going to get a pick of the litter...it's going to be ME. Since creating our Goldendoodles in 1999, we rarely breed for purebred Golden Retrievers. When we did, it was only to obtain a dog or two for our Goldendoodle breeding program. As I have aged, my COPD and asthma has gotten worse. I love my Golden Retrievers to death, but my allergies are such that the flying hairs that come from my Golden Retrievers when I am working with them indoors, causes many breathing problems for me. Outside is no problem....its when they are indoors. I have never had any issues working with my Goldendoodles regardless of whether I am indoors or outdoors. But all allergy sufferers do not suffer the same. Everyone has their own triggers as to what sets off their allergies. What may trigger my allergies, may not trigger yours and vice versa.
I especially found it interesting that I would only get 1 or 2 smooth coats in a litter that came from a Goldendoodle/Golden Retriever mixture. The majority of the pups are always shaggy and of course, exceptionally beautiful! I can't even begin to express how great the temperament! I absolutely love the temperament of the Goldendoodle/Golden Retriever mixture.
Just like Goldendoodles that come from a 50/50 mixture (Golden Retriever/Poodle), our Goldendoodles that come from a Goldendoodle/Golden Retriever mix look just like purebred Golden Retrievers when they are born. If they are going to have a thicker, shaggier coat with curls, they will have little ripples along their coat within four hours after birth. It takes up to three to four weeks before an experienced breeder will know if a smooth coat is present within the litter. The reason it takes this long is because all of the doodles will progress the same except the smooth coat doodle will not have the upside down "V" shape between their eyes, nor will you see any hairs sprouting about the muzzle. While the shaggy offspring will have little hairs beginning to grow on the muzzle, the smooth coat will continue to have facial features that resemble the purebred Golden Retriever.
The Goldendoodle that is a 50/50 mix (Golden Retriever/Poodle) takes a bit longer to get its shaggy coat. We have noticed on the two occasions that we created a Goldendoodle/Golden Retriever mixture that the puppies who were a shaggy coat, were shaggy by the age of 5 weeks. Most of the time a Goldendoodle who is a 50/50 mixture will take longer to become shaggy. I am not sure as to why this is, but we noticed that the Goldendoodle/Golden Retriever mixture was much shaggier by 5 weeks than most of our doodles who were a 50/50 mix.
The doodle to the left is a five month old 50/50 mixture. By the age of 1 year, the doodle was very shaggy but the coat was a progression.
We notice with the Goldendoodle/Golden Retriever mixture they continue to become shaggy from the time they are born, if they are a shaggy coat doodle, and their coat just continues to thicken and the shag becomes longer. It is perplexing since theoretically a breeder would assume that when a Goldendoodle is bred to a Golden Retriever, there would be more Golden Retriever DNA and that the coat would be flatter or smoother but this is not the case. Since 1999, the Goldendoodle has fascinated me because of the complexity of the hybrid itself. Everything that should be the "rule" is NOT.
The Goldendoodle to the right is a six month old 50/50 mixture. With our Goldendoodles that come from a Poodle/Golden Retriever mixture, we still get the wonderful purebred Golden Retriever temperament. With our Goldendoodle/Golden Retriever mixture, the temperament is firmly set....as that of a Golden Retriever, only in an inhanced version. Every good thing you could think of that goes with the purebred Golden Retriever is enhanced with our Goldendoodle/Golden Retriever mix. Are they low shedding?
Absolutely. So far, out of 2 litters, we have not experienced any high shedding. As of July 30, 2008 we still have 1 male left in Mara's litter and we have witnessed very low shedding and only subtle changes in the coat since he was born. When I say "only subtle changes" I mean that with our doodles that are a 50/50 mix, we witness their coat being smooth at birth....becoming somewhat shaggy by 8 weeks....going through their first coat change by 12 weeks and then a progression of changes in their coat will continue until they turn a year of age. With our Goldendoodles who come from a Goldendoodle/Golden Retriever mixture, we witnessed their coat being smooth at birth.....if they are a smooth coat, it will always stay a smooth coat. If they are a shaggy coat, their coat is shaggy by 5 weeks of age and their coat continues to thicken and lengthen. We did not see their coat go through any changes other than just growing longer. Of course with all doodles, their coat is always much softer as a puppy and it will become slightly course as an adult.
In case you were asking, yes, our Goldendoodle/Golden Retriever mixture of doodles are first generation dogs. They are NOT F1B....they are F1 only. To understand what a first generation doodle is, please visit some of our links down at the bottom of this page. Our website is of course, geared to help sell our own puppies...but I've also expanded this site to help educate those who are interested in learning about the Goldendoodle dog. We have discovered alot of erroneous information placed all over the internet about the Goldendoodle dog, but those who own one of our doodles know that what we say on this site is the absolute truth. If you are seeking a family dog who loves to swim, who loves to participate with your family, who loves to interact, who is very versatile, who is great with your kids and is just an all around terrific family pet full of intelligence, you should consider one of our doodles! If you are a Golden Retriever fan like I am, you'll absolutely love the Goldendoodle with a Golden Retriever temperament. Curly Goldendoodles tend to pick up more Poodle DNA and can sometimes be quirky in their behaviour...can sometimes have a neurotic tendency and may be slightly "barky". We don't see this occur with our Goldendoodles who are 50/50 or who come from a Goldendoodle/Golden Retriever mixture. We see the difference in temperament with Goldendoodles who come from a Goldendoodle/Poodle mixture. If the person is a Poodle fan, then all is well and this type of behaviour doesn't bother them. I created 2 litters of Goldendoodle/Poodle mixture and didn't prefer their temperament or behaviour over my other mixtures. But, to each their own.
