Description of a Labradoodle.

The Labradoodle was first deliberately bred in 1989, when Australian breeder Wally Conron first crossed the Labrador Retriever and Standard Poodle for Guide Dogs Victoria. His aim was to combine the Poodles' low-shed coat with the gentleness and trainability of the Labrador, in order to provide a guide dog for the blind with less shedding, and hence more suitable for people with allergies to fur and dander.

Some people want to avoid making the Labradoodle into a recognized breed, and/or believe that a true Labradoodle should only have Labrador and Poodle lines. By restricting breeding to early generation dogs (i.e. bred from a Poodle and Labrador rather than from two Labradoodles), they hope to maintain genetic diversity, and avoid the inherited health problems that have plagued some dog breeds.

Others are breeding Labradoodle to Labradoodle over successive generations, and trying to establish a new breed. These dogs are usually referred to as Multigenerational (abr. Multigen) or Australian Labradoodles. Because of the number of successive generations of Labradoodle to Labradoodle breedings behind the Australian Labradoodles, there is much more consistency regarding size, coat and type. Australian Labradoodles also differ from early generation or American Labradoodles in that they also have other breeds in their ancestry. English and American Cocker Spaniel/Poodle crosses, Two Irish Water Spaniels, Soft-Coated Wheaten Terriers and a Curly Coated Retriever have variously been used in some Australian Labradoodle lines.