Cynthia,
I dont
think you would have a problem marketing labradoodles, even in Arkansas, because
you can advertise them on the internet. There are people all over the United
STates right now looking for labradoodles and on waiting lists. You would just
have to ship the puppies.
As far
as breeding goes, Im not a breeder, but have read a ton about labradoodles on
the internet. From what i understand, when you breed a poodle with a lab, the
coat on the pups can vary from curly, wavy, and straight. The curlier the coat,
the more likely the dog is to be non-shedding. When you mate a labradoodle to a
poodle, it is called an F1B backcross. Doing it this way, is
more of a guarentee that the coats will not shed, although you can never
completely guarentee that with your clients. From what I hear, as far
as Goldendoodles go, if you mate a goldendoodle to a goldendoodle, you will get
a litter of pups where half look like standard poodles, and half just like
golden retrievers. go figure! I dont know if it is the same with
labradoodles or not but definately something to think about. Another reason taht
you dont want to mate a doodle with a doodle, is because you want to maintain
the hybrid vigor that comes with cross breeding. Once you start inbreeding,the
pups are more at risk for genetic diseases, and it is not fully known yet what
diseases they would be prone to, since this is a newer type of
"breed".
Anyway, Just thought I would give you what I know...Im sure that people
might send you nasty emails, saying that you should leave the breeding to a
profesional and all that, but I say go for it. Everyone started out new,
and you shouldnt be detoured from something you are interested in pursuing.
Just do a lot of research, and read breeders websites, you will see a lot of
time and work go into each litter. From what I understand, for the amount of
work and expense it takes to breed, its almost like they break even,
although I dont know for sure.
Good
lUck!
Kim
-----Original Message-----Hi, This is our story. We got Phoebe, a yellow lab from a very good
From: Cynthia Hoskison [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2004 9:03 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [labradoodles] Joe!
breeder and planned on breeding her and raising labs here in
Northern California where the hunters are very prolific and will
spend good money on a good dog. Well, we then decided to move to
Arkansas, where the labs go for $75 and there are 20 litters in the
paper.
I don't know when I first heard about Labradoodles, but I was soon
convinced to breed them instead. I search the entire West Coast for
a black boy! (I think white, cream or apricot boys look like girls,
so I only wanted black). I have never even been around a Standard
Poodle or owned a unneutered male dog, so this is going to be quite
an adventure.
When we first got Joe, he was the cutest puppy I have ever seen.
And as he grew and grew! I kept wondering why everyone didn't have
one. Joe is only 5 months old now and he already as tall as Phoebe!
(And she is huge! - I think we are going to end up with
GiantLabradoodles!) He is so tall and with the longest legs! Up
until last week, he hadn't been groomed and still had his puppy
hair. He looked like a little black bear - my favorite wild
animal! All I did was keep the hair on his face trimmed with
scissors so he could see. Well I took him to get groomed last week
and explained to the lady that I didn't want him to look funny, just
give him a trim. I used to get upset that I spent $1200 on a dog
and everybody asked me what he was. Not anymore! He totally looks
like a poodle. She really shaved him and his face is completely
bald. My sons keep saying he "looks like a real poodle now" and "he
has a really long beak". I thought poodles had really long, skinny
muzzles, but Joe didn't. His looked normal. Until he was groomed!
I am amazed by his hair. I combed him with a people comb a while
ago and if I bunched up all the hair in a little wad, it would not
have been the size of a pea. And you can totally pet him any which
way, because his hair grows straight up.
As a future breeder I do have a few questions - I have never even
seen a Labradoodle and most people I tell them about just laugh,
like I made it up. Do they get their tails docked at birth? Does
anyone have a problem selling their litters. How do you market an
expensive "mutt"? I know there is a big Labradoodle guide dog
frenzy going on now, is it possible to sell the puppies to guide dog
schools? I'm scared that I have a $2000 breeding pair and won't be
able to sell my dogs in rural Arkansas. I know a Lab/Poodle cross
makes a Labradoodle and I am sure two Labradoodles make a
Labradoodle, but is one better than the other. Should I be looking
to get a breeding pair of Labradoodles? I did ask these questions
to some breeders I found on the internet, but they didn't respond
and one even told me not to breed them for fear of competition.
Cynthia
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