Labradoodle is more poodle than labrador

LABRADOODLES are more poodle than labrador, DNA analysis has revealed.

The popular breed was examined by researchers who were keen to determine how its genome has developed over the decades.

Scientists in the US studied more than 150,000 points along the genetic history of the Australian labradoodle and found changes in just a few genes can define a new breed.

The data, published in the journal

PLOS Genetics, revealed that the modern labradoodle is “largely poodle”, but also has traces of spaniel.

The paper said: “We have used nuclear DNA markers to determine the genetic history of the Australian labradoodle and develop an understanding of how breeds stabilise traits given particular breeding strategies.

“Our data show that despite the major contributions from poodle and labrador retriever, additional breeds contributed to the modern Australian labradoodle. Today’s Australian labradoodle is largely poodle with an excess of poodle alleles [a gene variant] related to coat type.”

Labradoodles are often considered to be a type of designer dog, as they are cross-bred with a view to combining the positive traits of the parent breeds.

Wally Conron first cross-bred a labrador and a poodle in Australia in 1989 for a blind woman whose husband was allergic to dog hair, but said it “released a Frankenstein’s monster”. He told the Australian Broadcast Corporation last year that breeders were not adhering to good practice and producing dogs with health problems.