Ever seen a GoldenDoodle?

Oh Robin she's gorgeous! What a great cross actually as a service dog. She'd have the high energy and intelligence of the Poodle with the extreme loyalty and strong work ethic of the Golden in her. A lovely mix for a service dog I bet. You probably see the same with the Labradoodles though from my years of owning Labs they seem to take a lot longer than Goldens to settle down into maturity.

These "designer" crosses as they call them make sense in that it gets you the best of both well known breeds but hopefully opens up the gene pool a bit to avoid some of the genetic health issues (Goldens for instance are more prone to epileptic seizures).

Personally the whole controversy over pricing on these dogs is a subject for another thread though. This thread is about one lovely dog that will go on to give a disabled person a truly better quality of life (and a lot of love and companionship) because of the hard work and dedication of the Canine Assistants group and people like Robin who volunteer their time to help socialize the puppies.

Good for you Robin! Give Irene a big hug from me. You are both heroes in my book.

Thanks Jo! One reason why Canine Assistants intentionally bred Labradoodles and Goldendoodles was more for our recipients with limited mobility. They require very little if any brushing. The downside is, they do require some grooming (hair cuts) that may not be feasible for someone who is already burdened with large medical bills.


We originally started with rescued dogs from the pound when the organization started, and while the animals did great at the farm with repetition, many of them reverted back to bad habits when they were placed, which was a disservice to our recipients. So, we now breed all of our animals and the training begins when they are a week old with us holding them on their backs, rubbing their bellies and telling them to "settle".

We now use pure bred goldens and goldadors as our primary dogs. Goldadors are perfect for us, because the purebred labs are very high strung and we generally can't place them until they are closer to three years old. The goldadors retain the lab look and shorter hair, while inheriting more of the calmness of the golden retrievers. The goldens are more like "yeah, I heard you - I'm getting to it, give me a minute - enjoy life, don't rush!". The goldadors are more "OK! I'll do it right away! Here! What do you want me to do next?"

Canine Assistants breeds for desired temperments and also breed for size. Larger goldens and lab mixes are good stability dogs for someone who can walk, but tends to stumble or fall easily, or for an adult in a wheelchair for pull work (pulling the wheelchair up handicap ramps) and the smaller goldens and lab mixes are the perfect size for our kids. The fact that our breedings result in goldadors, labradoodles, goldendoodles is for their inherent characteristics, not to make "cute" mixes - and certainly not to make money - since we're a non-profit organization and don't charge for the dogs.

I can certainly see the sense of the cross breeding. Pure bred Labs tend to have a very extended puppyhood/teenage stage. Our two females really didn't settle down till well into the last part of their 2nd year of life. They want to please, they just tend to be pretty hyper and easily distracted till that age. The influx of the Golden blood would certainly shorten that time and make them effective assistance dogs earlier in life.

I saw a wonderful show on TV last year about Great Danes being used as canine assistants for people with mobility issues since their great size lends well to helping an adult walk or even rise after a fall. It was amazing to watch how the dog was trained to immediately lean a certain way to adjust for the human's sudden stumble, to stand braced to assist in rising from a chair or even a full fall and even to use their own paw to tap their human's foot to help them when they "froze up" during a walk. Truly heartwarming to see a dog become such a helpmate and joy to a disabled person! For the one man in that program it quite literally gave him back his life and allowed his wife more freedom in her own life and less worry about her husband with his loyal Dane at his side 24/7.

Awesome, that yuo get to help out by doing that.. what a cool way to spend your time. :)

As far as training dogs for aid, ROCK ON!!! Don't matter puredbred,mixed, doodle schmoodle woodle whats-its oodle,a service dog is a service dog is a service dog. Different qualities in different breeds brought together makes one heck of a great service dog. HOWEVER, I'm gonna have to agree with some other guys on here about the pet industry pricetags on said dogs. A mixed breed dog is exactly that...a MIXED breed. $800 is outrageous for a lab/poodle whatever MIXED breed dog. Puggle wuggle, doodle schmoodle, NOT purebred. Not worth paying $800 for.

Sorry to all that have differing opinions. But our three labradoodles are worth every penny we paid for them.

They have the temperment and intelligence of a lab, with reduced shedding and a calm, mild demeanor. They are by far the best dog I have ever owned or been around.

Oh, and like anything else, you can spend $200 on one that you are unsure of the genetics and health of. Or you can go to a breeder that has tested the parents, will always be there to answer questions, and will stand behind the animals they sell you .... hmmm sounds alot like what people say about the snake breeding business.

Neil

PS ... here is Vinnie when he was a puppy

http://www.sunsetlabradoodles.com/Vinnie2-large.jpg

Robin, she's beautiful! And what a great way to spend your time..big kudos! I agree, if a hybrid dog is going to work better for the recipient, by all means...

I think that discussions of current market prices for hybrid and/or pure bred dogs belongs in another thread, so Imma not comment on that...

But Robin, when you work with other dogs, we need pictures! =D

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Kills me when I see service dogs on the job because I so dearly want to pet and love them...but I know they are working. =) I always compliment the owner on their beautiful dog and I know the dog will get good loves when he's "off work" for being such a good boy. =)

Hi Cass, thanks! My favorite boy of all time was named Tango. He's with a little boy who is blind and has seizures and CP in Florida now. That boy was my heart! I think we all get a favorite who will always be with us.


I generally will allow people to pet the dogs when we are out in public - more as an educational moment, especially the children who ask politely "may I pet your dog?". We ask the dog to sit before being petted, so that they learn not to pull to get affection from someone else and to remember that they are still "on the job".

They're definitely all dog when the pack comes off, and one thing that Jennifer reminds us (she's the founder of Canine Assistants) is that they need time each day to just be a dog - so I'll take the dogs and Diamond to a local school that has a fenced in area to play off leash together.