The Labradoodle temperament is, without doubt, as good as it gets in the dog world and is a particularly strong feature of first generation puppies. Variously described as confident, clever, loving and loveable, vivacious, loyal, affectionate, joyful, sociable, friendly, comical, intuitive, totally non-aggressive and devoted they clearly have everything going for them!

They are excellent with children, love water (both Labradors and Poodles are descended from hunting dogs bred to work in water - the Labrador from the St. John's Newfoundland and the Poodle from the pan-European Water Spaniel) and are natural swimmers. There is a particularly good description on one of the Labradoodle web sites about how they 'melt into mellowness when touched by human hand'. This is exactly what they do and is a phenomenon that you have to experience first-hand to really appreciate. As puppies they are adaptable, remarkably unstressed and just seem to take new things in their stride. All in all - a superb addition to a family that has the time and inclination to include this new member in everything they do.

Labradoodles vary in size and weight with three distinct size variations, as with the poodle. The three distinctions are: miniature, medium and standard. Their size and weight therefore ranges from 30-71cm and 10-40kg.

Line' breeding, which inevitably led to in breeding in the past, has resulted in pure breed dogs inheriting a huge range of diseases and disorders. Many good breeders are attempting to combat this today with more responsible breeding strategies and pre-breeding health tests. However, they are still working with a limited gene pool, so can only really achieve damage limitation. Indeed, part of their strategy involves limiting their breeding dogs to those that pass various health tests (eg hip/elbow scores) thus effectively reducing the gene pool even further. Long term this will inevitably be counter productive.

A more effective method is by actively widening the gene pool, which is exactly what crossbreeding achieves. This was, for some breeders, the most important reason for starting to breed Labradoodles. Crossbreeding should be a deliberate and carefully considered mating of two first class representatives of their respective breeds to ensure the best possible combination. Crossing any old Labrador with any old Poodle would not produce the quality of first generation puppies to strive for. The important thing is that you should feel confident that you know exactly how your Labradoodle has been bred. Although not recognised as pure breeds they should still come with a full pedigree certificate detailing their breeding history.

Labradoodles do not like being left on their own for any length of time, however, feel rejection keenly and crave contact with their 'family'. They can easily become bored and must have sustained, structured training in their early life, to which they will respond with an eagerness to please and a high level of intelligence and 'trainability'.

Remember! All breed profiles are general and every dog is an individual.