I sometimes wondered if the person who started the Labradoodle craze would ever say anything, well here it is: Labradoodle creator regrets opening a ‘Pandora’s box’ By Ben Walker Associated Press NEW YORK — He’s deemed the man who unleashed the designer dog craze, this wave of Maltipoos, puggles and shorkies. That’s hardly what Wally Conron expected — or ever wanted —back in the late 1980s when he first bred a pair of prize canines and called the result a Labradoodle. “I’ve done a lot of damage,” Conron told the Associated Press last week by phone from his home in Australia. “I’ve created a lot of problems. “Marvelous thing? My foot,” he said. “There are a lot of unhealthy and abandoned dogs out there.” No Labradoodles were entered in Saturday’s agility competition at the Westminster Kennel Club show, but for the first time in the event’s 138-year history, mixed breeds were welcome. Called “all-American” dogs by some and mutts by many, they weaved and ran through an obstacle course. Only purebreds are allowed in the main event, though. The rings open Monday and the best in show ribbon will be awarded Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. Conron isn’t from the show world. He was the puppy-breeding manager at the Royal Guide Dog Association of Australia when he tried to fulfill a request from a couple in Hawaii. She had vision problems, her husband was allergic, and they wanted adog to satisfy their needs. Conron came up with a solution when he bred a standard poodle with a Labrador retriever . The mix was a personal triumph, yet not a success outside his lab. “I was very, very careful of what I used, but nobody wanted Labrador crosses. I had a three- to six-month waiting list, but everyone wanted purebreds,” the 85-year-old Conron recalled. “So I had to come up with a gimmick.” “We came up with the name ‘Labradoodle,’” he said. “We told people we had a new dog and all of sudden, people wanted this wonder dog.” Over the years, demand grew. Labradoodles became a hot dog — Jennifer Aniston and Tiger Woods are among their owners — and President Barack Obama’s family considered a Labradoodle before picking a Portuguese water dog as the first pet. “When I heard he was thinking about a Labradoodle, I wrote to him and said to make sure he checked its pedigree,” Conron said. He said there are far too many unscrupulous people eager to make a buck at a dog’s expense. “Horrific” puppy mills are springing up and producing unstable dogs that go unwanted and eventually are euthanized, he added. “Instead of breeding out the problems, they’re breeding them in,” he said. “For every perfect one, you’re going to find a lot of crazy ones.” That’s a concern Conron has echoed in the past, blaming himself for opening a “Pandora’s box” and creating a “Frankenstein.” People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals appreciated that Conron is “speaking out to stop the loss of lives that his ‘invention’ has created.” “Breeding ‘purebred’ or ‘designer’ dogs for exaggerated physical characteristics such as flat faces or sloping hips can cause them severe health problems.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Feb 2014 01:02:15 +0000
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