Wally Conron, the creator of the Labradoodle cross-breed, has said that he regrets his creation, calling it "Frankenstein's monster" on an ABC podcast.
The 90-year-old Conron regrets breeding the Labradoodle, a cross between the Labrador and Poodle, in 1989 while he was working for Guide Dogs Victoria in Australia. He claimed his cross-breed begun a trend for designer breeds.
He said "I opened a Pandora's box and released a Frankenstein('s) monster." He regrets that his invention led the way for "unethical, ruthless people" to breed the dogs without thinking of the health of their offspring.
Conron pointed out that the majority of Labradoodles are "either crazy or have an hereditary problem," with healthy samples of the breed "few and far between." He believes that people have excessively cross-bred, increasing dogs' risk of congenital disease, particularly down the generations. He referred in particular to the new Rottweiler-Poodle hybrid, known as a Rottle or a Rottie-Poo.
Originally, Conron crossed a Labrador with a standard Poodle, which has no shedding coat, because he needed to give a guide dog to a blind woman in Hawaii whose husband was allergic to dogs. The cross-breeding resulted to a litter of three puppies, one of which did not trigger the husband's allergies and was sent to Hawaii.
The other two remaining dogs had no one to adopt them so he asked the Guide Dogs Victoria PR department to spread the news of the Labradoodle breed. It quickly became popular in Australia and other parts of the world.
Despite its popularity, the downside with Labradoodles is that they can develop health problems common to both Labrador Retrievers and Poodles such as hip dysplasia and eye disease.
Colin Tennant, a British expert on dog behavior with 45 years of experience in the industry, pointed out that "In essence, you are blindly breeding and altering genetics of the line without foreknowledge." He does not condone cross-breeding in general but he calls on breeders to be more attentive to dog's health.
