In Defense of Doodles
...and why I'm not going to breed them anymore
By Carolyn Kelly
(Director, Companion Dog Project)
Introduction: Dogbook Fatigue
I spent a good part of one whole day this week defending doodles in a Facebook group. Yuck. I try to avoid these kinds of social media wormholes —but for some reason I got sucked in- again- this time. Its so hard to resist pointing out flagrant misinformation, and maybe I was procrastinating. There’s nothing quite like a good Dogbook war to help one avoid doing laundry.
The good news? Over the past five years, I’ve seen a shift. Rational, informed voices now often match—or even outnumber—the anti-doodle pile-on in the comments. I’m grateful for all the fair minded trainers and others in the dog world who are waking up to the reality of the problems with traditional dog breeding culture, and starting to question the orthodoxy about “designer dogs” being inherently unethical to breed.
I decided to write this so I can share it every time a Poodle purity crusader decides to create a new post dragging out old arguments about unpredictability, poor health, lack of purpose, impossible to groom coats, and greedy breeders. You can feel free to do the same.
The arguments against doodles aren’t only gross over generalizations, they are completely disconnected from the realities of modern pet ownership, current genetic science, and the real word experiences of families trying to find a healthy, emotionally stable dog.
Why Families Choose Doodles
I have bred 7 litters in 6 six years of both doodles and retriever mixes with various types of coats. Between that and my work with other breeders in CDP I estimate I’ve had conversations with over 150 families looking for a puppy at this point. I’ve learned a few things about why people get a doodle.
Reality check: most people aren’t looking for a “hypoallergenic” dog. I would say 1 of 10 inquiries are focused on allergies, and I always discourage them from getting a puppy. No dog is reliably hypoallergenic for all people and if you have severe allergies I suggest you get an adult dog you can trial first.
Some people really want a dog that doesn’t shed much or sheds less than average. Especially those who have owned a heavily shedding dog in the past and hate vacuuming and dog hair in their coffee. This is a pretty common motivator.
But the most common reason by far: they just want a nice family dog, and haven’t found one elsewhere.
My experience is consistent with the limited data available on this topic.
A large-scale study of UK doodle owners found that temperament and companionship were more important than coat traits in acquisition decisions (Burnett et al., 2022). U.S. data echoes this, showing that behavior and trainability are key factors for many dog owners, beyond appearance (Cooper & Stewart, 2017).
Many traditional breeders, despite good intentions, present as closed off and unapproachable. Telling people to “go to a local show and introduce yourself, learn about the breed” is like asking someone to cold call potential employers. Most people don’t want to join a subculture—they just want a dog.
Meanwhile, rescues are full of dogs labeled “no kids,” “no other pets,” or “no visitors.” Families looking for a safe, trainable, social dog often find themselves shut out of both the purebred and rescue routes.
Doodles fill a growing gap—between purebred ideology, dysfunctional “save them all” rescue, and modern pet dog ownership.
Doodle breeders pick up the phone. They respond to emails. They are in the business of producing dogs for families. Many of the best doodle breeders run multi-generational programs that have been built over decades. These dogs show recognizable type that differs significantly from their purebred ancestry—loose, wavy coats, distinct patterns, friendly expressions with round soulful eyes. Pretty colors.
Doodle breeders are incentivized to satisfy the pet-seeking public. That’s pushing the best of them—the ones that stay in business beyond a few years—to prioritize not just aesthetics—but also NICER DOGS THAT SUCCEED IN HOMES.
That is exactly what selective breeding has always been about. That is how dogs came to be domesticated. Our co-evolution with canines has always been—at its core—based on people selecting dogs that they wanted to live with for various reasons, and breeding them, while culling, in one way or another, the less desirable dogs.
Breeding for the Job of Pet Dog
Modern pet dogs do not need to retrieve ducks, hunt otters, herd goats, guard sheep, pull sleds, or even kill rats. Our pets genetic drives need to be better matched to the reality of what we are asking them to do. We need to ask first—what kind of life will these puppies be asked to live? What will their job be? Then we need to breed toward those goals.
Doodle critics love to explain how poor Australian service dog breeder Wally Conron lived to regret his decision to breed the first Labradoodle. But Mr. Conron didn’t “invent” doodles. Cockapoos were common pets by the 1960s, 20 years before his experiment with creating non-shedding service dogs. His dogs were successful in their job, and the experiment he began to create a non-shedding service dog is ongoing to this day, with many doodles serving as successful service dogs, therapy dogs, and facility dogs. His work was part of the long standing traditional goal of dog breeding—shaping dogs to meet human needs.
Mixed Breed Dogs Aren’t Inherently Unhealthy
Poodle mixes can be high-strung, allergy-prone, have hip dysplasia, ear infections, sensitive stomachs, and get early cancer, among other things. But these are not doodle problems. These are dog problems. (Creevy, K. et al. (2024).
These things also occur in the purebred world, where many dogs are bred to meet arbitrary physical standards while ignoring poor temperament, lack of functional structure, and unsustainable levels of inbreeding. Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, a wonderful companion breed, are very likely to die young of heart failure. Golden Retrievers, of cancer.
In fact, none of the arguments against doodle breeding that involve poor health are accurate.
Bad breeding choices and mating of unhealthy dogs will create unhealthy puppies. But this has NOTHING to do with doodles specifically.
When done well—crossbreeding reduces the risk of inherited disease through hybrid vigor (heterosis). As long as both parents are disorder-tested and well-selected, crossbreeding can be a powerful tool for improving resilience and reducing common health issues in dogs. Early evidence indicates doodles are at lower risk of cancer than their purebred ancestors. (Benson, J. (2022))
Many breeds are staggering under the burden of 150 years of closed gene pool inbreeding, and health concerns are growing. Yet, the resistance to change runs deep in most breed communities. The public is becoming increasingly aware of this problem, and correctly looking to mixed breed dogs as a potential solution.
We Can Do Better
Doodles alone are not the whole answer for creating modern pet dogs.
…and that’s why I’m going to move away from breeding exclusively dogs with furnished coats.
In my last litter I had more owners requesting the shedding puppies than the non- shedding ones. Grooming is getting SO expensive (no hate to groomers, y’all earn every penny) and it can be a barrier to ownership for a lot of people.
Six years into this adventure in dog breeding, I’ve decided that I—like many others—don’t really love high maintenance coats. Its nice not to have to clean hair off my clothes before work, but I don’t require a dog to be low-shedding. I started grooming all my own dogs during Covid—I had to. It’s not as bad as some people say. I really never brush my dogs much—I cut them short every couple months and spot check for tangles occasionally. But their coats hold onto dirt and burrs and water, and I am just tired of grooming dogs. There are plenty of people breeding nice doodles and they are years ahead of me in producing beautiful no shed coats. I’ll happily refer families looking for a doodle to them.
I want to move my own breeding program forward without the limitation of trying to produce a certain kind of coat. This will free me up to select my breeding dogs even more carefully for temperament first. My true love is studying behavior, and retrievers are my heart. I’ll share more about my new and improved goals soon.
As Always, I Will Be Guided by the Breeding Strategy of the Companion Dog Project
Temperament (especially sociability with humans and dogs) is the top breeding priority, followed by health, then structure and appearance
Produce puppies that are highly social, emotionally resilient, and low in aggression—ideal for everyday family environments
Ensure inherent health free from serious disease, keep predicted genetic COI ≤10%, allow carriers only if paired responsibly, and avoid breeding dogs sharing the same deleterious recessive mutations
Structural Soundness: Favor sound conformation supporting normal exercise capacity, but not at the expense of temperament or health
Functional Reproduction: Prioritize natural mating ability, whelping and maternal competence, and good fertility—excluding dogs with unexplained small litters or reproductive issue
The future of dog breeding isn’t about defending one type of dog over another. It’s about evolving—admitting what hasn’t worked, keeping what does, and staying focused on what humans - and their dogs- need to thrive. The doodle debate is a distraction from the bigger question: How do we help dogs - and ourselves- be more physically and emotionally equipped for modern life?
Onward. 🐾
Thx!
Great article 👏