POSSIBLE CONGENITAL HEALTH PROBLEMS IN LABRADOODLES & GOLDENDOODLES

[Jacquie Yorke - DRC Director]

Although most Labradoodles & Goldendoodles are healthy, they can suffer from certain congenital health problems associated with both parent breeds in this case Poodles & Retrievers.

Poodles, Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers carry many of the same genetic factors that predispose them to these potential health problems. Consequently our doodles have a greater chance of developing one or several of these disorders because they are essentially inheriting the factors from all sides. Some are serious others not so serious.  For example, hip dysplasia is common in both Poodles and Retrievers. among other things. The parent breeds can also suffer from a number of eye disorders.

Australian Labradoodles have been known to suffer from Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), an inherited disease causing blindness, which occurs in both Miniature Poodles and Cocker Spaniels.

A significant number of Mutigenerational and Australian Labradoodles have also been found to suffer from disorders such as Addison's Disease, Epilepsy. The Australian Labradoodle Association of America is currently conducting a study to try and determine how widespread the problem has become.

Congenital and Genetic Conditions found with greater than average frequency in the Labrador Retriever

Abnormal Dentition |Acral lick dermatitis |Acute moist dermatitis |Addisons Disease |Addisons disease (hypoadrenocorticism) |Canine Allergies |Canine Melanoma |Canine Muscular Dystrophy |Carpal subluxation |Cataract |Coloboma |Craniomandibular osteopathy |Dacrocystitis |Deafness |Detached Retina |Diabetes mellitus |Distichiasis |Dwarfism |Ectropion |Elbow dysplasia |Entropion |Epilepsy |Fragmented Coronoid Process |Hemophilia A - Classic Hemophilia |Hemophilia B |Hip Dysplasia |Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy (HOD) |Hypoglycemia |Narcolepsy |Osteochondritis Dissecans |Osteochondrosis |Persistent Hyaloid Artery |Persistent Pupillary Membrane |Portosystemic Shunt |Progressive Retinal Atrophy |Prolapsed Rectum |Prolapsed Uterus |Retinal Dysplasia |Seborrhea |Shoulder Dysplasia |Type II Muscle Fiber Deficiency |von Willebrands Disease

Reference: http://www.qualitydogs.com/Labrador_Retriever/information.html

Congenital and Genetic Conditions found with greater than average frequency in the Poodle

Addisons Disease |Addisons disease (hypoadrenocorticism) |Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia |Behavioral Abnormalities |Bloat |Canine Allergies |Canine Atopic Dermatitis |Canine Microphthalmia |Cataract |Color mutant alopecia |Dermatitis, atopic |Detached Retina |Distichiasis |Entropion |Epilepsy |Epiphora |Glaucoma |Hemeralopia |Hemophilia - Factor XII Deficiency |Hemophilia A - Classic Hemophilia |Hip Dysplasia |Hypothyroidism |Iris Atrophy |Lacrimal Duct Atresia |Lens Luxation |Optic Nerve Hypoplasia |Osteochondritis Dissecans |Osteochondrosis |Osteogenesis Imperfecta |Persistent Pupillary Membrane |Progressive Retinal Atrophy |Sebaceous Adenitis |Sebaceous Adenitis |Thrombocytopenia |von Willebrands Disease

Reference: http://www.qualitydogs.com/Poodle/information.html

Congenital and Genetic Conditions found with greater than average frequency in the Miniature Poodle

Achondroplasia |Basal Cell Tumor |Behavioral Abnormalities |Canine Allergies |Canine Microphthalmia |Cataract |Cerebrospinal demyelination |Cushings Disease |Deafness |Dermatitis, atopic |Detached Retina |Distichiasis |Ectopic ureters |Entropion |Epilepsy |Epiphora |Epiphyseal Dysplasia |Glaucoma |Globoid Cell Leukodystrophy |Hemeralopia |Hemophilia A - Classic Hemophilia |Hypothyroidism |Intervertebral Disc Disease |Iris Atrophy |Lacrimal Duct Atresia |Lysosomal Storage Diseases |Myasthenia Gravis |Optic Nerve Hypoplasia |Osteochondritis Dissecans |Osteochondrosis |Osteogenesis Imperfecta |Otitis Externa |Patellar Luxation |Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) |Pituitary Dwarfism |Progressive Retinal Atrophy |Sebaceous Adenitis |Sebaceous Tumor |Squamous Cell Carcinoma |Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) |von Willebrands Disease

Reference: http://www.qualitydogs.com/Miniature_Poodle/information.html


Congenital and Genetic Conditions found with greater than average frequency in the Golden Retriever

Acral lick dermatitisAcute moist dermatitisAutoimmune Hemolytic AnemiaAutoimmune Lymphocytic ThyroiditisCanine AllergiesCanine Muscular DystrophyCataractChronic Superficial KeratitisColobomaCorneal dystrophyDermatitis, atopicDistichiasisEctropionElbow dysplasiaEntropionFolliculitisFragmented Coronoid ProcessHemangiosarcomaHemophilia A - Classic HemophiliaHip DysplasiaHypothyroidismJuvenile CellulitisLymphomaMyasthenia GravisOptic Nerve HypoplasiaOsteochondritis DissecansOsteochondrosisPortosystemic ShuntProgressive Retinal AtrophySebaceous AdenitisSubaortic StenosisThyroiditis

http://www.qualitydogs.com/Golden_Retriever/information.html

[Deborah Moore]

Not to say anything that could be taken as a negative to adopting a rescue dog, but if you are planning on getting an Australian Labaradoodle, Goldendoodle or American Labradoodle, buying from a reputable breeder who has had the breeding stock thoroughly tested for genetic diseases can result in much healthier dogs.

I must say, though, there is an ALD breeder in VA who has 2 female breeding dogs on her website that are listed as carriers for CERF - the genetic eye disease that can cause blindness by a year old. Although it is disclosed, I would not purchase a dog from this person. This, in no way, is breeding to better or strengthen the breed, just to make a buck on cute dogs. Her ALDs are offered at a price about $1K lower than the "going rate" insuring that unaware buyers will purchase a dog based on price instead of quality. This is a shame. I wish I knew how to stop it.

[Deborah Moore]

....and I would like to add that my Connor the goldendoodle, world's sweetest dog, is a puppy mill rescue. I have no information on his medical background. He does have a problem with one hip that acupuncture has helped tremendously. Connor is the love of my life, and even without background info, I wouldn't trade him for a bazillion "purebreds." Rescues rock!

[Karen and Jackdoodle]

Many of the genetic diseases that run in labs, goldens, and poodles, cannot be tested for, and the method of inheritance remains unknown. Even conscientious breeders who do testing for HD and other diseases cannot test for some of them. This is a problem when breeders are not familiar with their bloodlines. Many goldendoodle and labradoodle breeders were unfamiliar with poodles before they started breeding the crosses; there are also poodle breeders who went into breeding doodles and are unfamiliar with lab or golden lines. So if Atopic Dermatitis runs in a particular line of Labrador retrievers, for example, a doodle breeder who uses a "tested" dog would have no idea that this was in the lines. For some of the most serious genetic diseases, which don't appear until a dog is past 3 years old, the best purebred breeders avoid these by: 1. Not breeding dogs until they are past 3 years of age (easy to do when the dog is busy earning his championship during those first three years anyway) and 2. Follow their lines closely throughout many years to make sure nothing is being passed along ; when they do find a genetic disease on a puppy, they eliminate those dogs from their programs. Of course, these breeders I'm speaking of are not breeding dogs strictly for profit; the doodle breeders are, even the best of them.
Many of the ALDs are very closely inbred, with the same RM and TP dogs appearing repeatedly on both sides of the pedigree. So you have that problem in the ALDs as well.

[Deborah Moore]

Fortunately, Simon's lines look good - no inbreeding, etc. I think one of the problems with goldendoodles is there is no national registry. It would at least allow breeders the opportunity to follow lines more closely when choosing breeding stock.
Having had a golden retriever who died at 4 1/2 yrs old from lymphoma, I understand the importance of the points you addressed. I'm hoping my post didn't sound flippant because that was not the intention. It makes me wish dog breeding didn't have the potential to be so profitable.

[Karen and Jackdoodle]

Not flippant at all.
I adopted Jack from a shelter where he was relinquished by the owner who originally purchased him in a pet store- so he's a puppy mill dog, with the genetics to match. But I know so many doodle owners who purchased their dogs from reputable breeders who health tested, and still have some serious problems...including severe HD in a 13 month old mini goldendoodle from health tested parents. I don't think there's a genetic disease I haven't heard about in some young doodle from some reputable breeder.
I have to say, if I ever purchase a puppy again, it will be a purebred from a show breeder, because there's no way to know what you're getting with a mix, no matter where they come from.
Of course, Jackdoodle is the cutest, sweetest, best-behaved dog in the whole world and I wouldn't trade him for anything.

[Deborah Moore]

In my job, I work with dogs and I cannot tell you how many beautiful little purebred dogs I see with horrific skin problems, joint problems, allergies, heart problems and, I think the saddest of all, are the sweet little Cavaliers with fatal genetic brain problems. As my vet and I have discussed many times, buying from a reputable breeder - even a show breeder - doesn't guarantee 100% health. Does it stack the deck in your favor? Yes, of course. But all it takes is two recessive genes getting together for unexpected problems.

While I think it is wise to be aware of "potential problems," I wouldn't want to scare away a potential adoptive family/person by giving them the impression these are sickly dogs. At almost 3, Connor is a healthy, robust dog. Simon is only a year old, but the vet raves about him whenever we have gone in.

[Karen and Jackdoodle]

I guess sometimes I go too far the other way to counterbalance the "hybrid vigor" nonsense. It seems that a lot of people believe that mixed breed dogs are healthier than purebreds, and that may be true overall, but not when the mixes are deliberate and coming from three very popular breeds that have lots of health problems themselves. And purebreds include both puppy mill dogs and the world's top show dogs, so there's a wide spectrum there as well.
I think Cavaliers are the example everyone uses when discussing purebreds that seem to have a lot of health problems, and certainly there are breeds with more health problems than others. But the conditions at even the most reputable doodle breeders' establishments don't begin to compare to those at the best show breeders. I never heard of giardia, for example, before I got involved in doodle forums, lol.
I think with mixed breed dogs, you have just as much chance of there being health problems with puppies from breeders as you do if you adopt...in fact, if you adopt an adult doodle, you;re better off, because at least you can know some factors, such as their coat type, etc. And genetic diseases will be more evident in an adult than in a puppy.

[Deborah Moore]

I agree whole-heartedly! :-)