Photo/s of the day. Pumpkin and Moet.

[moonvoice]

So I went to Glen's parents house yesterday,
they were babysitting Glen's brother's dog Pumpkin,
a young golden retriever x poodle.
She is perhaps the sweetest dog I've ever met in my entire life.
And extraordinarily charming and well-mannered for a 7 month old.
If I could have a dog with her temperament, I might be the happiest person ever.


She's just had her Summer clip.










Moet doing his best beached-seal impression, while watching the seals on Frozen Planet

Comments

[moonvoice]

She really is tremendously sweet, I mean, Glen's always said so, but I like to be able to judge these things for myself. You're not the first person to have said that golden retriever x poodles come out less energetically hard than labradoodles (though I believe the ALA is breeding Australian Labradoodles to have a similar soft temperament). To be honest, I wanted a golden retriever x poodle a great deal based on such reports, but there are virtually no 'breeders' in Western Australia; not surprising, given how relatively uncommon golden retrievers are here in favour of other breeds. Even Brad got his from the Eastern states, because they're just not around.

That being said, even labradoodles aren't that common here, even the BYB version. Thank goodness - really, because it's not like we need a ton of designer breeds in general. But we have one recognised ALA breeder here, and on a site where all and sundry can sell their puppies in Perth, about one labradoodle litter comes up every month and a half. If you want any mastiffs, staffies, king charles cavalier spaniels or maltese (or crosses of any of these), you'll have a great deal more luck.

[silverjackal]

There's another aspect to consider here, too. I don't know what it's like in Australia (or at home, for that matter in re: my cousin's dog) but I've heard multiple people remark on how how cancer-prone North American Golden retrievers have become. Both work and show lines, and apparently all manner of different cancers. :( Not surprising, I suppose, given how very popular the breed is, and how much BYB and close inbreeding has happened, but I've heard this independently from enough people (some into showing, some with pets, and some in the working gundog fancy) that I've added Goldens onto my "remember to caution people because they're a genetic minefield" list.

I *really* hope it's different both where you are, and in Europe. What a horrendous thing to have to live with, if one loves the breed. (Or rather, one doesn't have to live with it, but breeders are hardly going to practice the extreme caution and careful outcrossing required to rectify the situation, and even if some do fixing it would take multiple generations, and several decades.)

[moonvoice]

Golden retrievers are so uncommon here specifically in Western Australia (with working lines even less common than show lines), I'm not sure how bad overbreeding has become. I daresay it'd be worse for labradors here, which are way more appealing as a breed to most people here. Labrador puppies and crosses come up all the time. But, case in point, the amount of registered and non-registered golden retriever litters up in WA for the past two weeks has been a sum total of none. I'll be interested to see how much that changes over Christmas.

In that sense, I don't think a great deal of BYB / inbreeding happens here for the gundogs (with the labrador as the exception).

You can see how many registered puppy litters are 'on the ground' at any point in Australia here: http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/puppies.asp - it's not 100% accurate, but it gives you an idea of a) how few litters there are in Western Australia compared to other states, and b) what breeds are more popular than others. And no Goldens are available in WA so far. Staffies top the list every time. The newspapers full of BYB bullshit favour the staffies and mastiffs as well, and the bullies and bull arabs.

We are a weird people. ;)

[silverjackal]

We are a weird people. ;)

Heh. Nothing wrong with Staffies!

As for being overbred, sadly that depends a lot on the size of the foundation stock, too. If they were genetically constricted (i.e. very few dogs originally imported, from a limited number of lines), one ends up with an equally bad coefficient of inbreeding because everything is backbred to the same number of founders. If there is *any* sort of genetic weakness that tends to be brought out and exacerbated that way. Breeding properly is not a simple thing, which is something that many people who are seriously involved with dogs really don't even appreciate. They're looking at how a dog and bitch will complement each other, and what it will bring to their lines, but they're looking in the immediate short term, not "what's the genetic load from this stretching back forty years" and "how will this translate forward in time?".

[moonvoice]

As for being overbred, sadly that depends a lot on the size of the foundation stock, too.

That is a good point, and one I frequently forget. I imagine this can compound issues in Australia in general where the cost to import dogs from the Northern Hemisphere is very high, and always compounded by the fact that dogs - no matter where the come from (barring New Zealand) - must spend three months in a lifeless quarantine, risking the development of behavioural problems in that time, as they are not allowed to interact with each other during that time (aside from barking incessantly), and may only have one visitor, once a day, for a limited time (barring staff cleaning cages and so on). It's the strictest quarantine in the Western world, I think. It works on one level, we don't have rabies here, and many other diseases found elsewhere; but on the other level, when it's important to breed for temperament as well as conformation, that three month quarantine can be tough on some of the breeds.

The advent of being able to important frozen semen has really changed diversity in bloodlines, and it's very common and popular here, because it's usually cheaper than alternatives. But some breeds seem to be more conscientious than others; I'm not sure frozen semen has been introduced much to golden retrievers here, for example. Though it has very much for bloodhounds and finnish lapphunds to keep the pool diverse.

I don't mind staffies, though I find them a bit... well, they're just not for me. They're so popular here, that I forget that elsewhere in the world they're considered 'violent' breeds, since I just think of them as loving, super friendly, super muscly family dogs. Heh. All the ones that I've met have been goofy and loving, and I see them everywhere when I walk. Running alongside bikes, being walked by the whole family, going on a jog with some jock, etc. I think my dislike is actually more aesthetic than anything, I just don't like 'muscly' anything - from really 'built' men, to dogs, to... *thinks* other muscly things. Lol.

[silverjackal]

Temperamentally I actually really like Staffies (and the whole bully breed complex). What's not to love in such genial dogs? But aesthetically I agree with you. They remind me of swine, honestly, and bulk aside you know I also prefer pricked ears over hanging. Essentially the bully breed complex equates to everything I find unattractive in the canine world, in re: looks -- though at least they have a muzzle, as opposed to those poor flat-faced things. I also don't like the very close, scratchy coat, and the fact that they don't have good insulation for colder weather is a no-go for me as well while I live where I do. I refuse to put a coat on a dog unless s/he's ill or something, and here with the amount of time I prefer to spend outside, even in winter, a bully would need a coat. To each their own with preferences, yes? :D I'm sure there are people who would be disgusted by the shedding I live with, and annoyed by how "on" and watchful the dog is (complete with barking).