Goldador

[elin123]

anyone out there have a Goldador ?
Labrador/golden retriever. How much exercise do they need? Good with kids? Good for first time owners? And where to find reputable place to buy from. Any info would be most welcome

There's no reason that a cross between two pedigrees will be healthier simply by virtue of being a cross- in fact, if the puppies don't come from a long line of health-tested parents on both sides they run the risk of inheriting health problems inherent in both breeds.

The reason why Labrador/poodle crosses aren't recognised as a breed is that they don't (as yet) breed 'true' - in any one litter you can have pups looking like poodles, some more like labs, a mix of coats, sizes and temperaments. Yes, all current pedigree breeds were originally crosses but if you mate a pure-bred lab with another pure-bred lab you can be pretty sure what the puppies are going to be like.

And as for JRTs - the Kennel Club has only recently (as in the last couple of months) announced that they will be recognised as a breed. One of the main barriers were the JRT breeders who couldn't decide what should be in the breed standard as there's so much variety in size, coat etc

Yes, the other breeds that have been crossed for longer have had many more decades to breed out the problems you describe with both labradoodles and JRT, which means they essentially have to shrink the gene pool. A selection of 17th century a labradors probably had a wider range of characteristics that do not see today, those undesirable traits were breed out. That is the main reason why cross breeds are a lot healthier, because they are less likely to come from closely related ancestors.

Goldador is just a made up name, they're Golden Labradors... They've been bred as the most popular assistance dog for decades. Trainee guide dog handlers always start with the golden labs before handling any other assistance dog. Yes they're not a 'pure breed' but you can get hip and eye scores from both parents. They're absolutely perfect as family pets. Remember Goldie on blue peter? She was a golden retriever lab

There is no such thing as a 'Golden Labrador'. They are just Labrador Retrievers, and they come in yellow, chocolate or black. The word golden is not used with regards to the coat colour in a Lab.

Historically the golden retriever crossed with the Labrador has made the most successful guide dog of all combining the great traits of both breeds. In service dogs training the Golden Labrador monicker is widely used, but obviously there's 'no such thing' as the most successful breed of guide dog because the Kennel Club says so

We had lab x golden retriever for 15 & 1/2 years. He was the most gorgeous , loving boy and a wonderful family dog. He had a very furry neck and fluffy tail but otherwise resembled a Lab. We miss him dreadfully. Like any dog he needed training. We will be collecting our Golden Retriever puppy towards the end of the month it will be interesting to see how different he is.

Blinking heck, 46 kilos! That's one big dog. Good look with the diet.

He was my first dog, I had 3 small dc under the age of 7 and he was fantastic with them. He hated male Golden Retrievers though but loved his Labrador doggy pals. He use to shed dreadfully. Forget mounting twice a year! I think that Labs, Retrievers or a cross between the two are wonderful family dogs.

There are no "golden labradors", although admittedly it is a commonly held misconception. They are officially called "yellow labrador retrievers" by the Kennel Club and always have been.

Any breeder who tries to sell "golden labradors" is suspect.

Back in the early 1900s (I think) breeders of Labradors were trying to gain Kennel Club recognition for Golden Labrador Retrievers at much the same time as breeders of Golden Retrievers (they are different breeds) were also going for it. The KC did not want to register two breeds with such similar sounding names and it was decided that labradors would be Yellow Labrador Retrievers. For a clear written distinction.

Get a list of registered and approved breeders from the Kennel Club, whichever breed you decide on. Make sure both parents have been hip and elbow scored and eye tested as a minimum. Ask to see the paperwork for this. You should see the originals for the mother as the pups should still be with her. Probably copies for the father, as he often is owned by someone else and studded out.

Good luck with the search.

Aren't lab x retrievers what they use for guide dogs? Someone I know puppy walks for Guide Dogs for the Blind and I'm sure she said they were lab x retriever. Have you registered with Guide Dogs for the Blind as they do occasionally rehome dogs that haven't made the grade as guide dogs.

After much research we found a highly recommended breeder in the North East who had moved into breeding the cross breed due to a number of direct requests for assistance dogs. Our Goldador puppy was from fully health checked parents, well socialised, healthy and happy.

We were warned that the Goldador is classed as a mongrel but the health benefits of a wider gene pool were also explained. We made four visits before we were paired with our puppy at 8 weeks old. That involved a lot of travelling but was well worth it to see Jasper develop from being 5 weeks old and feel like we walked away with the perfect dog for us. Perhaps individual puppy selection is as important as the right breed for your circumstances.

Now Jasper is fully grown he needs of a minimum about 2 hours exercise a day routinely regardless of the weather, but he has been a joy to train and we had breeder support for any queries.

Yes, I'd agree that many breeders seem to have jumped onto the bandwagon with cross breeds but there are some excellent breeders out there and if our dog is anything to go by, some perfect 'Goldadors' (despite the horrible name.)

This thread is over 2 years old. I wonder how the op is getting on?