When I started looking for long-haired alternatives to the Labrador, the Golden Retriever was an obvious choice – they’re a related breed of retrievers, which are also known for their fabulous temperament and intelligence. (Poodles may by second on Stanley Coren’s Intelligence of Dogs list, but Golden Retriever’s aren’t far behind at fourth).

So in the early 2000s I started breeding Golden Retriever/ Poodle crosses. Around the same time Blue Sterling from Canada launched the first website on the cross, which she called the ‘Goldendoodles’ (you’ll notice I get an honourable mention). Since then the cross has become know in Australia as the ‘Groodle’.

In the fifteen years since I’ve been delighted to discover that that First Cross Groodles have the same fabulous temperaments as my Mini-Labradoodles, and share the same health benefits of hybrid vigour. I know this not only from the countless emails I’ve received, but also from first hand experiences with these wonderful dogs. Our F1 Groodle Morrie, who turned 12 this year, is an utter delight – whose only health problem so far a paralysis tick bite when he was down the South Coast with one of our daughters.

And our daughter’s Groodle, Brown, is perhaps the most affection, eager-to-please animal I’ve ever encountered in my 35 years working as Vet.

The only issue with these wonderful dog is that they’re a bit bigger than my Mini-Labradoodles, as we tend to use Moyen Poodles. For those who want smaller dogs, I suggest looking at mini-groodles and Cavoodles.