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LOUIE RETIRED IN 2018louie 2

Louie is a cross between a Lagotto Romagnola (Roman) and our Moyen Poodle, Shelby. Roman was a great dog, a bit shy as he came to us late, but very calm and sensible. Unfortunately we lost him to a snake in 2014. Louie has Roman’s great temperament and seems to pass this on to his puppies very strongly. His grandfather on his mum’s side, Blue, was a dear little toy poodle who sired many wonderful dogs. Blue’s pups were bomb proof and Louie seems to be following in his footsteps.

The Lagotto is an Italian breed which is similar in origin to the Poodle, Portuguese Water Dog and Irish Water Spaniel – they were all curly wool coated retrieving dogs which have been developed into different breeds in different locations. Lagottos are gaining popularity because of their poodle wool coats in a sturdy, medium sized dog – they are the purebred dog world’s answer to the miniature Labradoodle. You’ll read a lot about their temperament on the internet.  I’ve only known one Lagotto – Roman – and he was an athletic but very calm dog – no evidence of an urge to dig for truffles all day or to go duck hunting.

Here he is at the end of winter and about to have a haircut

Louie is a joy to have around – unless there is a bitch in season – at which time he develops the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound. He has already “jumped the fence” a couple of times – leading to a bit of confusion. We’ve got him licked now though – a special “Louie proof pen” has been constructed to stop him making his own arrangements and siring every puppy we breed!

We use Louie with our first cross dogs, Daisy  (golden labradoodle), Finn and Freda (Labradoodles) and Lily (Groodle) as well as with our Golden Retrievers when be are breeding larger “Groodles” and our “MiniGroodles”. We’ve been putting “Latin” in front of the name of the puppies to identify them ……. portmanteau names are a bit silly but it’s easier to say that Daisy’s puppies are “latin golden labradoodles”  than “1/8th Labrador, 1/8th golden retriever, 1/2 poodle and 1/4 Lagotto Romagnola”