The surprising Labradoodle history lesson I learned today
A 60% score on Encyclopedia Britannica's dog quiz confirms I need to step my pet-loving game up
“Have you ever walked this dog before?” the security guard asked me.
I shook my head no, not particularly feeling like telling her I’d been a dog walker since 2019 and owned two dogs for a combined 22 years before then.
“She hops,” the security guard responded.
“What do you mean by ‘hops’?” I asked, immediately picturing a kangaroo.
“You’ll see,” the guard said with a mischievous smile on her face.
She showed me where the elevators were and went back to her seat like she was getting ready to make popcorn before I could return to the lobby.
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It didn’t take more than 60 seconds after opening the door for me to figure out why she was so amused. As she stated, this Labradoodle absolutely leaps into the air. Just up and down, and up and down again. It’s entertaining to watch for a small dog. But for a Labradoodle, it is wild because a Labrador Retriever and a Poodle are both large dogs. Put them together and the crossbreed seems even bigger. I kept looking around in case she could break something. Nope, she apparently had her kangaroo aim down.
I’ve owned a Labrador Retriever mix before, and they’re super high energy. Instead of jumping, he ran through everything — garbage cans, Christmas trees, you name it.
And the first time I walked a Poodle (via Wag!), apparently I was taking too long to prepare for the walk. The Poodle then walked between my legs, ducked down a little and lifted my entire body weight up so I was involuntarily riding this dog like a horse. And the Poodle did not stop walking until we were at the back door. I tried to grab a wall, but that Poodle was on a mission to go outside. I laughed and hurried up.
So, when I took the Encyclopedia* Britannica “Dog Breed Quiz” and found out the inventor of the Labradoodle was for a blind lady whose husband was allergic to dogs, I couldn’t wrap my head around this piece of pet history. How could two of the most high-energy dogs even be trained to be guide dogs?