(Politicians, however, are not immune to labradoodles’ charms: Michigan’s governor recently acquired one.) It’s unclear whether the president listened, but the Obamas ended up with a pair of Portuguese water dogs, also known for being hypoallergenic. He was so concerned, he said, that when he heard Barack Obama was considering getting a labradoodle, he wrote to him to advise against it. “There are so many poodle crosses having fits, problems with their eyes, hips, and elbows, and a lot have epilepsy.” He expounded on his concerns about designer dogs – the offspring of two different purebreds – to Psychology Today in 2014: “All these backyard breeders have jumped on the bandwagon, and they’re crossing any kind of dog with a poodle,” without concern for potential health implications, he said. “I find that the biggest majority are either crazy or have a hereditary problem,” he said. “When you start attaching cool names, then it starts turning into a new, cool story,” Hekman said.Ĭonron’s regret stems from what he describes as “unethical, ruthless people breed these dogs and sell them for big bucks”, even as, he says, health problems abound. It meant people asked about their dogs could say more than just “she’s a mutt”. The name for this new hybrid breed was a selling point, Jessica Hekman, an expert on the species, told ABC. “I said: ‘Can you get on to the media and tell them that we’ve bred a special breed? A breed called the labradoodle – it’s non-allergenic,’” he said.ĭemand for labradoodles soared. So Conron, who worked for a guide dogs association now known as Guide Dogs Victoria, sought help from its PR department. According to ABC, Sultan’s two half-poodle-half-labrador siblings were struggling to find homes. It seems the trouble arose from an ensuing branding effort.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |