They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions - and it turns out Cerberus is
at least part Labradoodle.
All joking aside, though, the real story behind Labradoodles and the "designer dog" trend
they started is truly more heartbreaking than happy.
Why?
Here's a look at the dark truth behind the Labradoodle.
First bred back in the 1980's, the Labradoodle at first seemed to be a heaven sent solution
to a serious need.
Breeder Wally Conron was working with the Royal Guide Dog Association of Australia when
a blind woman in Hawaii contacted them with a special request: she needed a hypoallergenic
guide dog.
He started out trying to train a standard poodle, but even though they're smart and
relatively hypoallergenic, they're terrible guide dogs.
So he crossed a poodle with a Labrador retriever, hoping to get a puppy that had the poodle's
hypoallergenic coat, plus the Labrador's guide dog abilities.
Three puppies resulted, and one of them had the magic combination of traits.
Conron thought he hit on something that would allow people with allergies to adopt a guide
dog, which was a huge deal.
There was one major catch, though: since it was a genetic crapshoot which puppies would
inherit which traits, it would take careful breeding to get a puppy that was actually
hypoallergenic - and then careful training to teach it to become a guide dog.
Unfortunately, Conron discovered most people didn't want to foster and train a crossbreed
mutt.
So in an effort to jump start this potentially beneficial new idea, he announced his new
breed - the Labradoodle - as a gimmick.
It worked.
Suddenly, everyone wanted one - and Conron told Psychology Today that he quickly realized
his efforts had backfired.
While all his dogs were tested for hypoallergenic coats, other people hopping on the bandwagon
weren't testing their dogs.
The result was a non-standardized breed being marketed as something it wasn't - hypoallergenic
guide dogs that were often neither hypoallergenic or suited to become a guide dog.
Conron told Dog King that even the Kennel Club originally condemned the idea.
Breeders didn't want to tarnish their lines with a different breed of dog, and that's
a problem that's continued.
It means the dogs used to breed Labradoodles are often ones that have health problems or
genetic conditions.
And that means Labradoodles, and derivatives like Double Doodles, are often less-than-healthy
from birth, born to parents who aren't healthy enough to create purebred dogs.
That's why they're no longer a go-to dog for guide dogs - many don't have the health, temperament,
or ability to be guide dogs anymore.
Conron has spoken out against the continued breeding of Labradoodles, knowing that many
come from backyard breeders just out to make a quick buck.
And it's not just Labradoodles anymore, either.
The popularity of Labradoodles kicked off the trend of breeding two different purebred
dogs to create a new, trendy designer dog.
Poochons, shihpoos, schnoodles, goldendoodles… the list goes on, and they're often prone
to major inherited health and behavior problems.
Conron told Psychology Today,
"I opened a Pandora's box, that's what I did.
I released a Frankenstein."
In the U.K., even the House of Lords has condemned this kind of cross-breeding as cruel, with
Tory Lord Black of Brentwood calling for legislation to stop the trend of breeding designer dogs.
Teacup breeds - like the ones some starlets accessorize with - are of the utmost concern.
They're usually the product of parents that were runts or premature puppies themselves,
and they're particularly prone to health problems that lead to lives filled with brittle bones
and weaknesses that leave the dogs in constant pain.
And according to Dogster, the ends of their short lives are often catastrophic organ failure.
"In this case, we're actually choosing the weakest, the smallest, the sickliest, and
then concentrating their genetics into the next generation.
And I think that's quite irresponsible."
Labradoodles don't seem quite so adorable now, do they?
Conron says he lives with the guilt of kicking off this designer dog trend, and he stopped
breeding them himself.
He bred only 31 Labradoodles after careful genetic research and testing, and instead
of hopping on the bandwagon, he retired.
When asked why he didn't have Labradoodles, he said,
"If I'd gone into breeding Labradoodles for a living, I'd be on easy street.
But there was no way I'd do it.
My conscience wouldn't let me."