Is the Labradoodle a great multi-function dog for permaculture???

Of course in Permiculture we try to stack as many functions as possible into everything we do.

Here are some of the possible stacked functions I could see from this dog we just got the kids for Christmas.

Hunting, Alarm, protection, guide dog, live stock protection(not likely easy), small cart pulling, and... well... Labradoodles don't shed their fur and are hypoallergenic. They just grow A LOT of hair that is curly and long kind of like a sheep. So... um.... who needs sheep for wool if you have a Labradoodle or two! lol

Our puppy is now 9 or 10 weeks old and we had her trained to sit, lay down, touch(my hand with her nose), acklowledging her name, and ringing the bell on the door to go outside all in the first week(after getting her @ 8 weeks) without even really trying. Just playing around. She is highly intelligent and getting sneaky already with grabbing things she is not supposed to have and hiding with them to give them a chew. However, I think she is going to be possibly the smartest dog I have ever had.

http://www.petguide.com/breeds/dog/labradoodle/

I keep seeing the bird dog side come out in her. She loves to stalk her toys much like a cat does. Doing the low crawl towards it and then pouncing on it. Followed up by a good chomp on the head/neck and shake of the head. I have even seen her stop and kind of do the perfect "pointer" stance a few times when she spots a rabbit in the yard too.

Just putting my thoughts out there.

Marty

I don't subscribe to MOST of the breed for function hype, a dog is a dog, if you want your dog to do all the things on your list have the dog with you every minute your on your property doing everything you do. Do not allow the dog anything you do not want it to do, ever, without exception, as you go about your day talk to the dog, lets feed the chickens, we're gonna fix the fence, what's causing the chickens to cackle, etc.. In a few months you, your friends and family will be amazed at how smart your dog is, they'll think the dog could run the farm without you.

I'm looking at a labrdoodle also for there qualities. Currently I have a German short hair pointer and he does what I need him for. My biggest need would be packing in the mountains. I guide back pack hunting trips and he is my horse. My current dog is great but if I had to do it over agian I would consider the labradoodle for sure.

What I'm looking for in order of priority in a dog
Good with kids.
Family oriented "has to live with us first and for most".
Good with live stock this is more a trained trait unless it's a husky then good luck teaching them to stop chasing chickens. I found bird dogs easily train to leave livestock and the birds alone.
Big body and strong, for work.
Willing to please. A dog who wants to make you happy will train easily.
Good fur I live way north.
The big one is no shedding! But it's a trade for grooming either way you must deal with a mess.
Labrdoodle bred fits right in here.

I agree when there pups you must expose them to everything baby's, livestock, traffic, city streets, and so on.
I don't want a mean dog I don't need one for protection but he knows what a grizz is and let's me know. Protection is very low on my list I would never want my dog to bite anybody or a child.

If you invite them In to your home set boundrys like there own bed not the furniture. I make my pup lay down while we eat supper no begging. Another one is no jumping up to stay down just manners in general.
Then they feel apart of your pack and just by default will turnout half decent. Most breeds will adapt easily to this lay out. Little manners go along way a lot of people love watching my dog because he is a pleasure to be around most of the time. If I need to leave town.

But this isn't a training thread but rather opion on a breed.
You got my thumbs up in a labradoodle!

I must admit this topic reminds me of the old story thats supposed to be about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ,the author of Sherlock Holmes . He was approached when in his 70's by a famous Russian Ballerina , young very attractive . She said to him "Sir Arthur I want to have your Baby" he was surprised by such a request and asked "why Madam ?" She said "so such a child would have your intellergence and my looks " He reply was "But madam It might have my looks and your intellergence "
Such would be my worries about a Labrodoodle

A good dog can definitely stack a lot of functions.

The quality of dogs like most living things are a combination of nature and nurture.

Obviously you want to avoid inbreeding. For example if I was looking for a Labrador specifically, I would look for a hunting line where the animals were bread for hunting performance as opposed to from a pet store or some breeder puppy mill trying to make $. Personally I would prefer a not 100% pure breed.

Another interesting function you may not know about ... Did you know the presence of a dog in the home can dramatically increase the health of your gut micro biome?

Chris Badgett wrote: Did you know the presence of a dog in the home can dramatically increase the health of your gut micro biome?

I had never heard that before. I have seen my puppy eat some cat poop and rabbit poop from the yard before. She licks me in the face all the time... so it makes sense. Lol