The Australian Labradoodle is a mix of three foundation breeds: Labrador Retriever, Poodle, and Cocker Spaniel (English or American). This distinguishes it from the “ordinary” Labradoodle (sometimes also called “American Labradoodle”), which is a mix of only Labrador Retriever and Poodle.

Labrador Retriever Poodle English Cocker Spaniel

On this page, we use “ordinary” Labradoodle to specifically distinguish the Labradoodle (two foundation breeds) from the Australian Labradoodle (three foundation breeds).

A first-generation “ordinary” Labradoodle (F1) is the product of breeding a Labrador Retriever to a Poodle.

A first-generation backcross (F1B) is the product of breeding a first-generation “ordinary” Labradoodle back to a Poodle.

A Multigenerational (Multigen) “ordinary” Labradoodle (F2 and higher) is the result of breeding two first-generation “ordinary” Labradoodles together (F1 x F1), two backcrosses (F1B x F1B), or a first-generation to a backcross (F1 x F1B). Subsequent generations will also be Multigen.

According to the Australian Labradoodle Association of America (ALAA) guidelines, an “ordinary” Labradoodle is considered purebred when it is the result of five consecutive generations of a Multigen Labradoodle bred to another “ordinary” Multigen Labradoodle.

To make it an Australian Labradoodle, one of the early pairings would have to include a Cocker Spaniel or Cockapoo, to introduce the third foundation breed. Any such infusion resets the consecutive generation count to “0”. As such, a purebred Australian Labradoodle is the result of five or more consecutive generations of a Multigen Australian Labradoodle to another Multigen Australian Labradoodle (or to a Multigen “ordinary” Labradoodle).

Many breeders today are working to continue to develop the Australian Labradoodle and Labradoodle breed, introducing new bloodlines in a carefully managed fashion to increase the genetic diversity and thus the health and long-term vigour of the breed. New infusions of Poodle, Cocker Spaniel, or Cockapoo are carefully controlled and must be pre-approved by the ALAA, in order to maintain the high standards and quality of the breed. Any infusion of one of the parent breeds will reset the generational clock. Thus, the offspring of a seventh-generation Australian Labradoodle bred to a Cockapoo would be F1 Australian Labradoodles. The offspring of an “ordinary” Labradoodle of any generation bred to a Cocker Spaniel or a Cockapoo would also be an F1 Australian Labradoodle, owing to the introduction of the third foundation breed.

One of the goals of the various Australian Labradoodle associations is recognition of the Australian Labradoodle as a unique pure breed of dog. Breeder members of the ALAA and other clubs are continuing to develop the breed with this aim in mind.