"I created a Frankenstein's monster": Inventor of most popular dog breed haunted by regret
<p>The labradoodle is one of the most popular dogs around the world - it is no wonder how with their cutesy curls and plaintive eyes. </p>
<p>However, the man who first invented the breed in the 1980’s admitted he has some feelings of regret for creating the infamous labradoodle. </p>
<p>"I realised what I had done within a matter of days,” Wally Conron told<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-09-23/labradoodle-guide-dogs-designer-regret/10717186" target="_blank">abc.net.au.</a></p>
<p>As a professional dog breeder, Wally said he mainly worried about breeding healthy, happy pups. </p>
<p>However, he believes labradoodle breeders do not share the same concerns. </p>
<p>"I realised the reason for these unethical, ruthless people [was] to breed these dogs and sell them for big bucks," Wally says.</p>
<p>"I opened a Pandora's box and released a Frankenstein's monster.</p>
<p>"When I'm out and I see these labradoodles I can't help myself, I go over them in my mind.</p>
<p>"I look at it thinking, does it have hip dysplasia, has it got elbow problems, any other problems I can see?</p>
<p>"I find that the biggest majority are either crazy or have a hereditary problem. I do see some damn nice labradoodles but they're few and far between."</p>
<p>Mr Conron first crossed a labrador and a poodle in the late eighties after he was asked to breed a non-shedding guide dog. </p>
<p>"I bred the labradoodle for a blind lady whose husband was allergic to dog hair," he says.</p>
<p>"She wanted to know if we could come up with a dog that she could use as a guide dog and her husband wouldn't be allergic to," he says, speaking to the ABC podcast<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://abclisten.page.link/gro5" target="_blank">Sum Of All Parts.</a></p>
<p>He trialled 33 different standard poodles after deciding a “standard” one would “do the job”, he decided they didn’t have the right temperament to be a successful guide dog. </p>
<p>After three years of attempts, Wally came up with the idea make a brand new crossbreed or "a dog with the working ability of the Labrador and the coat of the poodle".</p>
<p>After breeding three dogs, he shipped one off to the blind woman and her husband who lived with the dog well into his retirement.</p>
<p>The other two, he found, were extremely hard to get rid of as “no one wanted a cross breed,”</p>
<p>Out of sheer frustration, Mr Conran approached Guide Dogs Victoria’s PR department and asked them to say they’d bred a “special breed.”</p>
<p>"I said 'can you get onto the media and tell them that we've bred a special breed? A breed called the labradoodle — it's non-allergenic',” he said.</p>
<p>Quickly Wally found it became a sensation. </p>
<p>"I could not visualise the publicity that a crossbred dog would get," Wally says.</p>
<p>"Cars would stop and people would get out of the car and say to me, 'excuse me what sort of dog is that?' I'd say 'it's a labradoodle!'"</p>
<p>While the gorgeous dogs have captured the attention of many over the last 30 years, the cost of them far outweigh their multi-thousand dollar price tag.</p>
