Australian Labradoodle generations do not follow the same rules as regular Doodles. F1, F2, and F3 are not used. Instead, ALF1, ALF2, and ALF3 are used for this special breed.
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What is an Australian Labradoodle?
The Australian Labradoodle is a mixed breed or hybrid dog with genetics from three to six parent breed lines coming from mostly the Poodle, Labrador, and the English Cocker Spaniel or the American Cocker Spaniel (or both).
Australian Labradoodles that have all six approved parent breeds include the Curly
Coat Retriever and the Irish Water Spaniel. All parent breeds MUST be pure breeds (ie. KC registered and full family tree) and fully DNA tested.
Many people confuse the Australian Labradoodle with the normal Labradoodle. Labradoodles are cross breed dogs (two-parent lines) with genetics from the Poodle and the Labrador only.
Australian Labradoodles tend to be smaller than the Standard Labradoodle breed due to the Cocker Spaniel in them. They are usually bred from a smaller Poodle than the Labradoodle.
Are There any Breed Standards?
Yes and no…….. to be classed as genuine Australian Labradoodle there are very strict standards in place. The dog needs to have three to six of the approved parent breeds in its bloodline and traceable parent lines and heritages.
An Australian Labradoodle cannot have a “hair” type coat. It must be wool or fleece. There are harsh “downgrading” penalties for a dog that does not meet these strict standards.
Neither the American Kennel Club, the UK Kennel Club, or the Canadian Kennel Club recognizes the Australian Labradoodle as a “breed” as such, therefore, there will be no officially defined breed standards and the Australian Labradoodle will not be permitted to “show”.
However, the Labradoodle Association of Australia and the International Australian Labradoodle Association Inc. both recognize this dog as an official breed and are working hard with breeders around the world to produce a predictable breed standard in order to eventually classify the Australian Labradoodle as an official pure breed that is recognized around the world, hence the very strict rules that apply to grading and registering.
It is hoped that one day the Australian Labradoodle will be a recognized pure breed dog with its own breed standards that are recognized internationally with the UK Kennel Club, the American Kennel Club, and the Canadian Kennel Club.
Associations That Specialize in the Australian Labradoodle
The Australian Labradoodle Association of Australia has a strong ethos which is essential to protect the Australian Labradoodle breed-line and promote and maintain the current robust health of the breed. They also have a list of accredited breeders and lists of available genuine puppies.
The Australian Labradoodle Association of America is committed to the education of the breed to promote a strong breeders code. They have a member’s area where only recognized breeders can join.
The Worldwide Australian Labradoodle Association are dedicated to improving breeding practices and producing a structured breed standard. They are passionate about ethical breeding and to preserve the integrity of the breed, they run a database of all the DNA results of Australian Labradoodles on their register.
The Australian Labradoodle Association UK have strong rules regarding being a member of this association, mostly relating to ethics and values of breeding programmes. They require all members to adhere to strict breeding rules including the standard that the breeding dogs are kept to and the way in which new puppies are matched to their forever homes.
Generations Explained
Since the Australian Labradoodle has been bred for over 35 years, the generations tend to be numbered fairly high, thus many are just referred to as “Multigen” or “Multigenerational”.
Simple Doodle Cross Breed Generation Numbers Explained
Doodles can usually be numbered quite simply by counting and recording the family trees of the generations.
If you take a Labrador and cross it with a Poodle, the resulting puppies are classed as F1 – for “first generation”.
If you take an F1 and breed with another F1, you get a litter of F2 – or “second generation”.
If you take an F2 and breed with another F2 or higher, you will get an F3 – or “third generation”.
The generation number is one more than the lowest number of a parent. Therefore, an F2 bred with an F3 will result in a litter of F3 puppies (add one number to the lowest generation).
The “b” comes about by “backcrossing” or “back breeding” to one of the parent lines, so an F2 Labradoodle bred with a Poodle will result in a litter of F2b puppies.
Australian Labradoodle Generation Numbers – A Much More Complicated Business!
This is a little trickier to explain. Since the Australian Labradoodle has three or more lines of genetics, the generation numbers differ from normal Doodle generation numbers.
The official terminology used to specifically label generations of Australian Labradoodles is ALF. This stands for Australian Labradoodle Foundation.
Australian Labradoodle generation labeling does not follow the usual suit with the next number up from the lowest parent breed’s generation number. To breed a genuine Australian Labradoodle, you need to breed two dogs with the same generation number, and they must contain at least three of the approved parent breed lines to qualify as an Australian Labradoodle.
ALF1 x ALF1 = ALF2
ALF2 x ALF2 = ALF3
ALF3 x ALF3 = AL
If an ALF2 is bred with an ALF1, the resulting generation will be ALF1 (the number does not increase as one of the parent breeds was a generation lower than the other)
If an ALF3 is bred with an ALF2, the resulting generation will be ALF2 (the number is taken from the lowest parent breed)
When you get to the highest grading of “AL” these puppies are simply classed as multigenerational. This is the grade all breeders of Australian Labradoodles try to get to within their breeding career.
Back Breeding – Is it Called an ALF1b?
No. The rules are, again much trickier than with grading Doodle litters that have been back bred. If a back-bred litter is produced, using one of the approved parent breeds, then the litter generation number reverts to ALF1, regardless of the generation of the Australian Labradoodle used.
Back breeding is not often done (if is it done, it will be just using the Labrador, Poodle or Cocker Spaniel) as the Australian Labradoodle lineage has been painstakingly and carefully bred to achieve the highest and most predictable grade of puppies, which is the AL (higher than ALF3)
A back-bred litter will have a letter after the ALF1 number to indicate which parent breed it has been bred back to.
- ALF1l was back bred to a Labrador
- ALF1lo was back bred to a Labradoodle
- ALF1p was back bred to a Poodle
- ALF1c was bred back to a Cocker Spaniel
What is an ALF0?
This is used when an Australian Labradoodle displays a shedding coat. Regardless of if they came from parent breeds of both ALF3 or AL, if the coat is not wool or fleece, then the grading is immediately downgraded and reset to ALF0.
The offspring of an ALF0 will be ALF1 and the puppies will have to display the desirable coat in order to be bred and produce the sequential higher grading from their own puppies.
What is Hybrid Vigor?
Hybrid Vigor is a term used when improving the overall health, look, longevity and predictability of a breed that is superior to any of the parent breeds. This is when a healthy, dominant gene is favored over a less healthy gene, with the aim to completely eliminate any negative gene.
The Australian Labradoodle is the epitome of Hybrid Vigor due to the strict rules that apply to the breeding and grading of litters. As each grading increases, so does the hybrid vigor which in turn, naturally improves the breed in terms of coat, look, health, temperament, longevity, and predictability.
Helpful Links
We have another fabulous article on Australian Labradoodles and how they are graded called the Australian Labradoodle grading scheme.
Australian Labradoodles and Aussiedoodles are not the same! Have a look at our Aussiedoodle breed guide to learn all about who they are and where they come from.
We have also produced an in-depth guide to compare the Aussiedoodle with the Australian Labradoodle. They are often confused as the same cross. By reading our guide, Aussiedoodle vs Australian Labradoodle you can learn the direct differences between the two breeds.
