Goldendoodles are a cross between Golden Retrievers and Poodles. Golden Retrievers have beautiful long coats, but they leave a sprinkling of hair everywhere they go. Poodles on the contrary have long curly very low shedding coats. If a breeder tells you poodles or goldendoodles don't shed, they are already not being honest with you. They do in fact shed, but they are very low shedding dogs, which is why some people refer to them as "non-shedding".
Why do some goldendoodles shed more, and some shed very little? It comes down to genetics. F1 Goldendoodles have more of a chance to shed as opposed to properly breed F1B Goldendoodles or even Multigen Goldendoodles. Why is this?
F1 Goldendoodle (low-to-moderate shedding): The F1 Goldendoodle is 50% Poodle and 50% Golden Retriever. With this generation, you are likely to experience low-to-moderate shedding along with potentially some level of seasonal shedding if your Goldendoodle has an undercoat.
F1B Goldendoodle (low shedding): An F1B Goldendoodle is the result of crossing an F1 Goldendoodle with a Poodle, which makes it 75% Poodle and 25% Golden Retriever. This generation is generally considered low shedding, as long as the breeder has paired dogs with the correct genetics together.
So how do genetics factor in? Many believe if the goldendoodle has a curly coat it will be low shedding, but that is not what genetics tell us. In fact very low shedding is associated with the RSPO2 furnishings gene. Furnishings are the cute fluffy mustache, beard, and eyebrows that you see in many Goldendoodles. In order to ensure that our puppies are very low shedding, we look at parent pup genetics and make sure we are breeding together parents that will produce puppies with strong furnishings so they will be very low shedding.
So does this make my dog hypoallergenic? To begin, for a dog to be considered hypoallergenic, it must be relatively unlikely to trigger an allergic reaction in someone. Dogs that are considered “hypoallergenic” generally have longer hair that sheds very little. This allows the dander (dead skin particles which many are allergic to) to stay embedded within the hair instead of being released into the air. This does not mean that a Goldendoodle is completely Hypoallergenic, but it means that it is much less likely to cause a flair up of allergies to pet dander. Additionally, most people with dog allergies are allergic to pet dander, but they also could have allergies to dog saliva or urine. If you are unsure as to which kind of allergy you have, it is best to get tested to make sure yours is from dander.
How to minimize pet dander allergies with my Goldendoodle? This is simple, bathe them regularly to wash off outdoor allergens, and keep their skin health.
More Brushing=Less Matting=Less Dander=Less Allergies!
Comments