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What is a Bernedoodle?
Bernedoodles (BD) are a cross between a Bernese Mountain Dog (BMD) and a Poodle (Standard or Miniature Poodle). Bernedoodles can be a cross between a Bernese Mountain Dog (BMD) and an Australian Labradoodle (ALD) which is commonly being called an Australian Bernedoodles (ABD). This helps immediately identify lineage from Poodle or Labradoodle.
Kona is a F1b Bernedoodle (f1 Bernedoodle x Poodle)
Bernedoodles (BD) is a cross between a Bernese Mountain Dog (BMD) and a Poodle (Standard or Miniature Poodle). Bernedoodles can be a cross between a Bernese Mountain Dog (BMD) and an Australian Labradoodle (ALD) which is commonly being called an Australian Bernedoodles (ABD). This helps immediately identify lineage from Poodle or Labradoodle.
Maggie is a purebred
Bernese Mountain Dog
Australian Labradoodles have become quite an established breed. In the past decade and are easily recognized for their puppy look (if kept groomed properly). Desirable temperament traits are very similar to the Bernese Mountain Dog: affectionate, intelligent, easy to manage family companions. The Australian Labradoodle is a multi-generational Labradoodle different than just a standard cross between a Lab and a Poodle. These dogs have been bred to be non-shedding, of medium size, and ideally, have a wavy and easy to manage/groom coat. These dogs are now "breeding true", which means puppies are all very similar to each other and are similar to their parents. There is no Australian Shepherd in the mix.
Grits is a Australian Labradoodle- owned by Blue Nova Labradoodles
Why we use ALD's
Outcrossing a Bernese Mountain Dog to an Australian Labradoodle gets you an Australian Bernedoodle (ABD). Australian Bernedoodles are the main focus of the Sweet Pea Bernedoodle program. ALDs are bred to be stocky and square with heavier boning than Poodles. Because BMD are square stocky, heavy boned dogs they make a better physical match to an ALD. The ALD coats are wavy or straight (the ones that we use) which also gives us amazing low to non-shedding straight or wavy Australian Bernedoodle coats. Poodles have a very tight curl to their coat and this results in curlier coated Bernedoodles and a wider variety of coat-types in the litter.
Doodle Generations
The doodle lingo can be very confusing because there are all kinds of "generations" of doodles and various crosses that include more than one kind of cross. Generally speaking, most breeders of Bernedoodles are referred to as "early gen" breeders, this means that they don't often go too far past F2 breedings.
Sweet Pea Bernedoodles focuses on HEALTH and TEMPERAMENT for wonderful, stable, trainable family pets... then we consider colors and coat-type.
A common question I receive is: Do Multigens/higher generations have more health issues than an F1? Does one breed have more health issues than the other?
We are currently working towards producing primarily Multigen litters here at Sweet Pea. To put it simply, puppies are only as healthy as their parents, no matter the generation, no matter the breed! A Multigen, F1B, F2B, etc. will not have any more health issues than an F1 simply because of their generation. Issues can arise in any puppy if their parents come from poor quality lines, have structural issues, or have not been screened for breed-specific diseases. A Multigen line in a relatively new breed still has so much gene diversity than your average purebred dog who may have had inbreeding or disease in their lines for hundreds of years. Any disease we are not able to test for is out of our control although we take each of our dog’s lineage and health into account before planning out our litters. Diseases known to commonly affect our breeds (which are screened for) would be Hip Dysplasia, Canine Degenerative Myelopathy (DM), Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA), Von Willebrand Disease (VWD), etc. Some diseases, like Hip Dysplasia, can be brought on by environmental factors rather than genetics.
Here's a quick breakdown of the Bernedoodle lingo you will find on this site (note: We no longer use purebred Poodles in our program. This is a personal preference and does not reflect anything wrong with Poodles themselves. We prefer a more diluted Poodle temperament and a blockier structure of a Poodle cross than that of a pure Poodle.)
Doodle - Doodle is a broad term used to identify a Poodle cross of some type. The Prefix will denote the heritage of that doodle (i.e. Golden Doodle - Golden Retriever/Poodle)
F1 - This denotes a cross between a Bernese Mountain Dog and an Australian labradoodle. The traditional"look" of the Bernese Mountain Dog (placement of the white) is dominant over the Poodle/Doodle color genetics. F1 litters constantly produce that traditional look (if you have the parents that will produce the colors you are looking for... that's a whole other complication!).
F1b- This denotes a cross back to an Australian labradoodle or a Bernese. This is generally done to a Doodle to improve coat quality but the result reduces the amount of Bernese in the dog. Resulting in roughly a 75% ALD to 25% Bernese.
F2 - This denotes breeding between two F1 dogs OR an F1 and an F1b. Knowing the heritage of the dog will tell you how much Bernese is in the breeding.
F2b- is the result of an F1 Doodle parent and an F1B Doodle parent.
Example: An F1 Bernedoodle x an F1B Bernedoodle would make an F2B Bernedoodle
Multigen - once you pass F2 (depending on whom you talk to) the dogs are considered Multigen.
Furnished - This is the "Doodle" look; puffy, fluffy everywhere!
Unfurnished - Some doodles will not have the traditional fluffy doodle coat if the cross carries an incomplete coat (IC), the same coat the Bernese has. Even F1bs can carry IC even though they are more doodle than Bernese. If I breed a litter that could be unfurnished I will test all the puppies for IC. This isn't something all breeders do so it is wise to ask if the puppies will be furnished.
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