Movement

First impression should be of a dog whose feet seem to hardly touch the ground. Light, lithe, graceful, athletic. When trotting, should have the appearance of ‘going somewhere’ with energy and effortless drive and purpose. Looking like they are dancing. When galloping, they should appear to float almost above the ground. Light and airy, flowing and free moving with a complete absence of apparent effort. Slight one tracking is acceptable. Moving to and from should be straight and true.

Body

Height to length ratio should be as ten is to twelve, being slightly longer in leg than deep in body, but still looking compact. Level top line, strong over loins and slightly sloping croup and with sloping shoulders flowing into firm elbows and front legs straight to the ground. Straight upright shoulders are a fault as are straight stifles.  Stifles should have medium  angulation and be long, with short strong hocks parallel and straight to the ground. Cow hocks are a fault as are toes turning either inwards or outwards. They are a galloping dog, so flanks should rise to a medium tuck up, from a deep brisket and well sprung but not barreled ribs.

Head

Moderately broad with well-defined eyebrows. Stop should be moderate with eyes set well apart. The head should be of moderate width; developed but without exaggeration. length from nose to eyes should be slightly longer than length from eyes to ocuput. . The head should be clean-cut and free from fleshy cheeks. The whole head must be in proportion to the size of the dog.
Skull should be slightly rounded but not domed. Forehead medium breadth, muzzle not snipey, but should have depth and breadth. Weak underjaw is a fault. The head should flow naturally into a strong slightly curved and muscular neck and not appear to be ‘stuck on’. Long narrow or 'Poodley' head is a fault.

Ears

Set slightly above eye level and should lay flat against head in proportion with the skull. Leather should be of medium thickness, and leather should not hang below the lower lip line.  Well furnished, with fringing beyond the tip of the ear leather. Excessive hair in the ear canal is highly undesirable

Eyes

Eye colors can be darkest brown, a transparent honey color, or shades of hazel. Protruding eyes, sunken or watery eyes are a fault. (note that puppies may sometimes have tear stained eyes during teething).

A feature of the eyes is their very long eyelashes.

Nose

 Large square and fleshy in appearance.

Brown dogs (Chocolate or Cafe ) must have 'rose' or liver colored noses
Black or Silver dogs must have black noses
Caramel and Caramel Cream dogs must have 'rose' or liver colored noses
Cream or Chalk dogs may have Black,
Blue dogs should have bluish black noses
Gold or Red dogs should have black noses

Teeth

Must be a scissor bite. Upper teeth to just overlap the bottom teeth.

Undershot mouths (where the lower teeth extend beyond the upper teeth) are a fault. Overshot mouths (where the upper teeth extend beyond the lower teeth) are a fault. Crowded teeth in the adult dog are a fault  especially in Miniatures.

Tail

The tail should follow the topline in repose or when in motion. It may be carried gaily, but should not curl completely over the back. Tip of tail should not touch the back nor curl upon itself.

Feet

Front dewclaws may be removed  or left on. Australian  Labradoodle do not have hind dewclaws

Black Pigment

Rose Pigment

Pigment

There are two colors of pigment in the Australian Labradoodle.

Raven, Blue, Silver, Red, Gold and Sable must have Black pigment. Predominately dark dogs must have black pigment, ie: Black and White Pied, Black, silver or blue Phantom, Agouti, Sable.

All Shades of brown, and all shades of Caramel must have rose [Liver] Pigment.

Rose [also called Liver] pigment should not be confused with weak pigment.  It must always be accompanied by translucent eyes with rosy liver rims.

Over the years the changes have been both exiting and bemusing, In the early days before other selected breeds were showing there influence we had basically only two coat types, "Wooly and Scruffy/hair coat"  then more and more "In-between" coats started to consistently emerge as the genes started to mutate. Not giving it much forward thought I started to call them "Borderline" coats as they were on the borderline of either Wooly or hair, I loved them and put all my passion into seeing if I could consistently reproduce it and before long everyone knew the coats to be wool, Borderline or wavy/flat coat [I also affectionately called them "dud" coat] These descriptions started to stick as the Labradoodle became known and bred around the world, Something had to be done about it :-) At the time I had several Angora Fleeces and the dogs loved to snooze on them while in the house some times it was hard to distinguish where the dogs coat and the fleece stopped and started and the name FLEECE was born, I put the idea up on my old  original web site labradoodle.com for public opinion and other suggestions of what to name the borderline coat, almost unanimously fleece was loved as it so beautifully describes the wonderful qualities of the Australian Labradoodle coat.

Our Goal now is to stabilize the Wavy Fleece coat so that it will become completely shed free, but for now there is still a slight chance they will shed, most can be identified at a young age but sometimes they will surprise us with an ever so slight coat loss at maturity. To date very few  allergy suffers have had a problem with the slight shedding but our goal is to be 100% shed free.

Then it was time to work on the Wool coat, I felt that the dense interwoven springy curl was way to difficult to maintain and when clipped looked and felt no different to a Poodle coat. The Australian Labradoodle could be so much better [I hoped] My hopes are coming into fruition as each generation is producing a superb coat that is not like the traditional wool yet has a wooly texture with the luxuriant feel of the fleece, So what to call this new coat? well for now I call it a Spiral wool as the "staple" is clearly defined and crinkly but hangs downward in the direction of growth [opposite to a "sprung" wool] It is still dense but much improved.

Step two is to reduce the density without loosing the gorgeous spiral If I can achieve this last goal, I hope the ASD Labradoodle will be known and recognized as either a "Wavy Fleece"  [Soft curls and swirls with less staple definition yet still clearly defined] and Spiral Fleece, slightly thicker [due to the crinkle affect] soft and free flowing like the wavy fleece with the ease of maintenance of the wavy fleece. If and when I achieve this both coats will be equally allergy friendly but for now only the wool coat is consistently reliable for allergy sufferers.

 Note 2007.  The ASD Australian Labradoodle has progressed well  beyond the coat variations found in many other Labradoodles.  Fleece coats may be either spiral curly or wavy, but hair coats combination coats or shedding coats are now extremely rare.

Colors

*Caramel Cream are all shades of  cream to pale gold with a Rose Nose. Until 2007 these dogs had no distinguishing name of there own.

*Caramel Ice is a Chalk coat with Rose [Liver] Pigment Until 2007 these dogs had no distinguishing name of there own.

* Gold is also called Apricot by some breeders.

There are 3 groups of colors that belong to the Australian Labradoodle.

SHADED: is the the group that have a blend of tones to make the color you see. Silver, Apricot Cream, Cafe` , Lavender, Gold , Parchment, Phantom, Agouti and Sable are included in this group.

SOLID: is the group that are an even solid color all over. [sun bleaching is not penalized not grouped into the Shaded section] Raven [Black] Chocolate,  Caramel Ice, Chalk, Red are included in this group.

PARTY:  is the group that have white on the face and or body, Pied - Patches of any above color and patches of white over the whole body. Parti- is a shaded or solid dog with white markings on the face, feet and chest, or just on the face or just on the face and feet.

Chocolate : Colour is solid and preferably even, Ideally with no white markings. A small white flash no larger than 2.5cm in diameter can appear on the chest,  is permissible. Even colours are preferred from light and sun should  not be penalized. Pigment (nose, eye & mouth rims and foot pads) must be rose  [liver ]colored.  Eye colour to be medium to dark.    This color belongs to the Solid group. Belongs to the Rare color group.

Cafe` : Born light chocolate it will Pale to silvery milk chocolate, with individual fibers of silver and multi shades of chocolate by 2 years of age. Ears, feet, tail and face will have darker shading. A small white flash no larger than 2.5cm in diameter can appear on the chest,  is permissible.  natural coloration from light and sun should  not be penalized. Pigment (nose, eye & mouth rims and foot pads) must be rose  [liver ]colored.  Eye to be Hazel with green tone [Ghost] to medium brown.  This color belongs to the Shaded group.

Silver: Born Black and lightening to maturity at 3-4 years of age, Can be a blue multi toned silver or colour to a pale pewter. must have black pigment and dark eyes.   This color belongs to the Shaded group.

Gold: Similar in tone to a ripe apricot or slightly lighter. A small white flash no larger than 2.5cm in diameter can appear on the chest,  is permissible. Pigment to be Black, Eyes to be medium to dark.  This color belongs to the Shaded group.

Cream:  range through a variety of shades, from a rich butter to a pale pastry. A small white flash no larger than 2.5cm in diameter can appear on the chest,  is permissible.  Pigment is Black and eyes are shades of Hazel to brown. This color belongs to the Shaded group.

Caramel Cream: range through a variety of shades, from a rich butter to a pale pastry. A small white flash no larger than 2.5cm in diameter can appear on the chest,  is permissible.  Pigment is Rose and eyes are Clear Hazel with green tone [Ghost] to medium Hazel. This color belongs to the Shaded group.

RAVEN [Black] : Colour is solid and even, Ideally with no white markings. A small white flash no larger than 2.5cm in diameter can appear on the chest is permissible. must have black pigment Body skin is grey. Eyes dark. his color belongs to the Solid group.

RED: A deep even mahogany gold, a Red will have a slight tan tone. A small white flash no larger than 2.5cm in diameter can appear on the chest,  is permissible. must have black pigment and dark eyes. his color belongs to the Solid group. Belongs to the Rare color group.

Caramel: A deep even mahogany gold, a Red will have a slight tan tone. A small white flash no larger than 2.5cm in diameter can appear on the chest,  is permissible. must have Rose pigment, Eyes Clear Hazel with green tone [Ghost] to medium Hazel.. his color belongs to the Solid group. Belongs to the Rare color group.

Chalk: Evan over the entire body a milky white to glacier white. must have black pigment and dark eyes. his color belongs to the Solid group.

Caramel Ice: Evan over the entire body a milky white to glacier white. must have Rose pigment, eyes Clear Hazel with green tone [Ghost] to medium Hazel. his color belongs to the Solid group.

Lavender: Born pale Chocolate lightens to a Pale silvery milk chocolate with a very distinct iridescent mauve tone, Individually coloured fibers are absent. Ears, feet, tail and face may have slightly darker shading. A small white flash no larger than 2.5cm in diameter can appear on the chest,  is permissible.  natural coloration from light and sun should  not be penalized. Pigment must be rose colored.  Eye to be Hazel with green tone [Ghost] to medium brown.  This color belongs to the Shaded group. Belongs to the Rare color group.

Parchment: Born pale chocolate and lightens rapidly. By 12 months it is creamy with a distinct chocolate tone. Individually coloured fibers are absent, Ears, feet, tail and face slightly darker shading permissible as a puppy but must be absent as an adult. A small white flash no larger than 2.5cm in diameter can appear on the chest,  is permissible. Pigment must be rose colored.  Eye to be Hazel with green tone [Ghost] to medium brown. This color belongs to the Shaded group. Belongs to the Rare color group.

Blue: Born looking Black are distinguished from the black by there unmistakably violet skin. During Spring and Autumn will ideally show a violet hue over the entire body lightening them by several degrees.  Pigment Black with a violet tone, Eyes Dark brown. his color belongs to the Solid group. Belongs to the Rare color group.

Agouti: Should have an even and equal distribution of the colours with layering of black fibers in regions of lighter colours (usually, /gold/red, ) producing a tiger-striped pattern. This color belongs to the Parti group. Belongs to the Rare color group.

Phantom: The body colour must be a solid dark colour with defined markings of a second lighter colour or combination of 2 colours mixed together [Not White or Chalk] [Usually gold, red, cream or silver or a combination of two.] as follows: above each eye,  on the cheek, on the throat to chest, or in a chin and chest pattern,  on the feet and up the legs, and under the tail. The Second colour is permissible on the inside of the leg ,flank and chest/tummy, on the sides of the muzzle, on the underside of the ears, and should not be penalized. Markings are preferred to be clear and defined. Face markings of the second colour with the entire face coloured is highly undesirable. if the other required body markings are present. Any of the solid colours combination is acceptable excluding Chalk. Pigment and eye colour to be that of its clear colour counterpart. This color belongs to the Parti group.

Sable: Chocolate, Gold, Raven or Red with rust or black ticking evenly throughout the body, Slightly darker ears acceptable. A small white flash no larger than 2.5cm in diameter can appear on the chest is permissible. Pigment and eye colour to be that of its clear colour counterpart. This color belongs to the Parti group. Belongs to the Rare color group.

Pied: Any colour with white patching.  White not to exceed 50% of the body. Freckling or white over the eye area is highly undesirable. No set pattern is required but symmetrical markings are highly desirable. Pigment and eye colour to be that of its clear colour counterpart. This color belongs to the Parti group.

Parti: Any colour above excluding colours from the parti group. with white star, Blaze, or bridge on the face and white on the feet, chest and under carriage. White on the face only is acceptable. Pigment and eye colour to be that of its clear colour counterpart. This color belongs to the Parti group.

Over or undershot or pincer mouth, Crowding teeth, Colour, albinism is a disqualification, Over or under sized is a major fault