The man responsible for breeding the first labrador-poodle cross has spoken of his deep regret at bringing a "Frankenstein's monster" into the world.
Wally Conron bred the dog back in 1988, when he was working for the Royal Guide Dog Association of Australia in Victoria.
The very first labradoodle was born of a labrador retriever and standard poodle and named Sultan.
At the time Wally hoped the new breed would combine the low-shedding coat of Poodle with the gentle, trainable nature of a Labrador, creating the perfect guide dog for the blind.
Sultan displayed all the qualities Conron was seeking and worked as a guide dog for a woman in Hawaii for ten years.
Later examples of the crossbreed would find themselves by the side of celebrities including actress Jennifer Aniston, model Elle Macpherson, chat-show host Graham Norton, and Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson
Two decades on and Wally, now 90, is vocal about how much he regrets his breeding ambitions.
"I opened a Pandora's box and released a Frankenstein’s monster," he said on an ABC podcast.
He spoke of how his quest to combine the useful qualities of two dogs for a functional purpose had been overtaken by "unethical, ruthless people" breeding dogs for fashion purposes.
Most labradoodles now are "crazy or have a hereditary problem", Wally said, with healthy examples a rariety.
He has long been a critic of the labradoodle and has spent a lot of time speaking out against his creation.
"Instead of breeding out the problems, they’re breeding them in," Wally told The Mail Online back in 2014.
"You can’t walk down the street without seeing a poodle cross of some sort. I just heard about someone who wanted to cross a poodle with a Rottweiler. How could anyone do that?
"Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine all of this would happen."
