Labradoodle review: Addison's, Cushings & hip dysplasia 16

Shu Shu...I am so sorry you have had medical problems with your dogs. There is no genetic marker or scientific proof linking Addisons as a genetic disease. Addisons is bad in poodles & labs, as well as many other breeds. There is also no test that breeders can do on their breeding dogs to see if they are carriers. Many dogs are carriers, there is no way to know till symptoms start showing. We can only go by client feedback & take that into consideration for future breedings. I test all my breeding dogs for HD before they are used for breeding. Even though we test, that is no gaurentee the puppies will not have HD. It just prevents us from using dogs that have HD. Again, this is were client feedback is needed. I have not dealt with cushings disease but, know there is alot of cases in dogs as well as humans. I very rarely have complaints with my puppies. All breeders are at the mercy of Mother Nature and we can not control her. I try to do my best to produce only healthy puppies. Anybody that knows me, knows how much I care about my breeding program. I put alot of hardwork & care into it. I am not in the business to make money. I do not just carelessly throw any male & female together with out thought. My goal is to produce happy, healthy puppies for families to enjoy. All my dogs/puppies are very well cared for. I have many professionals that will back me up on my breeding program. Again, I am sorry your dogs are not perfectly healthy dogs. It was not done out of being irresponsible. We do take precautions to help assist us in trying to produce healthy puppies. Not all puppies kept or purchased for our breeding program go on to be used for breeding. This is why they are not bred till 2 yrs old. So, we can evaluate them. Females are retired at age 5 and placed in loving pet homes. If you have time, I would love for you to contact me with the names of your dogs parents. This way I can make note of it.

I also have questions about this breeder. First of all, Addisons disease is more prevalent in Standard Poodles. Just check out the info about this disease and poodles. Yes, you can test for it, but it only shows a dog is clear at the time of testing. That is why it is so important to know the pedigree of the poodle so that this disease can be traced back and the dog not bred. Labs do not have this disease nearly as much as poodles. With that being said, I have my doubts about the care of the breeder dogs. When asked to see the mother, Tina went to the kennel and brought out a scared, dirty, matted dog. If she really cares about her dogs and pups, she could have clipped the ###, knowing that she did not have time to properly care for her. I purchased my 2nd doodle from a lady who had the mother in full, excellent coat. I would not buy from this breeder again! Personally I feel she 'over breeds' the poodle by breeding a F1b doodle back to a poodle. Where is the LAB...there is too much poodle in her ?doodles?

Hi Ree, I am sorry you feel that I do not care for or care about my dogs. This could not be farther from the truth. I work closely with my vet. If any health issues arise I consult my vets about the best way to fix it & how to prevent in the future. My vets feel that my percentage of health issues is 5%. One vet works out of a clinic & my other vet is a mobile vet. My mobile vet comes here to give health checks & rabies vaccinations so, he sees all my dogs on a regular basis. All my dogs are given health checks twice a year. All puppies are given a health check before they leave. My kennel is also inspected twice a year & my inspectors always find everything in satisfactory condition. I am not sure when you were at my place but, I did go thru a short time when I had to much on my plate & maybe all the dogs were not groomed perfectly. At no time was their health or well being affected. Changes were made & my life back on schedule. As any one who truly knows me knows, my dogs care/schedule comes first. As you research the many labradoodle breeders you find, each breeder uses different combinations to achieve their goal. Each breeder does what works for them & their clients. I do not agree with the breeders that add cocker spaniel & cockapoo into their pedigrees & then charge big bucks ($2000 plus) for them & not disclose it in the pedigree. But to me that is their business & that is why we have chocolate & vanilla. I know only lab & poodle are in my pedigrees. I am very honest & upfront. If you did not like my breeding program, I question why you bought a puppy from me. I have many people call & say they talked with this breeder & that breeder But, had a gut feeling that something was not right. I always tell people if your gut feeling says do not buy from that breeder or you do not like their breeding program, do not buy a puppy from them. I am a very down to earth person doing a job I love on a daily basis. The most joy I get is when I see one of my puppies placed as a service dog or a working therapy dog.I have been working hard creating a good service dog line. Again, I am sorry that you are not happy with me as a breeder. There was no mention about the puppy you purchased. I do hope your puppy is bringing you joy & staying healthy.

Ree..I went back thru my records & found that you purchased your puppy in May 2007. My parents retired in Jan of 2007 & that is when I started doing the dogs. My husband & I moved in Jan 2007 & my parents were here till April 2007. Raindancer (your puppy's dam) was not a scared dog nor, was she matted. Yes, my adults live in a kennel & therefore may not have been as clean smelling or clean as a house kept dog. They are by no means filthy dirty. My doodles go to a groomer to be groomed. I have a wonderful salon just 3 miles from my home. I even had a groomer from a vet's office coming to my place to groom on weekends until he was diagnosed with cancer & could no longer come. Our breeding program has changed a lot in the last 6 1/2 years. All of our breedings are multigeneration. In 2007 we were still working on the coats so we would be able to do multigeneration breedings with consistant good quality coats.

We also got our labradoodle from Bad Company Kennels from a litter born 2 August 2005. At age 2 she developed Addison's. The kennel's vet, Dr. Patrick Maizels denied that it was even possible that our dog had Addison's, but the vet who diagnosed her, Dr. Mullen of Hickory Veterinary Hospital, ran the test twice and is convinced that she has the disease. She has been treated for it for 7 years. Now she is dying of chronic kidney disease, which our vet believes is also hereditary. I have just gone over the papers from our purchase and discovered that the dam named on our initial contract, Frieda, is different from the dam named on the Interstate Health Certificate issued by the breeder, Kits Henry Forever Friends. This may or may not be significant, but it does make me wonder about how conscientious the breeder was, especially given how adamant the breeder's vet, Dr. Maizels was in denying the diagnosis. At the time, though he had been our vet, he refused to even talk to Dr. Mullen, and his assistant stopped answering our phone calls. Chica has been a wonderful dog, but I would NOT recommend this kennel. John Low Darlington MD

Since posting the complaint dated 22 September 2014, I have had a detailed conversation with the owner and operator of Bad Company Kennels, Tina Rineer. The issue of the dam's name was my mistake. I didn't realize that both the call name and registration name of the dog had been used interchangeably on the paperwork I received. Ms Rineer assures me that the dog that may have passed along the Addison's disease has long since been removed from her breeding program. (When we bought the dog the kennel was owned and operated by her parents, who have since retired.) In my comments, I should have said that our dog's kidney failure MAY have a genetic cause. I want to repeat that I told the kennel's vet, Dr. Patrick Maizels, that our dog had been diagnosed with Addison's disease. Given his defensive and adamant denials at the time, he may not have passed that diagnosis on to the owners of the kennel, which apparently was in an ownership transition. John Low Darlington MD

I was able to find contact info for the above poster (John Low). I gave him a call & had a very nice conversation with him. Explained that the 2 different dog names he was seeing was the same dog. The health certificates have the name that we call the dog & the contract has their registered name on it. The Addison's issue was never reported to me & I never knew how Dr. Maizels treated them. Dr. Maizels was their vet at the time but, was on vacation when their dog showed symptoms & therefore they had to take her to another vet. We talked about addisons in which John had done a lot of research on it. He understood that we can not test a breeding pair to see if they are carriers. All we can do as a breeder is make note of addison cases so, we can hopefully stay clear of it in the future. When I took over the breeding program from my Mom in 2007, I could see an addison issue. I immediately took steps to eliminate it from our breeding program. John's dog is now 9 yrs old & just very recently diagnosed with kidney disease. Their vet can not say if it is genetic or environmental. There are many factors that are involved with kidney disease. John was mostly upset with the way Dr. Maizels handled the situation. He was very happy with Chica's temperament & build. I am glad John was willing to talk to me so that we could both have a better understanding of each other. Thank You John! It is not my intent to produce unhealthy puppies & I do take steps to help guide me in making sound breeding decisions. Unfortunately, you can not test for everything. It's how you use the info from an unhealthy pup, that makes you a good breeder or a bad breeder. My Mom had to sort out a lot of health issues with the poodles when she first started breeding labradoodles. Breeders are not perfect & we are not manufacturing puppies like you do cars, furniture, ect. I myself take this breeding program very seriously & only want to put a healthy puppy into each & every family. When I place my retired dogs into pet homes, vets always comment on how well taken care of they are & the wonderful paperwork I send along with them.

John Low did try to post a new comment after our phone conversation but, it was not posted. I have had three dog professionals and some clients try to post positive comments but, they do not get posted. If you would like references please feel free to contact me and I would be more than happy to provide you with them.

I have two of Bad Company's Labradoodles... if I could talk my husband into #3 I would also get this one from Bad Company. My dogs are now 4 and 6 years ole and they are the best dogs! Beautiful, intelligent and well-behaved! I did a lot of research before we got our first, after speaking to Tina, I knew she was the breeder for us. Then we were looking for a second and Tina had none available, someone returned a pup. Tina called us right away and explained how this person had just lost a dog, quickly purchased another and then decided it was too soon. We drove right out and picked him up. I can say both of my dogs are perfect! Tina thank you for our house is filled with love, laughter and plenty of belly rubs!

We have a doodle from bad company who is now 6. Pungo is the best dog we have ever had. It has been a long time since we were in Pa to pick up, our dog but I remember a clean environment and a lovely breeder. It has been a great experience since day 1. We will definitely return for our next dog.

Our boy is from BC's Nov. 12, 2007 litter and he was diagnosed with Addison's two months ago. It was scary to learn at first, and when I saw this on this site, I wanted to jump in angry. But truth be told, I love my boy with all my heart, and his medication has made a night and day difference. I only wish I'd known his diagnosis sooner so I would have stopped calling him such an "old soul", as he has such playfulness to him now. As Tina mentioned earlier, she stopped the Addison's in her breeding (which was unknown to her), so it seems like she did what she could. I still am thankful for my BC labradoodle.

Kristen S.
Anchorage, AK

We have THE best mini labradoodle in the world - sweet fun excellent watch dog - she is 7 and I would definitely get another puppy