Australian Cobberdogs are loving, loyal and highly intelligent dogs that descend from the original Labradoodles. They are ideally suited as therapy and assistance dogs and make great companions.
| Recommended for | Families, those requiring a therapy dog, medical alert dog or assistance dog |
| Breed Classification | Hybrid |
| Other names | The ‘Cobber’ (Australians always abbreviate names!) |
| Lifespan | 13-15 years |
| Size | Standard, medium & miniature |
| Temperament | Intelligent, sociable, loyal, intuitive, friendly |
| Intelligence | Very high |
| Tendency to bark | Low |
| Maintenance Level | Medium |
| Health Risk | This breed has a medium probability of having health issues in its lifetime, hence it is one of the more affordable breeds to insure. |
Breed history of Australian Cobberdogs
Australian Cobberdog is the name to define a pure breed ‘Labradoodle’ originating in Australia. In Australian slang, a cobber is a ‘mate’, and the name Cobberdog was chosen because it means ‘dog-friend’, referring to the breed’s primary purpose as a therapy and assistance dog.
In the late 1980’s, Wally Conron, at the time the breeding manager for the Royal Guide Dogs Association of Australia, received a request for a hypoallergenic guide dog for a blind woman whose husband was allergic to dogs. After trialling – and ruling out – Poodles, who have the right coats but the wrong temperament, he decided to cross a carefully selected Poodle with a working guide dog Labrador, and the first ‘Labradoodle’ litter was born.
After some initial media publicity brought the new crossbreed to the public’s attention, the demand for this new ‘designer dog’ skyrocketed way beyond Conran’s expectations and, much to his dismay, quickly became a victim of its own success. With no breeding standards or criteria, anyone could breed a Labradoodle by crossing any old Labrador with any old Poodle and sell the pups for a large sum, with no regard for their hereditary quality.
Unfortunately, the Labradoodle became an unpredictable breed with widely varying characteristics, even between puppies within the same litter. Their temperaments varied significantly, and many were not hypoallergenic. Poor breeding techniques have resulted in some significant health concerns, including hip dysplasia, eye disease, epilepsy and allergies.
For these reasons, some concerned breeders went back to the original origins and long-term vision for the Labradoodle to start again, this time with strict breeding regulations and registration criteria in place. A new name was required to distinguish it from the Labradoodle, and thus the Australian Cobberdog came into being.
The Australian Cobberdog is descended from the original, genetically sound strains of the Australian Labradoodle and was officially recognised as a pure breed in development in January 2012 by the Master Dog Breeders and Associates (MDBA) Global Pure Breed registry. Only registered MDBA breeders that guarantee a breeding programme that complies with the breed standard can issue the Australian Cobberdog pedigree.
According to the MDBA, the founders of the Australian Cobberdog made many hard decisions to ensure the health, predictability of temperament, characteristics and management requirements of their breed have been optimised. Breeders are required to genetically, rather than visually select, parent animals for their good health and consistent temperament, traits and characteristics, resulting in healthy and consistent puppies. The result of these stringent requirement is a healthy, identifiable and predictable breed of hypoallergenic dog that is reliably suited to service, therapy and assistance work – thereby continuing Wally Conran’s original mission.
Physical description of Australian Cobberdogs
The Cobber does not have a hair coat, but rather a fleecy or woolly coat that is soft and silky, odourless even when wet, non-shedding and allergy friendly. It may either be wavy or ringlet, with more defined curls. The coat doesn’t shed, and the skin doesn’t peel or flake, meaning that it doesn’t affect most people who usually have an allergy to dogs.
This fabulous coat comes in a variety of colours, including solid black, silver, coffee , blond, gold, silver, blue and red, colour combinations, such as Merle (chocolate and blue) and parti (a combination of any one of the solid colours with white), and shaded colours (various tones of the same colour).
The breed is available in 3 different sizes:
- Standard: height of 50 to 58 cm and weight of 20 to 35 kg
- Medium: height of 43 to 50 cm and weight of 12 to 20 kg
- Miniature: height of 33 to 43 cm and weight of 6 to 10 kg
| Weight range | 6 to 35 kg |
| Height range | 33 to 58 cm |
| Colours | A wide variety of colours and combinatons |
| Coat length | Medium |