Is the Labradoodle a mixed breed, cross breed, a hybrid, or what? The Labradoodle is a new breed. Humans began domesticating dogs thousands of years ago. Breeds emerged as dogs were selected for various traits, like the ability to guard and hunt. Like the many breeds that have emerged since, the Labradoodle also has a purpose: to provide an allergy friendly companion, especially to people with special needs.

A mainstay of livestock and plant production is crossbreeding. Unrelated breeds are crossed to produce an F1 or "first cross." This is done to take advantage of the fact that the cross between unrelated animals will have hybrid vigor and so will be healthier and grow better than either parent breed, and to use the complimentarity between breeds to overcome breed shortcomings.

First cross animals tend to be intermediate in type to parent breeds and tend to be similar to each other in appearance. Cross breeding is the obvious way to produce healthy dogs in a single generation and at the same time to combine characteristics of different breeds, as long as the parent breeds and individuals are chosen with care.