Sunshine Acres specializes in hybrid crosses of Golden Retriever and Poodle, often called the Goldendoodle.  There are so many breeding programs for doodles today that it can be confusing to the newcomer that is trying to educate themselves on what F1, F1B, F3, etc might mean.  Most geneticists agree that hybrid vigor or heterosis occurs in the offspring of two genetically different parents of the same genus.  When Gregory Mendel discovered this with peas, a Latin term for generation was created called F for filial (generation = filial).  Thus, we get the term F1 which stands for a first generation cross between two different breeds of dog.

Many years later, mid 1900’s, corn geneticists discovered other types of first generation crosses that improved over the single crosses of hybrids of the day (only using two different parent lines).  This 3 way cross, otherwise termed F1 Type 3, was found to improve the genetic performance of the corn lines.  The corn geneticists would use a hybrid and cross it to another unlike parent line.  This improved disease resistance, increased yields, and improved drought tolerance.  However, these same geneticists will also tell you that you must start with at least one line with a desirable characteristic to achieve improvement.  For example, one corn line must have higher yield performance to improve the offspring of a cross.  The more desirable traits that a parent line starts with and the fewer undesirable traits they do not posess, the greater the chance for a successful cross.  This advice is the same for dogs.

Sunshine Acres has adapted this knowledge to our program and have now included the Irish Setter as one of the parent lines.  This new type of hybrid is an F1 Type 3 and has a greater potential for better health and vigor than the traditional F1 (Golden x Poodle).  We have searched far and wide for our genetics to create a firm foundation in our breeding program.  Our Irish Goldendoodles puppies have a hybrid mother (Irish x Golden) and a purebred father (Poodle).  Other breeds could have been selected, but Sunshine Acres’ program is focused on devotion, intelligence, dark rich colors, silky, low to no shedding coats and high health in an attempt to have puppies who live long happy lives.

Since this cross was instituted in 2008, Sunshine Acres now differentiates the two different types of puppies we raise:

F1 Type 1 = Hybrid puppy from purebred parents (Golden and Poodle)

F1 Type 3 = Hybrid puppy from one hybrid parent (f1 Type 1) and one purebred parent (Poodle)