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The guy originally bred them as a hypoallergenic guide dog, and then they exploded in popularity.

The article basically paints the picture that the original guy bred them the right way (I don’t see how), but since then a bunch of unscrupulous breeders and puppy mills have turned two smart, somewhat inherently well behaved, breeds: labs and poodles, to a breed that is more chaotic and dependent (again, I don’t see how that’s any different from what he did or what most dogs aee like).

The article isn’t exactly well written or researched. It mostly just quotes him and throws in a couple quotes from Kennel Associations and Facebook pages. Provides no information on where this fits in the wider context of dog breeding.

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can@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

The article basically paints the picture that the original guy bred them the right way (I don’t see how),

Speculation, but couldn’t he have selectively bred only the smartest, well behaved offspring, while breeders looking to make a quick buck might just breed make as many as possible without regard to temperament?

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- prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  “Backyard breeders” tend to breed for looks, so he “created” a great breed that happened to be fucking adorable and then people started targeting the adorable without as much care for the temperament.
  
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- masterspace@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  I mean possibly, the article describes him trying to train standard poodles as guide dogs for years without success, and then he crossed one of them with his boss’ lab.
  
  So maybe? But also, isn’t that what unscrupulous breeders are going to do anyways? Like I don’t see how this breed makes puppy mills better or worse, it seems like it would just change the breeds they target.
  
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