Welcome to Bydand!
We are a small hobby kennel in East Central Florida committed since 1973 to producing the healthiest, happiest puppies we possibly can.
And we are VERY excited to announce that our first two litters of Island Minidoodles
were both born on April 24th!
Be sure and check our "Puppies" page for photos and more information.
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OK, here's a question:
Why on earth would AKC show breeders with forty years of success in the world of purebred dogs - with dozens of champions, multiple Group winners, National Specialty winners, a Westminster winner and multiple top-producing sires and dams to their credit - suddenly up and decide to breed Minidoodles???
And here's the short answer:
Because it turns out it's really the ONLY way to reliably produce an intelligent, family-friendly, hypoallergenic low-shedding dog with the same robust immune system of the larger Doodles ... all in a smaller, more portable package.
It's that simple.
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If this could be accomplished through health-screening and rigid selective linebreeding, we'd continue to produce purebreds, which we're actually pretty good at.
But it can't.
All the new science points to one uncomfortable fact - in addition to closed stud books, the health-screening and rigid selection used by responsible breeders for decades is also in large part responsible for the increase in autoimmune diseases that now plague purebred dogs, because it further reduces genetic diversity in the DLA genes that regulate immune function.
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The science behind this is solid and growing daily. (If you're interested in reading more about the science behind the DLA genes and autoimmune disease in dogs, go to the Why Hybrids? page. )
But the important part is this:
We have always believed that it is a breeder's foremost responsibility to produce dogs that will not break their owners' hearts. If the only way to increase the genetic diversity in the DLA genes so that the dog's immune system can handle the environmental stresses of our modern world is by outcrossing to another breed, then that is simply what we, as responsible breeders, must do. Denying the science won't make it go away.
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And we are part of a small group of responsible breeders who have decided to do just that.
Using our combined experience and knowledge of canine anatomy, animal husbandry and genetics along with the genetic testing now available to us, we have decided to cross the Havana Silk (a non-AKC breed derived from the Havanese and Russian Bolonka and deliberately selected for a flat silky coat and lack of the dwarfism gene) with carefully selected Toy Poodles to create the Island Minidoodle.
How is the Isand Minidoodle different from the Havapoos advertised by backyard breeders on the internet? Good question.
To begin with, our breeding dogs come from generations of OFA-certified ancestors,
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all tested and clear of hip dysplasia, patellar luxation, cardiac disease, congenital deafness and ocular disorders. This is unlikely to be true in backyard-bred Havapoos.
And it does matter. Although often touted as such, hybrid vigor is NOT a panacea for all genetic probems in purebred dogs. Hip dysplasia, for example, is a disease found in many breeds, and OFA data shows crossing two such breeds will not automatically result in lower rates in the offspring.
In fact, one reason we chose the Toy Poodle for our cross is because their OFA stats reveal 94% Good or Excellent ratings- an improvement over Silks, where only 59% are rated OFA Good or Excellent. That's good animal husbandry.
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And as the Havana Silk looks very different from the Havanese (the Havana Silks vs Havanese page explains this), so will the puppies. In addition to its flat silky coat, the Silk was predicated upon selection away from dwarfism and its associated health issues. As this dwarfism is controlled by the dominant FGF4 mutation, half of the puppies out of a dwarf Havanese bitch could inherit the trait, even if the Poodle sire does not carry for it.
Aso, because our Silks have dangerously little genetic diversity, we analyzed dozens of Toy poodle pedigrees and only selected dogs with no common ancestors in 5 generations. Backyard breeders are unlikely to do this.
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And size matters.
Many people love Goldendoodles, but simply need a smaller dog.
Because F1 hybrids are typically 20% larger than the average size of the parents, we specifically selected 6 -7 pound poodles out of equally small parents to breed with our 10-12 pound Silks. This should keep the offspring in the "portable" size range we want.
Color?
Because it has been noted that breeds whose standards are limited in color have less genetic diversity than breeds whose standards are not, we decided to select deep red poodles to our cross, because it's not found in Silks.
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If all of this makes sense to you, you're welcome to look around our website, meet our dogs, and learn as much as you're interested in learning.
With vaccine sensitivity, autoimmune diseases and cancers on the rise, many of our pure breeds are inarguably in trouble. Six out of ten Golden Retrievers will die of cancer, many before the age of 7. Many more breeds are plagued by hypothyroidism, Cushing's, Addison's, hemolytic anemia and vaccine sensitivity.
Most of our breeds are over a hundred years old, and suffering from inbreeding depression. Many of the functions for which they were created no longer exist, and the very instincts for which they were originally created cause behavioral problems for the modern owner, often causing the dog to be rehomed.
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It's long past time to start creating some new breeds, by thoughtfully combining the ones we already have, with an eye toward what is required of a dog in today's world.
For the modern urban or suburban dog owner, compact size, a great temperament, easy trainability, lack of "yappiness", a hypoallergenic low-shedding coat and an immune system robust enough to withstand vaccination and flea and heartworm medication without adverse reactions are probably more important than the inclination to retrieve ducks, herd sheep or keep the rats out of the barn.
And because, unlike the other Doodles, the Island Minidoodle is created entirely from small hypoallergenic companion animals rather than "repurposed" working, hunting and herding breeds, he might just be that dog!
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