Multigen Goldendoodle: Pictures, History & Facts

A cross between poodles and Golden Retrievers, Goldendoodles are a designer dog breed that’s gained popularity due to their endearing personalities and characteristics. You may also have heard of multigen Goldendoodles and wondered what these are and if they’d make a suitable family pet.

Multigen, or multigenerational Goldendoodles, result from breeding two Goldendoodles beyond the second generation. If a Goldendoodle’s bloodline contains any purebred Golden Retriever or poodle in the last two generations, it’s not a multigen breed.

Keep reading to learn more about the multigen Goldendoodle, including facts and frequently asked questions, so you can decide if it’s the right breed for you.

Breed Overview

Multigen Goldendoodles feature the optimal characteristics of its parents. That includes a friendly temperament, high activity levels, and reduced shedding levels, which means it’s a fairly hypoallergenic breed.

While the Golden Retriever parent possesses an eager-to-please attitude and a laid-back disposition, the poodle parent tends to be excitable and high-strung. As such multigen Goldendoodles are relaxed and easygoing when the generation gravitates towards their retrievers, but then their low shedding capabilities are reduced.

Multigen Goldendoodle Breed Characteristics

The Earliest Records of Multigen Goldendoodles in History

Goldendoodles emerged in Australia in the 1990s. Later the hybrid spread globally among enthusiast associations in the US and Europe before further generations emerged.

Several variants of Goldendoodles, including smaller dogs such as the mini Goldendoodle were bred and retained for future breeding. The first litter of F1b Goldendoodles from crossing two hybrids came around 2002 at Amy Lanes’ Berkeley Springs Fox Creek Farm in West Virginia.

Amy Lane is reputed to have created the only kennel club for Goldendoodles in America, the Goldendoodle Association of North America. Besides providing a registration service that documents Goldendoodle lineage, this organization also guides the development of breeding techniques and practices.

How Multigen Goldendoodles Gained Popularity

Multigen Goldendoodles are outgoing and affectionate with wonderful personalities that give them preference among pet owners. They perfectly balance the poodle’s unmatched intelligence and the Golden Retriever’s friendly, eager-to-please nature.

Besides temperamental traits and behavioral characteristics, multigen Goldendoodles have gained popularity given their healthier streak compared to first and second-generation hybrids. When bred carefully and ethically, they are even free from congenital disorders.

They either inherit curly, straight, or wavy coats that are largely hypoallergenic, which makes them quite agreeable with people with allergies.

Like other Goldendoodles, multigen variants also come in several sizes, depending on the preceding bloodline. These include dogs of a standard, medium, or mini and toy size, which means there’s a dog for everyone in this designer breed.

Formal Recognition of Multigen Goldendoodles

The multigen Goldendoodle is considered a pseudo breed, and is not recognized by the American Kennel Club, AKC, or the kennel clubs of Britain.

Without a set standard for multigen Goldendoodle breeding, breeders can’t define the genetics that results in these dogs. However, despite being the product of two breeds in one where unexpected outcomes and variations may occur, the terms used for the generations are universal.

The 4 Unique Facts about Multigen Goldendoodles

1. Multigen Goldendoodles Are a Recent Designer Breed

There’s talk that Charles Dickens’ granddaughter, Monica Dickens, was the first to breed a poodle with a Golden Retriever in 1969. However, while unsubstantiated, the hybrid never caught on and didn’t become popular until 1989.

That’s when Royal Guide Dog Association of Australia breeder Wally Conron officially bred Goldendoodles before they would appear in the US by the mid-1990s.

Multigen Goldendoodles appeared on the scene as late as 2002 when Amy Lane crossed two hybrids to result in a third-generation litter.

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2. Multigen Goldendoodles Love Water

Since their great-great-grandparents are water-loving dogs, multigen Goldendoodles will often retain the love for water-based activities. They enjoy swimming, splashing around, playing in the water, or working as gun dogs, although you’ll rarely find hunters utilizing these generations in such endeavors.

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3. They Can Have a Wide Array of Coat Colors

While Goldendoodles as a breed inherit the coat colors of their parents, multigen hybrids possess a more comprehensive array of mixes depending on their heritage. You’ll find these dogs with coats of multiple colorations including apricot, cream or beige, red, brown, gray, and black.

Multigen Goldendoodles also take it a step further since they’re removed from the light, dark or golden colors of retrievers or the solid shades as seen on poodles. You’ll also find these hybrids in coat combinations of tuxedo, merle, brindle, and phantom.

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4. Multigen Goldendoodles Are Expensive

The price of a Goldendoodle will vary depending on demand, location, DNA testing, coat type, or the quality of their parents. However, you can expect to pay between $2,000 and $3,500 for a well-bred puppy if you’re purchasing from a reputable breeder.

The size of the multigen Goldendoodle also impacts prices, as while a standard may cost something like $2,300, a miniature or petite hybrid will set you back between $3,400 and $5,095.

Does a Multigen Goldendoodle Make a Good Pet?

For many pet parents and their households, multigen Goldendoodles’ friendly temperament and loving nature is sufficient to make them suitable dogs. But it all hinges on what percentage of genetic inheritance the hybrid has from its poodle ancestry since this gives it some traits that are challenging to manage.

Regarding temperament, many multigen Goldendoodles have a higher prevalence of their Golden Retriever ancestry. For owners concerned with behavioral characteristics, this means they more closely resemble retrievers than poodles.

The multigen Goldendoodle’s minimally shedding coat makes it ideal for owners with fur allergies. That means you’re working with the breeder to ensure sufficient genetic dominance of the poodle’s hypoallergenic coat to produce a similarly endowed puppy.

Conclusion

Goldendoodles generally have an outgoing personality, active lifestyle, and friendly temperament, but their hybrid vigor and coat type vary. However, multigen Goldendoodles offer the choice between the minimally-shedding coat of a poodle against the happy-go-lucky disposition of a Golden Retriever.

You can focus on breeding non-shedding qualities in your multigen Goldendoodle by backcrossing if you’re seeking an allergy-friendly coat. It’s easy to find a breeder with all the advantageous traits of this designer breed to suit precisely what you’re looking for in a lifetime companion.

See also:

• Sheepadoodle vs Goldendoodle: The Differences (with Pictures)
• F1 vs. F2 Goldendoodle: The Key Differences (with Pictures)

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Featured Image Credit: Matthew Yoder, Shutterstock