Gorgeous Gershwin, the only standard poodle in our breeding scheme, has recently found love and sired his third litter of puppies for Guide Dogs, who are due around Valentine’s Day.
He’s previously been unlucky in love, having only had two litters of puppies during his four-year career as a stud dog, but a litter due around the romantic holiday is set to improve his record. Bouffant-ed Gershwin has only had 18 puppies but his recent partner, guide dog mum Bella, is expecting in the region of 10-11 puppies any day now. This will be Labrador Bella’s second litter.
Ordinarily, guide dog dads average three litters a year, making Gershwin the most ‘unstudly’ stud dog in the Guide Dogs breeding programme. Loveable Gershwin’s less than impressive dating history is due to the small requirement for Labradoodles - only 2% of the working guide dog population are Labradoodles. By crossing the poodle with a Labrador, Guide Dogs aims to combine some of the benefits of a poodle, including their low-shedding coats, with the proven effectiveness of a Labrador guide dog.
Gershwin joined our breeding programme in 2020 from a guide dog school in Canada. Despite his slow start, Gershwin’s love life is looking up. He has recently received a promotion after the only other poodle in the breeding scheme retired. Now in top poodle position, Gershwin is set to sire several more litters than previous years.
Lucy, Gershwin’s Breeding Dog Volunteer, who has looked after Gershwin since the age of 18 months describes seeing him as “love at first sight”.
Lucy said: “Gershwin is very good looking, but I know I’m biased! He’s different to other dogs, in that he is unique. I’ve never met another dog like him.
“He won’t have a lot of mating opportunities as only so many labradoodles are produced each year. He’s very well looked after. He lives with me permanently and he has regular fertility tests, a prostate scan, an eye test and so on.
“I love being a Breeding Dog Volunteer. It’s a great way to have a dog because of all the excellent support you have. Hopefully Gershwin will have a long and successful future providing puppies to help people with sight loss.”
