Sunshine Acres

Here at Sunshine Acres, we started raising the Goldendoodle, an F1 hybrid between a Golden Retriever and a Poodle in 2002.  We chose to raise a designer dog rather than a purebred, since a hybrid cross dog has a better chance of escaping genetic disorders than a purebred dog because it has the advantage of genetic diversity/hybrid vigor.   Hybridization is not a new concept as it has been used for centuries to make plants and animals healthier and increase their vigor.  In 2008, Michael’s experiences in his undergraduate work at Iowa State University as well as his interest in genetics led him to begin the search for a third breed to add into our Goldendoodle lines. 

Choosing the Irish Setter breed to add to our Goldendoodle was a logical choice, since one of the three founding breeds of the purebred Golden Retrievers was the Irish Setter.  Also, the Irish Setter breed has fewer inherent genetic defects than the Golden Retriever and Poodle breeds, so a puppy created from the combination of all three breeds is also at a reduced risk for genetic health challenges. Today, our Irish Goldendoodle puppies (F1 Type 3)  are genetically either ¼  Golden, ¼ Irish Setter and ½ poodle or 1/8 Irish Setter, 3/8 Golden Retriever and ½ poodle.   Either way, this higher health Doodle has an improved chance of a long, healthy life.

With over 10 years of experience raising the gorgeous Irish Goldendoodles, time has proved them to be a healthy dog with similar personality, temperament and trainability traits as the Goldendoodle.  The Irish Goldendoodle has superior coat quality, due to the reduction of undercoat, with a silky soft texture.  Check out our website to see many photos of these beautiful dogs, or see the many posts on our facebook page from our Irish Goldendoodles’ families.  Also look at who we follow on Instagram and watch our Irish Goldendoodles grow from puppy hood into adults with show-stopping good looks.

At Sunshine Acres, we raise and wish to promote two types of Goldendoodles.  The first is the F1 type 3 Irish Goldendoodle, which is a three way cross between the Irish Setter, Golden Retriever and Poodle breeds.  This is a first generation cross.  The second cross we recommend is the F1B Goldendoodle, which would be a Goldendoodle (or Irish Goldendoodle) bred back to a poodle.  This is a First Generation Backcross.  Both of these combinations have the predictability of their parents traits while preserving the greatest amount of hybrid vigor. 

Due to the inconsistency of the puppies, we do not raise or support the breeding of multigenerational Goldendoodles.  When two Goldendoodles are bred together, their puppies will not have the consistent characteristics of an F1 or F1B cross.  In looking at the genetics of a litter of multigenerational puppies, statistically 25% of the puppies will be genetically a purebred Golden Retriever, 50% would be like the parents (with a Goldendoodle appearance) and 25% of the puppies would be genetically a purebred poodle.  Our thought is this:  If you want a poodle, go to a poodle breeder; if you want a Golden Retriever, go a Golden Retriever breeder.  If you want a Goldendoodle, then get an F1 or F1B and your puppy will grow up with predictable characteristics.  If there are breeders who wish to turn the Goldendoodle into a purebred dog, they will need to have thousands of crosses to turn this mixed breed dog into a purebred.  But isn’t the hybrid vigor of unrelated parents the main point of a doodle?  A consistent “doodle” is our goal, so Sunshine Acres only raises the Moyen Poodle, the F1 Goldendoodle, the F1 Irish Goldendoodle and the F1B Irish Goldendoodle.

As dedicated  Goldendoodle breeders, we have focused on this wonderful cross so that we can offer you one of the best Goldendoodle puppies you can find.  We offer two different variations of our beloved Goldendoodle and the moyen (medium-sized) poodle.

• • • Irish Goldendoodle (F1 Type 3) — Accepting deposits
    • Goldendoodle (F1 Type 1) puppies for sale — Accepting deposits
    • F1B Irish Goldendoodle — Accepting deposits
    • Moyen Poodle puppies for sale — Accepting deposits  

The largest size Goldendoodle is the royal standard size, which would usually be in the 70-90 pound size bracket.  We do not raise any Royal Standard size puppies.  Next in size would be the standard size Goldendoodle which would fall into the 55-70 pound range.  Sunshine Acres will have puppies that fall into this standard size range occasionally.  However, more often we will have a medium size Goldendoodle, which would fall between 35 and 55 pound as adults.  This medium size range doodle is large enough to romp with in the back yard or go for a run. They are small enough to be portable as well.  Some of our puppies will be on the lower end of this medium size range while others will be on the upper end of this range.  We do not raise mini Goldendoodles as their adult size is too variable.  We have met “mini-Goldendoodles” from other breeders who weighed 70 pounds.  Not so “mini” after all.