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By Aimee Heckel, Camera Staff Writer
February 12, 2005

With his floppy tongue and clumsy tail, Rocky doesn't look like a rare and expensive "designer dog."

But as his Boulder owner, Anna Mahorski, sits outside Lolita's Market and Deli earlier this week, every person who walks by stops and gawks. They want to know what kind of dog he is.

A goldendoodle, Mahorski says mechanically. Part golden retriever, part poodle. With straighter hair than most doodles, 7-month-old Rocky looks more like his golden mom. But he cannot escape his father's nose and eyes.

Not that Mahorski wants him to. She's beaming to be one of the first few Boulderites to own this new breed that has taken the pet world by storm. There also are labradoodles (poodle plus Labrador) and schnoodles (schnauzer-poodle), among a growing list of other cartoon-like names.

Magazines and Web sites call the doodle mixes the "next big thing." Some breeders claim they're the "perfect dog," with the lab's demeanor and loyalty — and approval among men and outdoorsy types — coupled with the poodle's intelligence, delicate frame and non-shedding hair.

Don't call Rocky a mutt. He's a "hybrid." That's fancy for super-expensive mutt.

Denver breeder Norma Blanchard says she expects the American Kennel Club to soon recognize doodles as an official breed. Blanchard, who bred Rocky, is one of the few doodle breeders in the state. She has a year-long waiting list of customers and receives about 50 e-mails every week. One man asked her to name a price, any price, to put him at the top of the list.