Our Story

About Us

 My name is Susan Stup and I have been breeding high-quality labradoodles since 2007. Many think my name is Sylvie Madison but the name Sylvie Madison Labradoodles comes from two beloved dogs from the past. Sylvie is the standard black poodle that began my line and Madison was a beloved dog from years ago. My husband, Ron, and I have had poodles since we were married in 1968. In 2003, when my 17-year old black standard male poodle was nearing the end, my veterinarian daughter found me a beautiful female black standard poodle puppy. That was Sylvie, the matriarch of my line. I had an interest in breeding labradoodles after getting acquainted with a labradoodle a friend owned. What a wonderful dog! I decided to breed my poodle, Sylvie, with a lab. This was the beginning of Sylvie Madison Labradoodles and I have loved every moment. I am always happy to talk about my journey and practices, so please feel free to reach out. I can be contacted at sylviemadisonlabradoodles@gmail.com.

Why Labradoodles?

Labradoodles combine the even temperament and willingness-to-please attitude that is inherent in the Lab, with the intelligence and non-shedding traits of the Poodle. Labradoodles are good with children, sociable, easy to train, and make excellent pets. They come in a variety of colors and color combinations and their coats will vary from curly, wavy and fleece-like to a less curly hair that will grow to about 2 inches long. Most will not shed at all, but non-shedding cannot be guaranteed. They are active but cuddly dogs.  

our puppies

My puppies are whelped in our home in Highland, Maryland. They spend their first four weeks in our bedroom or home office where their mother tends to their every need and they are talked to constantly. At 3-4 weeks old, the mother and puppies are moved to an enclosed area of my kitchen where the mother can leave the enclosed area as she pleases and the puppies begin eating soft dog food at four weeks old. They learn to use a litter box during this time. They quickly grow accustomed to all the noises of an active household and are constantly talked to and loved by adults and children of all ages. As a result, they are very well socialized from a young age, having always had constant human interaction. There is a large backyard for them to run and explore, and never a shortage of visitors coming to cuddle and play. They are trained at about 6 weeks old to use the half stairs to get to the back yard. During their first eight weeks, all puppies are de-wormed twice. When they are ready to leave their littermates and go to their forever home, they will have had a complete physical exam, fecal check, their first shots, and another de-worming. They will also be micro-chipped and a health guarantee will be provided in the sales contract.  

our line

After deciding that I wanted to breed Sylvie, I actually had trouble finding a willing breeder with a quality Labrador retriever to breed with her. Eventually, after careful searching, Sylvie was bred to a gorgeous English black lab named Detour from Ropewalk Farm with an impressive pedigree. Puppies that are half poodle and half lab are called F1’s. Sylvie had her first litter of F1 puppies in 2007. Although both parents of this litter were black, they carried a cream gene, and there were two cream puppies in this litter. I kept the best F1 cream female, named her Zoe, and in time bred her to a standard black poodle named Jack of Happy Acres (Blackjack Boy). This is called backbreeding and is done to include more poodle in the mix to strengthen the non-shedding and hypoallergenic qualities of the breed. These puppies are called F1B’s (¾ poodle and ¼ lab.). My F1’s and F1B’s were always either black or cream and ranged in size from 60 – 80 pounds (with one being 85 pounds). These bigger dogs stand on their hind legs and give you hugs.

From Zoe’s litter, I kept an F1B black phantom female named Serena. Phantoms are labradoodles with a secondary color on their eyebrows, muzzle, legs and tush. Serena is a very loving, loyal, protective mother with a wonderful personality. When Serena came of age, I bred her to a chocolate Australian multi-generational labradoodle, Kokopeli, owned by Eden Valley Labradoodles. This combination produced exquisite Australian labradoodle black, cream or chocolate puppies in the 25-35 pound range as Kokopeli was a smaller boy.

From Serenas litter, I kept a 25 pound cream female, Minnie, who is an extraordinary dog. Her first breeding to Eden Valley’s Finnegan produced a litter of entirely cream puppies. The second time I bred Minnie to Eden Valley’s Piccadilly, who is a chocolate Aussie carrying the phantom gene. That litter produced one chocolate, three creams, and one chocolate phantom. That chocolate phantom puppy was named Lincoln and is now one of Eden Valley Labradoodles’ studs. Another breeding between Minnie and Jack Frost brought Jameson, a gorgeous cream Australian labradoodle male who is also an Eden Valley stud. My original line of labradoodles became part of Eden Valley’s program. I have bred down six generations with my original line of amazing dogs and now work with Eden Valley to combine my females with their best sires to continue producing a variety of beautiful Australian labradoodles. I now have several Guardian breeding females who produced amazing puppies this past summer. With the Guardian females, we are able to produce a great variety of colors, including black, cream, chocolate, and caramel, and phantom as well.