Cockerpoo Puppy arriving in 10 days - help

[ShallallalAa]

Posting for traffic and advice thanking you all ever so much - we put our names down for a cockapoo puppy from a registered breeder months ago and the puppy will be ready for collection in 2 weeks. We are confident the breeder is reputable and have had personal recommendations for them which we trust. I work from home 80 percent of the time now so confident we can look after the puppy properly long term.
I have never owned a dog before but DP has always had dogs and I am feeling very out of my depth, especially with the arrival during lockdown.
We have visited the breeder and met the parents before the lockdown but we have not met the puppy before lockdown. We have been sent regular videos and all looks lovely and I trust that that the puppy is well and healthy.
DP will pick up puppy by physically distancing from the breeder at handover, taking all the precautions and the breeder is about 5 miles away - I think this would be classed as essential travel wouldnt it?
We are going to pick up essentials from Pets At Home in the next couple of days - crate, toys, bed, pads, food. Anything else? The puppy is on a raw meat diet I understand should we continue this?

What are your top puppy /cockerpoo puppy tips?

What will we do about puppy socialisation?

The puppy arrives microchipped (breeder does it) with first vaccines but we do the next ones - need to find a vet we like I am guessing?

I don't like the sound of crating though - is rhis really the only way?

Our house is quite small - where should the puppy have its own space ideally?

Should I get a shark pet hoover to deal with the hairs?

Thank you!!

I've had dogs practically all my life and never crated them or did half the things you're supposed to do these days.

Your puppy will need some food (whatever you pick up in the supermarket) a couple of bowls and some of those training mat things. I don't know if vets are doing vaccines at the moment but if so then these are important.

They will also need some toys mostly because they will chew everything in sight and lots of cuddles and play time. Definitely allow on your bed, not least because puppy snuggles are the best but also because they and you will sleep better.

Enjoy.

Put it this way - I’m a trainer who dies a LOT with my dogs. I compete in obedience, do a lot of trick training and play about with agility and scent work. I am a Border Collie lover and a JRT lover and I love high energy dogs because I think it’s far easier and more fun to teach a driven dog self control and calmness than it is to enthuse a laid back pudding of a dog.

I wouldn’t have a Working Cocker.

Some people here really seem to be determined to ruin any glint of joy in other people's lives.

Or alternatively, determined to provide sound advice to people who don't know what they're doing - and I mean no offence by that, we can't all know everything - and potentially prevent them ending up with a dog with inherited health issues or behavioural traits that they cannot manage. I breed my own working Cockers so I have no axe to grind with 'breeders'. I do however have a major issue with people breeding/cross breeding their pet dogs with no or absolutely minimal health testing and breed knowledge (beyond 'which cross will make the most money') and flogging them to inexperienced homes.

I know nothing about cars other than how to drive one, I could look at a second hand car, believe the sales spiel and think it's great - until someone with actual knowledge about cars looks at it and points out all the things that are wrong with it because they know what to ask and what to look for. I wouldn't think they were trying to kill my joy, I'd think they were saving me a lot of potential cost and hassle - and this is a living animal not a lump of metal, so potential heartbreak too. It should not be taken lightly or on a 'oh it'll all be fine, it's an adorable little puppy-wuppy!' whim when it's obvious to experienced, knowledgeable people that the situation is far from ideal.

The springers all had a snooze at lunchtime and were definitely looking weary by the mid-afternoon. The working cockers looked like they could have happliy done it all over again.

@LakieLady I think you might have met my Cockers

I have a 'pet' working cocker.

Yes he typically needs exercise and mental stimulation but at 3.5 years of age he has actually been happy playing ball and lounging about at home with the occasional on road walk since the lockdown.

He can go for hours and hours of exercise but actually I find that I need to restrict him for his own good. A gun dog trainer told me that if you keep walking a cocker then they will get fitter and fitter and need more and more walking to tire them out. The moral of the story is don't exercise to tire them out but do a bit of 'working aka hunting' exercises with them instead.

Btw mine was a bastard of a puppy and teenager but as an adult he is now bloody lovely and lying on top of me snoozing away.

Also meant to add, nobody has said that that OP shouldn't get a dog. If they want a dog and can offer a good home then they absolutely should. If they are certain that a Cocker/Poodle cross is the best type of dog for them then that's fine. What is being said is that this dog from this breeder at this point in time does not sound like a good idea. There are people who try to breed Cockerpoos as responsibly as possible, using good quality breeding stock and with all health testing in place. The 'Cockapoo Club' I screenshot above would be a good place to start in finding such a breeder. It likely means that you won't get a puppy right now but it means that you will get a healthy one from someone who knows their breeding lines and cares about what type of dogs they are producing.

@VetOnCall, I'd love to meet them! If they're anything like the 3 my friend has, as soon as you sit down in the house, you end up wearing them. They drape themselves all over you, and then do the mad spaniel wag, the one that starts just behind the ears and involves the whole body.

The smallest one lies on the back of the sofa and if he stays still long enough, you can use him as a headrest. They are the soppiest dogs I think I've ever met, they love everybody and make no secret of it.

Working cockers aren't necessarily 'bad' it's much more about whether the breeds traits will suit your lifestyle.
Working cockers can be very smart, and need plenty of physical and mental stimulation. It's impossible to predict how these traits will come out in a crossbreed

Couldn't agree more, @Veterinari

I thought I was experienced with dogs (my parents fostered/adopted them, and I grew up surrounded by them; continued this as an adult). My poodle cross defeated me, though.

He was also the most beautiful dog I have ever seen. I used to say we should have signed him up for a dog modelling agency. He was an absolute heartbreaker (and broke my heart, but for different reasons).

Never, ever choose a dog because they are completely gorgeous to look at! (not that I did, and not that anyone is suggesting this...)

OP, thank you for your kind words. The very fact that you are putting so much thought into this suggests to me that you will be a fab dog owner. However, I am not sure that you have found the right dog at the right time.

There will be one for you, I promise. And s/he will make you wonder how you ever managed without.

Sorry - crossed posts with you @VetOnCall

I completely agree with you.

There's a couple of photos on here that I think have been posted as cockerpoos but to me look more like a golden retriever in the head and in colouring. Are they cockerpoos or just poodle crosses?

To me the issue buying a deliberate cross breed is that the parents aren't going to be the best representatives of their breed. By that I mean if you buy a purebred from a good breeder, they will likely come from quality parents. As an example my westie has both sides of his pedigree full of champions, supreme champions etc He however, was not show quality, not that it detracts from his ability to be the most handsome and best boy ever. It does however mean that he is not the best example of his breed to breed from. My cocker spaniel, from what I can ascertain, is backyard bred (she's a rehome, I got her as a 3yo). So she's even further removed from being a good representation of the breed. Again, doesn't stop her being a good pet.

However if you were to breed a cross bred from the cocker, I'd hate to think what it would turn out like.

We have a 2 year old three quarter poodle and 1 quarter cocker spaniel (so a poodle heavy cockapoo) . Always had dogs- previously labradors and working and show cockers.

the cockapoo is amazing. very very clever. trained easily. family friendly. very portable.

I would get another without hesitation.

He entertains himself for hours- so very cocker like in that respect . Only downside is the grooming- which is very regular.

@ShallallalAa
Don't do it. Not at this time. It's the worst time when things are so far from normal. You won't be able to socialise pup properly. By the time we can all go out again it'll probably be too late. Give yourself time to think again. You haven't met the pup. You're raising many red flags with experienced folk on here. Particularly Wolfiefan. I knew her post was her before I saw her name. She talks a lot of sense. There will be other pups, in another time. Use this as breathing space and please reconsider. Have you even thought what will it be like having puppy and kids at home?? All day. Every day. Because that's what you're looking at for a good few weeks. These are trying times for the best of us. Don't bring a puppy into all that. You ask about withholding payment until puppy is checked. That's very unlikely they'll agree to that!! Anyway. What will you do. Say sorry don't want puppy now. When you've all fallen in love?? Got a name?? What will you do?? Keep sick puppy?? Hand it back??

Don't do this. Please re-think.

I posted on here about getting a cockerpoo, I was basically flamed, if I’d taken it all on board we’d never have got her.

She’s adorable, she’s a puppy so she has her mad moments, but she’s trainable, fantastic with visiting kids and smart.

It is possible to socialise even in these conditions. You can still take a puppy out and let them see and hear things and observe. If your job is secure and you’ll be able to afford a dog and you’ve thought through all the usual stuff about how you’ll manage after lockdown, then why should these circumstances change things?

There’s a lot of people on here who have very strong views On how people should get puppies and that only rescues should be considered....that aren’t going to work for everyone.

There’s a hardcore of Mumsnet dog police who post when anyone asks about getting a dog.

1. Get a rescue

1. Rescue a greyhound

1. All breeders are actually puppy farms

1. All crosses, especially with poodles are the devil’s work

1. Don’t get a dog, you are a twat

Ignore these people, they know nothing about you and what you can offer a dog.

Actually a grey hound rescue is not a bad idea....! Are they a good first dog to have and work with the kids ages?
.
This morning my 5 yo woke us up with breakfast in bed. How that would do with a puppy down there I do not know.

Decided to cancel the purchase just hoping he will go to a good home, and actually course he will there will be plenty of people on the list. Thanks all

@VetOnCall Your post was spot on!

Were puppy farms always a problem? I remember having dogs as a child. certainly not KC dogs, they were usually the puppies of someone s pet. They weren't pedigree, but neither were they problematic, they were just nice family pets.
When I moved here 20 years ago the farm had a notice on the fence saying labrador pups sometimes available. That would be very unusual now.

@scochran When I first thought of getting a puppy I looked round for the lists in the paper of people’s pets who’d had puppies and there were none - only Gumtree ads for french bulldog puppies for £2k and cockapoos for £1k! I was shocked. I did some research and ended up with a KC-registered WCS - and I love him to bits and everyone who meets him says how calm he is for a spaniel at 10 months old. He loves a walk but he definitely gets tired and will sleep all afternoon after a good walk. He also loves brain training games and never gets tired of the game before you. He was a horror for biting as a puppy but thankfully grew out of it. I know other people with WCS who say their dogs are always up for a walk and need plenty of exercise, but then sleep whenever they’re in the house.

I think good dogs can come from lots of different backgrounds. My 2 rescue dogs were certainly not the results of anyone's careful breeding and they have both been proper mongrels but had no health or behavioral problems despite dodgy starts in life. I obviously get that there should be no unwanted dogs in the world though and it would be perfect if all litters were planned .

Why are you all discussing dog care when this is clearly not essential travel at all. Tell them to keep the dog for a few more weeks, it’s as simple as that

Why are you all discussing dog care when this is clearly not essential travel at all. Tell them to keep the dog for a few more weeks, it’s as simple as that

What part of 'the breeder can deliver puppies as it is part of their work they can not do from home' arent you getting?

Why are you all discussing dog care when this is clearly not essential travel at all. Tell them to keep the dog for a few more weeks, it’s as simple as that

My breeder has a government letter to cover travel for puppies going to their new home. I think I'll stick with that rather than follow the opinion of Barbara on mumsnet.

This morning my 5 yo woke us up with breakfast in bed. How that would do with a puppy down there I do not know - breakfast in bed and young puppies really don't mix .

I have a cockerpoo , and there are loads in our local park.
All of them are lovely! She tails you around the house like a stalker, and insists on sleeping physically touching a human, but other than that, very intelligent and eaSy to train, loves cuddles and playing in the park but also happy snoring most of the day. Oh abd she doesn’t shed, but does need lots of brushing so her fur diesnt matt.. im at the previous poster who said all cockerpoos are aggressive and crazy...