To not want a beagle?

[tired1245]

We've always wanted a dog, house just feels empty without one as both had one when living at parents house.
He's got his heart set on a beagle, when i would love a cockapoo.
I've just heard always bad things about beagles, how they're hard to train and recall is awful.
I don't really want the hair either!
He won't be able to take a month off to train the dog when we get it, maximum 2 weeks.
With a cockapoo I just think they'll be a lot better to train, don't malt nowhere near as much as a beagle would and we've got a 3 month old, so the last thing I need is a dog running off on a walk when I've got a baby with me. What do we do?

I wouldn’t get a dog with a 3 month old tbh

I think I'd keep arguing about what breed to get for at least the next nine months, with a three month old baby. . .

All the cockapoos I know are very badly behaved! They're very energetic!

Everyone I've known or know with a cockapoo has said that while they're lovely dogs, they're very full on. Something all of them seem a bit surprised about tbh.

The problem or benefit, depending on your point of view, of a cockapoo is that both breeds are pretty full on anyway. Poodles are high energy, intelligent dogs and spaniels just tend to be a bit nuts anyway.

And being a cross breed you've got no idea which parts of each breed you're going to end up with.

Last dog I'd want to be trying to train while having a small baby.

I have a 5 yr old beagle and 2 DD - 2&3 yrs old. The beagle is more work, but hugely rewarding and wonderful around the kids. Her recall is amazing but she's had puppy classes and a huge amount of training.

We get a lot of older people with Cockapoos who bought them thinking they were going to be placid little fluffy lapdogs. Then find out they’re very often wired little balls of energy.

Many moons ago the DCs wanted a beagle - vet told me they need 50 mile run a day!

Your vet wasn't particularly well informed then

Mine gets 60 minutes walk a day. He hasn't combusted yet.

My beagle was two when we got her and had never lived inside or with kids. We had a baby ten months after she arrived and she was nothing but gentle with the baby. She's the sweetest most gentle dog I've ever met. Not all beagles are loopy. And I wouldn't every choose a designer cross breed either.

Don't diss Jack Russels! ours is great, they are sparky little things but well behaved, easy to train, very quiet in the house too. We do make sure she gets a good walk a day including off lead running. Love my girl, only downside I can see are hairs...thats another story.

My JRT cross barely sheds at all.... possibly because he’s 1/4 Lakeland.

He’s very un barky too - in fact the Collie barks more. The Terrier only barks at the postie etc but soon quiets when asked.

@MouthBreathingRage oh here we go Cockapoos aren't a breed blah blah blah. Get a life you sad wee person. Who cares? Our boy, a Cockapoo, surprise, surprise, is the most sweet natured, patient, loving and high spirited dog you will ever meet. And to people who say "don't shop, adopt", it's not always possible. We got our boy as a puppy as my youngest has special needs and we needed the puppy to grow up being used to our son's "quirky" ways. Cockapoos are amazing wee dogs who absolutely love children and are always making you laugh.

@Gil55

Must admit, I've never met a bad one! A wee bit excitable maybe, but that's never a bad thing

I work with dogs and find cockerpoos to be hyper, neurotic, prone to separation anxiety, temperamental, vocal (and by that I mean they never stop fucking screaming) and often very quick to snap without warning. You could not pay me to have one.

Cockapoos are amazing wee dogs who absolutely love children and are always making you laugh.

Well that's definitely not a given. Not all dogs love children, it depends on the child and the dog, not what breed or combination of breeds it is.

Some cockapoos love children, some don’t
Some dogs love children and some don’t
You can’t possibly say that a certain breed loves children, it’s at best wrong and at worst dangerous.

@Sonichu maybe you're just not as skilled at your job as you think? Cockapoos can be prone to separation anxiety but this can be overcome by careful and attentive training. Similarly with the other negatives you mentioned. It's a bit concerning to hear someone allegedly experienced with dogs to write off a whole breed! For everyone saying "this breed does this and this breed does that" there are no bad dogs only bad owners who are too lazy to train their dogs. Bottom line - don't get a dog unless you are prepared to put the work in.

Well isn't that exactly the point. You can say for example, a border collie is a high energy, extremely intelligent dog who needs a job to do. Cross it with a Basset hound (renowned to be lazy and stubborn when not working) and God only knows what you'll get. That doesn't mean you've created a new breed, it means you've crossbred 2 random dogs. Well done. Still not a breed.

That's the whole point of a breed standard. You can define the characteristics of the breed and you'll probably end up with a dog that meets those characteristics. You know what you're getting. When you buy a poodle mix off Clive down the road for £££ you have absolutely no idea what you'll end up with.

Who's Clive?

". It's a bit concerning to hear someone allegedly experienced with dogs to write off a whole breed! "

And yet, here you are, going on about what a great breed (debatable) cockerpoos are, how much they love children...?

I agree with not writing off an entire breed, but I've yet to meet anyone who was attracted to getting a poodle cross for qualities they couldn't just get in a poodle.

"Sonichu maybe you're just not as skilled at your job as you think? "

Did I touch a nerve?

"Who's Clive?"

Replace "Clive" with the name of any back yard breeder churning these mutts out and charging exorbitant sums of money for them. (And not just cockerpoos.)

A lot of my friends have cockerpoos and not one of them is anything like how sonichu describes. They are all lovely dogs. I just prefer my lovely beagle.

Cockapoos are amazing wee dogs who absolutely love children and are always making you laugh.

For everyone saying "this breed does this and this breed does that"

You're happy to generalise that cockapoos are all great with children, but you're not happy to generalise anything negative?

I wouldn't get a working breed if you want an easy life. We have a JRT. LoVe him to bits but he is a nightmare. Heard from beagle owners that beagles are smelly, wilful, greedy and noisy

I know two amazing Cockapoos who are placid, friendly and easy to live with.

The vast majority aren’t anywhere near as easy.

My experiences tend to mirror those of Sonichu. I’d forgotten about the vocal-ness - yes they can be very vocal but I always put that down to the Cocker influence. Until I started training I didn’t realise how barky Cockers can be.

Clive is whichever "breeder" in any given town churning out badly bred cockerpoos, labradoodles, maltipoos and jackapoos, selling them to people who don't really care about what happens to their puppy's mum.

He might also have litters of teacup chihuahuas and French bulldogs available too.

Cockerpoos absolutely CAN be lovely and CAN be very sweet and playful; until they're not getting their own way. But maybe that comes more down to the people getting these dogs not realising they're actual animals that still need some description of training rather than literal fluffy little teddy bears.