Cockapoo owners

[assumpta]

Hi, we are due to pick up our female puppy in a couple of weeks and I have just read a piece by an American woman, whereby she appears to me to be saying that they are quite badly behaved. She has a book on sale also giving information on how to correct this behaviour. Should I take this with a pinch of salt as I realise any dog can have problems or is the cockapoo particularly difficult. Anything I have read up to this point has been positive. All information greatly appreciated. Thanks.

My CM has one and he is a lovely dog; she has been consistent and firm in his training. His 'bad' behaviour as a puppy/young dog included making a break for freedom if the door was open and kidnapping socks and shoes. He is also very nosey.

we have one now aged 8 months - i would say she is very playful . we have been to dog training classes with her and she is struggling to follow stay and wait commands consistently but is good at sitting /down . she appears to be a little bit more difficult to train than some of the other dogs there but by no means is she the worse there . she is excellent fun and admired by all . i would go for it . i am sure you wont regret it

I know we will love her, but I hope she will learn the come and stay command as my Dds really want to be able to walk her themselves when she is older and I don't want her jumping up on people including ourselves. Do you know of any good training books for cockapoos?

no books in particular for this breed - we got the cesar millan puppy book which was quite good . we only let our pup off the lead in one of the big parks where she has no access to the road as she will run after birds and does not respond consistently to us calling her back . could not wish for a nicer pooch though.

Starting to get a bit nervous now at the enormity of it all. I guess I just want to make sure I do it right. I don't want to set unobtainable tasks for me or the dog, but obviously want it well trained so we can take her anywhere with us. Does anyone know of a week by week training tips book or guide?

Would you recommend paper training, or lift if they start to piddle inside and put to their outside spot?

Pipsqueak - how big is your dog now. I have seen a few fully grown cockapoos and they seem to vary a bit? We have an average size house so hopefully she won't take over. Did it take you long to house train her?

I have a 15 week old English cockapoo. He is an excitable willful little pup, but what puppy isn't. However, he is quite trainable English working cockers and poodles are fairly easy to train. Two training classes down he can sit, down, stand, bounce at heel (walk may take a little longer), is house trained (mostly), he can walk off the lead when there are no distractions, does an excellent recall and will sit and wait till he is told to take his dinner. I am not an amazing dog trainer we just practice every day and are very consistent.
He does need good stimulation every day a walk and playing with his huge variety of toys to keep him busy.
Going to a good pet dog training class will give you support and help you keep on the right track.

I have a cockapoo and he is great fun. He is 10 months old, and weighs just over 11kg, so is quite a small dog (see profile).

Patch is an excellent family dog, and is very daft and playful. As a pup he did nip, and did the ambushing feet from behind the sofa trick. However, I think that many pups do this. He grew out of this with the help of chew toys and distraction, and does not bite even when excited.

His main fault is over friendliness. He does love people, and can expect cuddles from strangers. When off lead I do an eye out for families with young children or frail elderly people. He does still jump up a little, but good training can sort this out, but does not always get reinforced by my children or husband . His other fault is that he steals things at home. Socks and shoes are a speciality, but yesterday he ate a fountain pen. His poo that afternoon was bright blue but he was fine. His recall is excellent, and he does not like to wander far from me because he is a total wuss.

Any bad behaviour is usually due to lack of exercise. The pen incident happened when we were eating breakfast, so he was due a walk. I exercise him for 1-1.5 hours in the morning, and he has shorter walks in the afternoon. He adores his ball (spaniel) and can have separation anxiety (poodle?).

He is my first dog, so I have probably made loads of mistakes. However, Patch has lots of friends in the park, both human and canine, so I cannot be doing to badly. He is much more popular than me! I do not think that cockapoo's are harder than other dogs, but they are not easier either.

Thank you sooo much. That makes me feel loads better. I know that I won't do everything right, but I need to be able to teach her not to run off as we go to Ireland quite a lot and cannot bear the thought of her worrying sheep as one particular farmer would not hesitate in just shooting her there and then. Yes, he is a total pr--k !

And I know that it will take quite time to get this right, until then she will be firmly on the lead.

Am reading this with interest, as we're looking to get a cockapoo next year. My SIL has just got one (male) who is 15 weeks. He's absolutely gorgeous, virtually there with the toilet-training, good on the lead, comes when he's called and VERY affectionate.

We've been dog-sitting for him (at our house) which didn't faze him in the least. He was a great guest and can come again.

Good luck.

Thank you clam. I have everything crossed.

Good luck assumpta. Hope it goes well. Have a look on the Kennel Club website for the Canine Good Citizens Classes - they teach all the commands a dog needs to know to be pleasant to be around.

Also, the law may be different in Ireland to here in Wales (and rest of UK), but I would never call a farmer a pr--- who was worried about his sheep. Farmers have the right to be concerned about the welfare of their sheep, lambs and especially pregnant ewes who can lose a lamb after incidents of being worried/chased/spooked by stray dogs. In the UK they can shoot dogs worrying sheep, and although I'm passionate about dogs in general my ex was a sheep farmer, and I've seen what unthinking dog owners can do. You should keep your little chap on the lead if in any doubt around livestock.

Assumpta.
I know this is a fairly old thread, but I wanted to add that we have a cockapoo puppy and getting him is the best thing we have done, although we are new to dog ownership. Teddy is affectionate, clever, funny. The book you mention by someone who claims to have savvy is not a book, but has to be read online. which I did not know before I purchased it We found it very complicated,and i canclled it immediately I realised.
You will have such fun with your new addition.
Good luck.

'cockapoo' is not a breed....therefore you my get sth like a cocker, or like a min poodle, or with other breeds mixed in (no pedigree = no certainty) some of the vendors of these have been unscrupulous and will sell pretty much any small/medium size cross breed that looks a bit poodley under this descrption.

i don't think they have any reputation as being hard to train, though poodles are classified as 'naughty' and spaniels as 'affectionate', though problems have been reportd by those poor unfortunates who have bought from the puppy farms or people out to make quick buck that have put these out by the thousand (as obv those puppies would not have been proper socialised).

training - try putting puppy out until it wees after every meal, and every nap, and telling puppy how good it is when it wees.

lots of good advice available on here if you have ny probs :)

Ruadhan - I have just seen your message as I have been using the puppy thread. Can you tell me about your cockapoo. How old is it? How long did it take to house train? I hope we are well on our way. We have belle who will be 12 weeks next tuesday and we have her 3 weeks today. She is lovely, but I did find yesterday really difficult. She was constantly under my feet, literally at times, and I felt as though I said 'leave it', a million times. I took her for her first walk yesterday, 8 days after her second vaccinations, but it was a bit of a nightmare. She pulled so much I thought she was going to choke herself. It definitely wasn't fun, for either of us! I have read mixed reviews on harness leads, saying that they have to learn not to pull, so just persevere with the ordinary lead.

I would love to her about your dog and hope that you read this message.

i totally recommend walkeasee harnesses they will really help you with your puppy and let you socialise and have fun WHILE you are training. Also, go to a puppy class! we did clicker training and it was really good, before i'd been at breaking point!
we have a labradoodle - our second and consider ourselves experienced dog owners but a mixed breed is a mixed blessigng!

Does anyone have advise about a working family getting a cockapoo? I'm a teacher with teenagers so we're looking at a short day but want to be fair!

Don't think a cockapoo would be much different from any other dog really. We have one now who's coming up to a year old, (just saw I posted on this thread 18 months ago!), I'm a teacher and have 2 teenagers. I only work 3 days a week, but those aren't short days, although DCs get home at 3.45ish. We have a dog walker to walk him on those days, although dh works from home quite a lot during the summer.
I don't think it's fair to leave any dog, regardless of breed and particularly not a puppy, alone for longer than 2-3 hours at a time, maybe 4 maximum when they're a bit older. We made sure we got ours in the May half term, as dh could be around a lot til July and then we were all here for the summer holidays. By September, when he was 4 months, he was OK on his own with just the dog walker coming midway through the day. I toyed with the idea of putting him in daycare initially, when I was being a bit pfb about him, but I didn't want him to be totally reliant on human company. He's fine, but we do make sure he has lots of things to legitimately chew and play with while we're out. He's terribly pleased to see us when we get back!

I first posted on the thread 18 months ago. I would suggest looking to get puppy at start of summer holidays and then arranging for someone to come in to let puppy out in middle of day. It's worth thinking about how you will feel about walking the dog either before or after work in December and January.
Follow up on how trainable they are last week end the mobile mop attended his first agility show and was comparable to all other breeds ata similar stage.

Hi, we have just put our name down on a waiting list for a cockapoo. So excited as I love dogs and we have been thinking of getting one for quite a while. We thought the cockapoo would be best as there are so many good reviews about them especially with children. (we have 2 aged 4 and 9). We have contacted a reputable breeder and done quite a bit if research but I am still anxious about whether I will be able to train it (will be taking it to puppy training etc!!), if it will be ok when I am at work (I only work 2 days a week and will be getting a dog walker in) etc etc... I have never owned a dog before although my husband was brought up with them. Any friends I have told have said I am mad but then they are not really animal lovers which I am. Any advice, reassurance, experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Sydney, congratulations on getting a cockapoo - they are lovely dogs :) I have a 2yr old 'poo and am hoping to get another in the Summer so yes, I would thoroughly recommend them!

I do not think you are mad at all, they are lovely dogs, but like all dogs, need time, attention, care, love and training. If you are willing to provide all of that then you should not have too many problems.

There is a Cockapoo Owners Club whose website has a lot of information on what questions to ask breeders etc - it is well worth a read -www.cockapoo-owners-club.org.uk/

and their FB page is packed with owners who have experience looking after cockapoo and who would answer any queries or concerns you may have.

Enjoy your puppy :)

We picked up our Cockapoo puppy 3 weeks ago and he's been an absolute delight. Really quick to pick up on basic commands and happy either to play ruff and tumble in the garden or chill-out at my feet.
We have found the information on Cockapoo Club of GB web site really helpful.