Talk to me about cockapoos

[MulberryDerry]

What are they like? Any health problems to beware of? Character? Good with children?

We met one recently and it was so fun and happy and gentle and smart. We fell in love.

Cockapoo breeders won’t be KC registered as they are breeding crosses. It’s a minefield finding a good breeder of crosses. Some exist, but many more are either misguided (pet owners who basically want to have the experience of having cute puppies, or want to make some cash, but have no clue re healthy breeding or genetic testing etc) or downright dangerous - puppy farming is a massive industry and cockapoos are one of the most common dogs to be farmed. They are also extremely sophisticated operations and very good at hiding their businesses. eg they know now that people have absorbed the message “don’t buy a puppy that you haven’t seen with its mother in a home environment” - so they will pay people to have litters in their home for the afternoon, with a “stunt bitch” who is happy and well-cared-for who is presented as the mother. The real mother is bred back-to-back, litter after litter, exhausted and lives in a shed somewhere. KC registered breeders are only allowed a certain number of litters to be registered per bitch which is an important safeguard to guard her health, but there’s no safeguard over the breeding of crosses. That alone would put me off. It’s almost impossible to tell who is a good breeder and who isn’t unless you really know what you’re doing and the kind of tricks that puppy farmers pull.

Do springer spaniels shed? They wouldn't be hypoallergenic would they?

There's no such thing as a hypoallergenic dog and plenty of cockapoos shed.

@Tygertiger wrote a great response, I would follow up with saying do a lot of research into the individual breeds - cocker spaniels and poodles, not just cockerpoos.
Agree also with comments saying you need to wear their brains out. We have a pure cocker spaniel who has endless energy but we do scent training with and walk in 'sensory' places like woodlands rather than fields, and have put a lot of DAILY effort into training, so we have a dog whose happy with half an hour to an hour of activity a day (more at weekends) - when she's bouncing around, I get cockerpoo owners say 'ooh you're brave, I don't know how you cope with the energy' and then in the next breath tell me that theirs is so energetic they are doing 3 walks a day. So they've got a strong, energetic, bored dog. Do your research on spaniels and poodles first.
Cockerpoos are gorgeous dogs and we have loads of them around here but every single one of them either has chronic skin/ear issues, or incredibly sensitive stomachs (although if I'm honest, part of me thinks this is due to the amount of puppy treats and rich meat toppers used during training and feeding rather than actual meat or a decent kibble... but I know I'm probably generalising on that front)
And they ALL have separation anxiety - our cocker has it a little bit in certain situations, but if you do get a cockerpoo I cannot stress enough how worth your time it will be to sit down and do a lot of research on how to raise a dog who is okay being away from you. Make a plan and really stick to it, you only get so much time when they are a puppy and if you get them used to being in a room on their own, or with other people, or in the house on their own, in tiny increments to start and building up over time, little and extremely often - it will pay off in spades. I meet so many cockerpoo owners who tell me their dog has separation anxiety because they WFH so the dog is never alone, as if that meant there aren't plenty of other hours in the day to practice separation....
The points on 'clever' vs 'biddable' are very true also - spaniels and poodles are clever, labradorite are biddable. Training is a part time daily job when they are young for a clever dog.
They are LOVELY dogs (biased, because spaniels are lovely) but you need to be prepared for the worst, extremely organised and take them on with the view you are going to practice training etc every day for the first year

I wouldn’t feel comfortable with mine around young kids and babies just because of how bouncy and excitable he is. We have young nieces and nephews and we do keep them separate as I personally just don’t think it’s worth the risk of him bouncing up and knocking one of them over.

They do also tend to attach very strongly to one person so I’m not sure how that would play out if they attached to you and then you had to dedicate a lot of time to a newborn.

My friend has a couple and they are the most darling dogs. So friendly, easy to train, not horribly energetic (but they love a walk) and very affectionate. They have probably attached the most to her, but they are so affectionate with everyone. Beautiful dogs.

We adore ours. She's funny, playful, intelligent and loves DH more than me. She's very cuddly. She was hard work as a puppy but all puppies are quite hard work.

She's 3 now and gets 2 decent walks a day and that tires her out. She takes herself off to bed at 8pm and she'll sleep in till noon if we let her.

She doesn't like being left on her own - but she hasn't got separation anxiety just FOMO.

She can be a bit nervy round big dogs but I think she wasn't quite socialised enough due to lock down etc.

Cons
Grooming at a groomer every 6 weeks unless you learn how to do it yourself.

Ours has allergies, and so many we meet have allergies. She's now on grain free food and that is helping lots.

I'd get another one in a heartbeat.

The breeder was local and well known.

I have one, she’s 5 and fantastic. She can be left for a while, she’s not too crazy. She’s very
loving to everyone in the house and hasn’t just attached to one person. I love her so much!

I would honestly wait till you have finished having kids but it's up to you. You can't leave puppies alone for long (an hour or maybe two) till they are older and they can only manage quite short walks of they get too over tired and you end up with behavioural issues so you will be stuck in the house for the first 6 months. I would have gone nuts if I was stuck in the house with a toddler for 6 months!

@Tygertiger our breeder was KC registered as they also breed pure spaniels. We saw them in their home and it was really obvious it was their home not somewhere they'd paid. They also did all the genetic testing. Also good things to look out for and good advice for the OP

This. If the cocker parent is from a working strain of cocker the energy level can be ridiculous. They are not a registered KC breed so unfortunately there are no breeders verified by them. Champdogs is a pretty good source of breeders who health test but again I don't think cockapoos are included. A big mistake is that they have hypoallergenic coats. Not so. All dog's coats contain dander which is a common allergen.

To be honest I would wait until your youngest is 5 and starting nursery/school. Puppies and dogs can really tie you down, even if they don't have separation anxiety. You have to bare in mind they can't go into kids play areas at the park, so you'd always need one adult holding the dog, the other with the youngest kids. That also rules out other fun things you might want to do with the kids, like soft play or amusement parks, which are not dog friendly. Especially an issue if you have kids birthday parties too, the dog often won't be welcome at other kid's parties, there's always going to be a kid that's terrified or deathly allergic to dogs.

In the home, no matter how well trained both children and dog is, they can never be left in a room alone together. A real juggling act if you're the only adult in the house. It just takes one second, a dropped snack, a snatched toy, a stumble because they didn't see the dog behind them, or a sudden shout or scream, that can cause a dog, no matter how well trained, to react.

You also have to think of when kids come to play with yours at your own house, while your own kids may be "trained" on being around your dog, other kids won't be and may push buttons. This is how children get bitten :(

Spaniels, and their crosses, are notorious for resource guarding, which is a massive nono around small kids. Sadly this is why so many rescue spaniels and cockapoos can't be rehomed with small kids and why they've been signed over in the first place.

Research breeds carefully, take your time, dogs aren't going anywhere and will still be around in a few years time!

Thank you @bunnygeek these are all words of wisdom. Very well said.

We are still thinking about it but there is so much to consider. I honestly don't know.
I think I didn't worry that much about having a child 😅

Any advice on family-friendly breeds?

If you haven’t got cats or small furries, personally I think you can’t go wrong with a border terrier or a whippet.

Whatever breed you get, the puppy stage is fucking awful. Every owner (and I really mean every) thinks their puppy bites to an abnormal degree and it’s a worrying sign of potential aggression. Then they get to about nine months and just….stop. But up until that point it’s horrendous, and remember you get them at 2 months, so it’s a loooong time when they will relentlessly nip. And they love biting children more than adults (children move quickly and are more exciting, which overstimulates puppies). Honestly, puppy blues are totally a thing and every owner gets them.

Easy Peasy Puppy Squeezy is a great book, I’d really recommend that.

I see one out of my window everyday. It is the most bonkers dog you could imagine. It goes along with the owner on its lead but spins around and around whilst jumping up and down. This dog gets walked 3 times a day for about 40 minutes at a time. It's owner tries to get it to sit on pavement before crossing the road but it won't sit it just spins around and around almost chasing its tail. My dogs bark at it every time.

Neurotic, clingy, huge separation anxiety, cannot be left alone.

"Neurotic, clingy, huge separation anxiety, cannot be left alone."

Well we left ours alone last night while we went to the pub - and came back to find her asleep on her back on the sofa.

The maddest dog I see being walked past our house (and there are a lot cockerpoos/poodle crosses) is a Weimaraner closely followed by a lab/retriever cross.

I think a lot depends on the owner.

Ours does have allergies...but so does my bosses' labrador.