Cockapoo breeder

[BurnedToast]

Can anyone recommend a cockapoo breeder? We're in sw London but dont mind travelling. We're looking for a black or tuxedo cockapoo puppy from the end of August. Thank you.

😂😂😂

Ffs. The very basic point is: by buying designer dog breeds you are personally feeding a horrific business in which animals suffer and die and are abused. If you can live with that, go right ahead. But I will never not stand up for these animals, because they don’t have a voice themselves. They need humans that actually give a shit about animal welfare to do it for them.

Mustard, i agree that puppy farming is abhorrent, but not every cockapoo, (or other 'designer dog') is from a puppy farm. Some are bred at home from a family pet.

You see this is how puppy farming has turned into the multimillion pound business that it it - the attitude of " this is the exact puppy that I want because I've convinced myself it fits my lifestyle and looks like a teddy bear"

And before you go off to your cousin's neighbour's naice sister in law who may or may not be fronting a puppy farm have a read of why the Doodle Trust says NOT to breed your pet.

@HairyDogsInUnusualPlaces that’s not a whole lot better. People looking to make money from their pets. No idea of how to choose the right sire or consideration of it they should breed from their bitch. No health testing. No expertise.
And buying from a stranger that someone recommends by PM. That IS stupid.

Wolfie, well yes to all that. Obviously you would still have all those questions to put to the breeder and i would only be interested in a breeder that bred to keep a puppy, but my point is, not every cockapoo puppy is from a puppy farm.

But people buying doodle crosses means there is a huge demand for them, and so people breed in horrendous conditions because there are some that don’t care how they get a puppy, they just want one.

A decent, reputable breeder wouldn’t feed into that by continually breeding doodle/flat-faces breeds. Because to a very good breeder it’s not about money, it’s continuing a line of excellence. There is no line of excellence in poodle crosses.

Some are bred at home from a family pet.

In most cases that's no better than a puppy farm. How many people who breed from their pets do so properly? How many of them pay for all the relevant health tests (which can run into the hundreds of pounds)?

Breeding a dog is risky - dogs can die in labour, the puppies can die, the bitch can reject the puppies and you then need to give them 24 hour care. It shouldn't be something that Jane down the road does because the bitch has a nice temperament and a new puppy would be cute.

Er, @burnttoad, my comment about a 'tuxedo' cockapoo being the fashionista's choice and suggesting Harvey nicks was er, ironic 😳.
As were my comments about matching dogs to car interior......I just think it's all nuts.

@MustardScreams this is exactly why I get upset at seeing cockapoos everywhere. I love dogs and care deeply about their welfare, continuing to fund their popularity by buying puppies (usually with poor understanding of how difficult they are) really upsets me.

I'm suddenly feeling all smug because it turns out I have a 'tuxedo' dog. Well a tuxedo-and-socks dog, if that's a thing. He's also super sweet, non-moulting and needs only half an hour's exercise a day.

But here's the thing. He's actually a rescue and a crossbreed of possibly dozens of breeds (mum was a stray, dad unknown). We were very specific about our needs to the charity and honestly couldn't have a nicer dog. Every second dog round here is a cockerpoo and they're nuts and need so much exercise/stimulation. I've got what lots of people are looking for (sweet, affectionate, low-maintenance) without the ethical issues of a new fangled designer breed.

Please don't dismiss the idea of a rescue.

I know someone who got a local cockapoo within 2 weeks of suddenly deciding they wanted one. That just shouldn't be possible with any dog and shows how overbred they are and means that inevitably a high percentage will not come from ethical breeding.

I just worry about the 'cute factor' and although there can be nice ones, the majority are 'nuts' and as they are bought to be cute, owners don't train properly. They are a small dog but very difficult and bought by people who care about cute over temperament.

@HairyDogsInUnusualPlaces
The only people who breed these dogs do so for money. What would you call them?

other 'designer dog ....

This. Some claim innocence and exclude themselves from any part of this cruelty.

Buying these dogs is collusion with it. It shows you care about 'cute', is all. There is no innocence, its ignorance frankly and demeaning to animals, just the same as funding the breeding of pugs who struggle to breath for life, or CKC spaniels who suffer in pain all their lives, if you dont know how to ensure you avoid funding this, then just dont fund it.

I don't care who attacks me for my opinions, say what you will, but the dogs suffer as a result, and so do so many sad families who have bought and lost dearly loved puppies after much suffering, or dc have contracted nasty illness as a result of puppy poor health and hygiene.

Most ddogs suffer all their lives from poor breeding and overbreeding.

Labradoodles (bloody stupid names too) whove had to had both hips replaced before theyre a year old, and in constant pain until then.

The fact is, if the mother was not well bred, and then fed very well before, during and after pregnancy, and then puppies kept well and fed very carefully to optimise their bone, muscle, nerve and general well-being, plus safety, handling and socialisation, all will have lasting effects for both the ddog and all the pups.

To put 'cute' above all that

I just don't get this idea that breeding the family pet is 'in most cases no better than a puppy farm'. The dam isn't being kept in a cage deprived of human contact. The puppies will be socialised around the family and not stuck in the cage with the dam. The pet owners I have known who have bred their dogs have on the whole made a good job of it. Not a triple A star with an extra medal job of it, but a perfectly decent one, with a happy bitch and confident puppies at the end of it. Puppies are going to come from somewhere and I'd rather have a puppy born in someone's dining-room (yup, that's you, GrumpyBitch) out of a dam owned and worked by a truck driver than one produced in Kennel 22 out of Bitch X99 by someone whose entire living comes from unhappy and suffering dogs.

Obviously some pet owners are incompetent and unkind, but it's unjust to tar them all with the same brush.

And as OP says, crossbred dogs on average have a lower disease burden. If you want a high disease burden, go for a dog with a high COI. And you know where you tend to find those? In show lines.

I disagree strongly. Breeding the family pet is better than puppy farming, but it is still the wrong thing to do. The sires need to be fully health tested and the idea of people just breeding their family pets is horrible. I have a female and I have had many people tell me how lovely she is, how her puppies would have a great temperament and be beautiful, that I should let her have puppies. This is NEVER going to happen as she is my pet and the idea of putting her through that for no reason other than 'it would be cute' is completely unethical.

If you only breed the dogs that win at shows, you will end up with a limited supply of decently bred puppies, and the COI of pedigree breeds will very shortly go through the roof.

@GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman
A mutt may be healthier than a pedigree. But a cross breed may inherit the worst health problems from both sides.
I have a lovely pedigree bitch. I may manage to breed some healthy looking puppies. But in five years? What health issues may they have? Can I manage to find the best homes? What if one or more were returned? Could I breed the best puppies? And why? For money? No. I won’t do that.

I'm struggling to see that if you have a pet dog, do all the health checks on both sire and dam, want a puppy out of your bitch and breed from it, doing everything right from feeding them correctly, to using the vet if necessary, to having a number of people who want a pup out of your bitch, you are doing anything particularly terrible. Yes, there are many dogs in rescue, but actually a lot of them are not suitable for rehoming with a family or with cats, or whatever. A lot of them have problems that have resulted in them being put up for rehoming. A lot of people want a puppy and to start with a clean slate. If one of the parents is a poodle, as that would make the pups more desirable and therefore easier to have a choice of suitable homes, so you can pick the best, then what's the problem? Imo, the problem is that people want a dog immediately, are not prepared to wait, don't do the necessary homework wrt health check etc. and that unscrupulous people take advantage of this. That imo, is the problem, not someone who breeds a poodle cross 'correctly'. And to answer a previous poster, who implied that anyone who breeds a litter and sells some of the puppies, is a puppy farmer, I think they are catastrophising somewhat.
Btw i have never bred any dogs and don't intend to, but i do see there is a market out there for poodle crosses and i would support doing it properly, rather than not at all, which pushes it underground where unscrupulous breeders can take advantage.

I'm struggling to see that if you have a pet dog, do all the health checks on both sire and dam, want a puppy out of your bitch and breed from it, doing everything right from feeding them correctly, to using the vet if necessary, to having a number of people who want a pup out of your bitch, you are doing anything particularly terrible.

But the point is, the vast, vast majority of home breeders don't do anything like that. Health checks for certain breeds cost nearly £1000 - joint tests, heart tests, eye tests, xr-rays - it's not cheap. Then you need to get them vet-checked, micro-chipped and often give them their first jabs too. You need to pay for all the extra food, the bedding they'll destroy. You risk the life of your own pet (if you own the bitch). They need to be de-wormed and de-flead before they go to their new homes.

If you do it all properly, there's very little money to be made from breeding your dog.

Adeline, i agree, that's why i qualified what i said by using a breeder who is only breeding so they get a puppy out of their bitch. The money they sell the rest of the puppies should cover their costs. I agree people shouldn't be breeding to make money.

But that doesn't inherently make all poodle crosses, puppy farmed, which is what has been implied on this thread.

But that doesn't inherently make all poodle crosses, puppy farmed, which is what has been implied on this thread.

The problem is that because none of these crossed are registered breeds, there's no way to make sure everything is being done legitimately. Yes, you could have breeders who have health tested both sire and dam, but you'd have to ask why they were breeding crosses instead of pedigrees?

As you can't register crosses with the KC, it can be a way for breeders to make more money. The dog has three KC registered litters, and then as they can't KC register anymore, go on to have crosses instead. It's not unheard of.

Youve got no more guarantee that a purebred will have come from any better conditions than a crossbreed.

Youve got no more guarantee that a purebred will have come from any better conditions than a crossbreed.

It depends how well you know your breeder and how much research you've done. I knew my breeder from before the bitch was even pregnant, spoke to people who had pups from the previous litter and was involved right the way through the pregnancy.