Poodle mix dogs

[kitkatsky]

Hi everyone,

I'm really sorry for the stupid question but I'm starting to research the best dog to add to our family (we have a young child as well as the older one who wants the dog so while I'm looking at rescues not much is suitable...) It feels like a cocker spaniel or cockapoo would be the best fit for us in these early research stages but I see a lot of negativity towards poodle mixes on here. I understand the unethical breeders and puppy farms side of it but thought a mixed breed might be better than an overbred pedigree from a health and puppy wellbeing point of view? Very happy to be told I'm wrong and as I've said we're early in the research stages and a pup is at least a year off as I want to get it right! Just wondered why the negativity towards poodle mixes?

I have a poodle, what ever you decide remember that all poodle /crosses require grooming, at the mo it's standing at £50 every 8 weeks, at an excellent groomer. I've paid 30 for what amounted to a bald dog, when my old groomer retired, and in London 10 years ago it was costing me £70.

I have a Bichon cross Cavalier, hes a lovely sweet gentle dog and I absolutely adore him. If you do your research there are good breeders out there, both his parents were health tested and at the age of 9 he is a very happy healthy dog. He enjoys his walks but is equally happy having a cuddle on the sofa. Unfortunately you will have to deal with the dog snobs and be told that you've paid a fortune for a mongrel 🙄 but let's be honest all breeds of dogs were crossed to get the desired temperament or looks but for some reason many of the dog world can't handle two pedigrees being crossed to produce a new type/breed of dog (you know the thing they've been doing for years 🙄). Whichever you choose be it a cross or "pedigree" enjoy your new dog 🐕

"but thought a mixed breed might be better than an overbred pedigree"
What makes yo think a poodle purchased from a very reputable poodle breeder who's got the health and welfare of the dogs she breeds and the breed it self as her main motivator will be "overbred"?
My miniature came from one of the most reputable poodle breeders in the UK she rarely breeds puppies may a litter every couple of years if your lucky, she's totally dedicated to the breed my dog at 10 has never had a days illness, he's happy healthy well adjusted and equally importantly he has no neurosis that seems common with poodle crosses especially ones on MN, but then thats not surprising as she places so much emphasis on temperament ,she knows everything you can know about the breed including how to breed fantastic dogs because this is her life times work. Everyone he meet admires him plenty of people are surprised he's a poodle because for some reason they have IMO and IME an incorrect reputation for being a bit neurotic.
I very much doubt that you will find a breeder of any type of poodle cross whose breeder is a knowledgeable as an experienced poodle breeder whether is in regards to health checks or breeding a dog with a lovely stable temperament.

What people look for in a family pet has changed a lot over time. Families don’t necessarily want dogs primarily designed working anymore. They don’t often don’t want pedigrees because of their health problems from years of line breeding and increasingly smaller gene pools. Families have a new checklist which often includes health tested, non shedding, small, intelligent and good with children and other dogs. Poodle crosses for the bill.

personally I feel the KC and crufts are borderline criminal for enabling the breeding of dogs purely for ridiculous and often disabling breed standards. As a KC breeder you aren’t required to health test and large scale breeders often keep bitches and their puppies in kennels.

That said there is a huge problem with both puppy defames ‘back yard’ breeders in the cross breed world. The latter being entirely different from a home breeder and it’s wilfully obtuse to confuse the two.

OP re your comment on basset hounds, we have one and she is just fab. Laid back and lovely to have in the house and with our young daughter. They are scent hounds so are known to be stubborn, but not untrainable, they just have a ‘what’s in it for me’ attitude. Ours can be off lead and is from a working line background rather than the show version. Underrated breed.

How is she so experienced if she breeds one litter every couple of years? That’s not many to gain so much experience from.

There are plenty of breeders, pedigree and cross breeds, who are experienced and put the welfare of their dogs first. I know a lot of very experienced breeders or cross breeds who are excellent at what they do.

Families have a new checklist which often includes health tested, non shedding, small, intelligent and good with children and other dogs. Poodle crosses for the bill.

Except they don't fit the bill, there's no guarantee a poodle cross will be non shedding. If non shedding was important or people did more than 5 minutes research they'd realise a poodle cross isn't the answer.

Disclaimer I am a vet, a cockerpoo owner and a poodle owner.
I bought my cockerpoo 12 years ago when really the only breeders were the people pursuing the idea first put forward in the times in 1859 ( yes cockerpoos have been around that long) of a dual purpose (water and ground) compact working dog. I bought mine from hip scored and optigen dna tested for pra.
The few cockerpoos that I saw at that time had great temperaments and they were mostly in active households often used for gun work or agility. Since the. They have increased in popularity people buy them as a teddy bear dog and dog less training (sadly sometimes none) there are many lovely easy to work with dogs, but there is a rapidly increasing number of nervy, anxious dogs and some sadly down right dangerous ones.
I had always wanted a standard poodle and went to an assured breeder who tests for far more than the kennel club require too ensure I got minimised to risk of inherited disease. He is a super dog so loving and fun. I describe him as the professor highly intelligent can learn to do anything, but no common sense.
It is much easier with a poodle now to know what you are getting than it is with the cockerpoos.
As I get older I will decrease my size of poodle so when I am 90 I will have a toy poodle

I’m not putting her or myself but you’re going to have to take my word for it the breeder of my podded is one of the most highly regarded breeders of miniature poodles I’m the UK. She has many many years of experience of poddle breeding showing successfully at the highest possible judging again at the highest possible level and advising miniature poddle breeders and owners. I stumbled across her in my hunt for a happy healthy well adjusted miniature poddle it’s only afterwards when I purchased the puppy that I found out about well deserved reputation in the world of miniature poodles. Many reputable breeders don’t breed litters every year as they personally only own a couple of carefully selected dogs and breed to show at the highest level and therefore only need want a few dogs to do this.
Whilst I agree that some KC breed are unhealthy monstrosities this doesn’t apply to all, health screened miniature poodles have a reputation for being long lived and exceedingly healthy.

I have a Sproodle (Springer Spaniel & Poodle) and he is the most loving dog I've ever had.
His coat isn't curly but he still requires lots of brushing. His ears dangle in his water bowl, he destroys any soft toys he has but loves a ball.

Despite training him since we got him he stills runs off when he gets his nose to the ground and follows a scent trail. He comes back to me when he's ready or on the blow of a whistle if I think he's gone too far.
He is loyal, funny, cuddly, energetic, goofy, stupid, a fast learner and I love him to the moon and back 💙💙💙

at the vets this morning as our cockerpoo had an ear infection, prone to them but so are cockers. She sees a few with allergies, ours has to have cytopoint, but lots of breeds have allergies.

she v good natured, not any particular trouble.

Just met two cockapoos on our walk in the park. One was lovely, but the other anxious (according to owner) and dog-reactive, so had to be kept on a lead.

As are plenty of other dogs - we’ve met a variety of reactive dogs of different breeds on our walks.

@SirChenjins Fair enough, but this thread is about cockapoos. We also meet a lot of anxious cavapoos. They are usually just scared though, not reactive.

The thread’s about poodle mixes. My point is that reactivity is not limited to cockapoos - far from it.

When we were looking at dogs, a man we knew gave us advice based on his cockerpoo.....dont get one. He sais it was stubborn, needy and very shouty. His was 5 and still mad 🤣,
We didn't not get one solely based on this, but we didnt end up with one.

We knew we were getting a dog when our son was 4, we had said it for 2 years, that just happened to be right in the middle of lockdown. We were not going to let that stop our plans, we did our research on the breeder (met mum and dad) and got a poodle mix (cavapoo).
The price went up really just the same as others, a £300 jack Russell was going for €1200 when we were looking, but the price didn't bother us we had know what we wanted.

Our Cavapoo is great, she may be a mongrel, but we love her. We have had pedigrees in the past and decided definately not to this time, the dogs homes wouldn't allow us to adopt, so we ended up with the best addition to our family.

She trained easily, is great with our DS, calm when its just us, but loads of energy if she plays. Needs loads of maintenance on her coat, even inbetween grooms, but the best dog. 👌

We have an Australian labradoodle. Both parents fully health screened, pups seen with the mother in the home. He's 18 months now and the breeder is available if we need her for anything. We're also in a WhatsApp group with all the people who have a pup from the litter.
He's a wonderful dog, and arrived really well socialised to various sounds, adults, children etc. he's been a fantastic addition to our family.

We have a cockapoo, 11 months now. Shes a gorgeous fluff ball of horror. I adore her, but is hard work. She's scared of scooters. She was scared of bikes but have put the hours in making the dcs ride their bikes up and down the street next to her until she calmed the fuck down.

She's scared of bigger dogs but always wants to run over to play with them, then panics. (Worried shes like father Dougal and doesn't understand small vs far away...)

She barks like a crazy demented thing if any of the following can be seen from a window: cat, squirrel, piegon, delivery people, the man who lives in the other half of our semi (his wife and kids are fine). She barks if ds puts his feet on the coffee table (I'm fine with her enforcing that rule TBF)

She is fussy about what she'll eat. She doesn't like anyone coming into our house, although is OK with dds friends as long as they provide snacks via dropping food.

She steals ds's dirty socks and hides them in her bed, and loses her shit if you take them back. She eats my work shoes. Only my shoes, only the expensive ones. She has developed an issue with my slippers and growls at them.

However, many dogs from many different breeds can be a dick. Im not sure if this is all due to being a cockapoo, or if she's just annoying.

My sibling has a purebred poodle and he's lovely. Really good natured and gentle, very loving. He also doesn't have that dog smell!

The thing I didn't realise about cockerpoos etc is that they're mostly not, as I once assumed, bred from a poodle and a cocker (one of each) but from nth generation cockerpoos.

My sibling and I discussed breeding the poodle and my goldie to get goldendoodles but we can't face the thought of actually doing it and will be getting them neutered as soon as we can.