Cockapoos- from working or show cocker???

[missminimum]

I know there have been a lot of cockapoo threads and some people do not approve of the breed. I am not looking for opinions on if you approve of the breed, but advice of the pros and cons between a working cockers or show cocker crosses? We have previously had a show cocker, but many cockerpoos seem to be a cross between a poodle and working cocker, sl would like advice on if this makes much difference in a cockapoo. Thanks

“We have the full health history of the kennel club parents”

That’s not what’s meant by health tested - it’s specific tests like hip scoring and genetic testing for hereditary conditions.

Most cockapoo breeders don’t do them all, lots don’t do any.

So if yours does, great, but unfortunately it’s not common, it should be, but it isn’t.

@DoWhatYouLike

Cockerpoo is not a breed, it's a cross between a Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle (in other words, a mongrel). The same for Jackapoo, Labradoodle or any other silly names of cross-breed dogs

The absolute best dog we ever had was a little mongrel, runt of the litter who my dad hand reared from 4 weeks old as the owner was going to drown her. She was incredible!

My poo is working / miniature poodle mix. She has luxating platela in both knees, which is why she ended up in a rescue! She is bloody lovely and sweet but incredibly needy. She has to be with her human as much as possible, even following us to the loo!

She does have little dog syndrome and thinks she is a rottie (we jokingly call her our miniature floofy rottie). She is opinionated and shouty and stubborn and a complete madam but we absolutely adore her 😁

Oh and I mentioned her knees as it is quite common in miniature breeds according to our vet. One knee has had surgery and the other is fairly stable but will need it in the future.

tabulahrasa Which we had and you ask for. Buying off Facebook for a pedigree won’t give you that.

Toy poodles are known for trainability, intelligence and sense of humour. Not seen anything about being neurotic. Our cockapoo from a toy shows no signs of that- just the intelligence, trainability and sense of humour. She’s hysterical.

I have had working cockers for 20 years. Mixing one with a poodle, imo, is just asking for problems.

I do have a small poodle mix. Not sure exactly what as she was a rescue. Very oddly proportioned looks like she could be a cavapoo but also a sausage dog. She is great but quite highly strung. More so that my working cocker tbh in the house.

Working cockers are hard work. But fab and worth it, if you have the time and energy.

I dont have a huge issue with poodle Cross. The only problem is the breeders like I know someone who has a cavapoochon. The poodle father was apparently a toy poodle. Turns out that was a lie. It's actually a labradoodle that weighs 29kg. But at the time cavapoochons were selling for a higher price.

Poodle mixes are big business in the puppy farms that made it through the loophole in the new law

However, I like cockapoos. Like all dogs they need owners that understand and meet their needs.

A show cocker/poodle Cross isn't nor guaranteed to have the same temperament as your well behaved show cocker. Poodles can often be highly strung.

I would suggest joining some poodle Cross fb groups and read alot. The posts from people struggling. You will see themes. Mainly caused by owners not understanding the dog they bought and the potential outcomes. Look at what the common themes, in the problems are. Go from there.

@Z1nn1a

tabulahrasa Which we had and you ask for. Buying off Facebook for a pedigree won’t give you that.

Toy poodles are known for trainability, intelligence and sense of humour. Not seen anything about being neurotic. Our cockapoo from a toy shows no signs of that- just the intelligence, trainability and sense of humour. She’s hysterical.

A very quick google will tell you that poodles are known for being high strung and sensitive. It's not a criticism - just a common trait of the breed.

Just like my chosen breed are often gobby little shits

But it's important to look at all the potential traits you could be inheriting when you go for a mixed breed dog. Yes, some cockapoos are the ideal mix of both but many won't be, and I think a lot of owners aren't prepared for that.

Cockers - even show cockers - require a good amount of exercise and mental stimulation. Combine that with a poodle and you could end up with a very sensitive, high energy, highly-strung dog - not really what I'd describe as an "ideal family pet".

Not sure what first time owner has got to go with it and what the stats for that are
Because first time owners make mistakes.
We all do, I definitely did with my first.
They are heavily puppy farmed, often bred with dodgy temperaments.
It’s easy to get it wrong if your a first timer.

They’re not freely available, far from it
Have you seen Pets4homes, Gumtree and FreeAds lately?!

Why is it highly unlikely to get a health tested cockapoo?
Because they are one of the most popular puppy farmer breeds.
Because most people breed them for cash with no attention to health or temperament.
Like a PP said, many are working cocker.
Why?
Most likely because workers are cheaper.
I prefer workers, but they are ‘intense’ and an interesting choice if you are trying to breed placid pets.

We have the full health history of the kennel club parents and the paperwork for our vet checked puppy
So most likely, your Kennel Club registered breeders were getting additional litters out of the bitch (which is unethical and against the rules of KC membership) by breeding her to the cocker or poodle male, whichever he was, because as an unregistered breed the cockerpoo litter cant be registered.
Double the litters, still retain KC membership and look reputable. Clever.

Our puppy is very well adjusted, well socialised and friendly just like all the other dogs we saw at the the breeders. Certainly not neurotic she takes everything in her stride
Great but just because your dog is like that doesn’t mean they all are.

So much cockapoo snobbery and scaremongering on MN re this breed. It’s laughable
Can’t speak for anyone else but it’s not snobbery on my part.
I have absolutely nothing against mix breeds.
In fact, I don’t agree with ‘proper’ pure pedigree breeding, I think diversity is important for health and I am a huge fan of outcrossing.
What I wrote about cockerpoos is my personal experience of them.
I think they are ugly and most of the ones I see don’t have temperaments I think are particularly good.

Neither of my dogs have my papers, my older one is unlikely to be ‘pure’ border collie, she’s working stock and she probably has whippet and kelpie in there somewhere I suspect.
My younger one is a chihuahua but he isn’t papered.
His parents were much bigger than standard (though he’s actually turned out really small) and his mum was the long nosed normal headed type hated by the Kennel Club so there is a chance his mum had other breeds in there.
Before deciding on my chihuahua we were considering a working jack russel (again, unlikely to be pure)
So yeah, not snobbery on my part.

No puppies are F1. Parents KC registered and with strict limits of litters. So your accusations about a breeder you know nothing about are uncalled for.

Would never get a puppy from the places you mention which actually had very few in our area. It’s laughable you think a Gumtree pup is better than a breeder with amazing facilities, support, experience and reputation.

@Feckaffoutofit

Cockerpoo is not a breed, it's a cross between a Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle (in other words, a mongrel). The same for Jackapoo, Labradoodle or any other silly names of cross-breed dogs

What's your point? Do you think mongrels are inferior dogs?

i wouldnt say that mongrels are inferior , but its a shame that so many purebreed dogs just arent seen as much anymore or are now rarer than goldust because everyone has a thing for cute crossbreeds , bloodhounds are one example of a beautiful purebreed dog that one could easily go a whole bloody lifetime and not see anymore , im 50 this year , i must have been a kid when i last saw one

No puppies are F1
A first generation cross then.
Poodle x cocker spaniel.
Not even cockerpoo x cockerpoo trying to get a set ‘type’ and temperament.

Parents KC registered and with strict limits of litters
FOR THE REGISTERED BREED!
So a limit of 4 purebred poodle litters or 4 purebred cocker litters.
There is nothing stopping the breeder registering the 4 purebred litters and sneaking in extra cockerpoo litters which are not eligible for registration which is what they are probably doing.
Did you check the Kennel name of the bitch by any chance to see how many litters have been registered?

So your accusations about a breeder you know nothing about are uncalled for
I think you are very naive. As most of us are when it comes to sourcing to puppies.
Most breeders are not as good as they pretend to be..

Would never get a puppy from the places you mention which actually had very few in our area. It’s laughable you think a Gumtree pup is better than a breeder with amazing facilities, support, experience and reputation
First of all, I never said that.
You said they are not freely available.
A cockerpoo which as an F1 is a bog standard crossbreed and not a registered breed will not be found under the Kennel Club find a puppy scheme or discover dogs or any dog shows.
In theory you mind find a puppy via the Cockerpoo club but as an F1 is a first generation cross I wouldn’t expect to find breeders of those there.
The cockerpoo club is trying to create a set standard after all which you get by breeding cockerpoo to cockerpoo.

So, if you are not looking at the likes of gumtree to source your unregisterable cross breed, where are these puppies..?

Second, how do you know your breeder is reputable?
Because they have two Kennel Club registered dogs that they health tested?
The reality is the Kennel Club only allow 4 litters to be registered per bitch.
It is highly likely your breeder is exceeding the litter limit and breeding mixed litters in between.

Yep got all the KC paperwork and yes they’re Cockerpoo Club approved and on their list with a limit of 3 litters and we did find them from there.

Wasn’t hard to track them down.

“Which we had and you ask for. Buying off Facebook for a pedigree won’t give you that.”

Who’s advising people to buy from Facebook?

@Z1nn1a

Not sure what first time owner has got to go with it and what the stats for that are. Most of the people buying from the same litter that we met on our weekly visits to see her were well seasoned dog owners. We are first time buyers and really don’t see the issue. A couple of puppy books, masses of info from the breeder and the internet has been all we need. It’s not hard when you research and frankly don’t see how they differ from any other puppy.

They’re not freely available, far from it.

Why is it highly unlikely to get a health tested cockapoo? We have the full health history of the kennel club parents and the paperwork for our vet checked puppy alongside cover for us to do our own vet check as soon as we got her home. Which we did.

Our puppy is very well adjusted, well socialised and friendly just like all the other dogs we saw at the the breeders. Certainly not neurotic she takes everything in her stride. Surely you train and reassure any puppy. They’re highly trainable. At 12 weeks our puppy now goes a teenage school run in the car twice daily, sleeps through 7 hours in her crate, toileting outside and has good lead behaviour on walks. Now working on recall and she’s beginning to recognise her name. Just got to train her out of the slipper nicking and odd nips from over excitement which when you read up most puppies go through and is lessening with training.

She’s gorgeous. So much cockapoo snobbery and scaremongering on MN re this breed. It’s laughable.

Vet checked is not the same as health tested. Has your puppy and/or parents had DNA tests done, eye tests done, or hip scored? Mine has, including its parents.

Cockerpoos are bred simply to make money, either by backyard breeders or puppy farmers. Whereas with a pure bred dog there are breeders that breed for working or dog showing, true hobby breeders who do it for the love of the breed.

Yep mine has.

Sorry but I think that is the most ridiculous thing I’ve read. Pure breeders sell for love, cockapoo breeders don’t.😂Any breeder selling puppies is doing it for money which is fine if done properly which cockapoo breeders can manage just the same as ‘some’ pure bred breeders will manage too.

And why on earth you think it’s highly unlikely to have a health tested cockapoo puppy from health tested parents I don’t know. There are good cockatoo breeders out there the same as there are some some good pure breed breeders. Producing pure breed puppies doesn’t make you a good breeder by default.

Just because your show cocker is calm and easy going doesn’t mean they all are. I got one after a lot of research and meeting a friend’s lovely, placid dog. Mine is now 11 and still completely and utterly bonkers. Into absolutely everything and follows me everywhere. Haven’t had a pee in peace for years.

It’s a shame there’s so much snobbery about breeds. All breeds start as mongrels and are bred, developed.

A lot of cockerpoos I meet are pretty neurotic and full on but a lot are quite sweet too.
I think the danger is that you want a dog that reminds you of your Cocker Spaniel but as it’s a cross it could be a lot more poo than cocker.
That’s fine as long as you understand and accept that you might get a dog that’s got the worst breed traits of both

@Z1nn1a

Yep mine has.

Sorry but I think that is the most ridiculous thing I’ve read. Pure breeders sell for love, cockapoo breeders don’t.😂Any breeder selling puppies is doing it for money which is fine if done properly which cockapoo breeders can manage just the same as ‘some’ pure bred breeders will manage too.

That's not what I said. They breed for the love of the breed. they keep a puppy for themselves to show and to better the breed. They make very little if any money as generally only breed when they want to keep at least one puppy for themselves. It costs a lot of money to show dogs, it's done as a hobby because they love the breed that they into, not for the money. Genetic health tests and hip score tests are expensive.

@Saltyquiche

It’s a shame there’s so much snobbery about breeds. All breeds start as mongrels and are bred, developed.

I am snobby about people supporting backyard breeders.

@Saltyquiche

It’s a shame there’s so much snobbery about breeds. All breeds start as mongrels and are bred, developed.

It's not the breed itself that's necessarily the issue.

It's where the vast, vast majority of them come from - puppy farms and backyard breeders.

I don't think that "legitimate" breeders of purebred dogs are necessarily more trustworthy than those who breed crossbred dogs. I have serious issues with the way many purebreds have been developed, and I think that genetic diversity is generally positive and something to be encouraged.

Attitudes to crossbreeds can be so odd on MN. Some crossbreeds are celebrated (lurchers, sprockers, etc.) while others are scorned. I've never understood that. I've had both purebreds and crossbreeds myself (though admittedly no poodle crosses), all of them amazing dogs, all of them individuals that were not defined by the characteristics of their breed(s).

I read the thread title as ‘slow cooker’ rather than ‘show cocker’. Just relieved that this is not a recipe thread.

@certainshepherdpups

I don't think that "legitimate" breeders of purebred dogs are necessarily more trustworthy than those who breed crossbred dogs. I have serious issues with the way many purebreds have been developed, and I think that genetic diversity is generally positive and something to be encouraged.

Attitudes to crossbreeds can be so odd on MN. Some crossbreeds are celebrated (lurchers, sprockers, etc.) while others are scorned. I've never understood that. I've had both purebreds and crossbreeds myself (though admittedly no poodle crosses), all of them amazing dogs, all of them individuals that were not defined by the characteristics of their breed(s).

I agree with all of this. OP we have a Springer Poodle Cross, and I also walk another one, and have met a third, they are all lovely intelligent, family pets.

Plenty of dogs of differing breeds are supporting backyard breeders. It’s pretty easy to buy a cockatoo from a reputable breeder if you’re patient and going by the waiting lists many people are.