Where do cockapoo and labradoodle owners usually get their dogs from?

[sortaottery]

This post is motivated by curiousity and a slightly OTT enthusiasm for all things canine.

I was wondering where cockapoo and labradoodle owners acquire their dogs from?

The cockapoo/labradoodle owners I've met don't seem like the type to buy intentionally from puppy farms. (Though since I imagine that type to have fangs, horns and red eyes, my impression might be incorrect).

But a lot of traditional dog breeders seem very down on the new "designer" mixes.

There a loads of them about, and they must come from somewhere.

I'm agnostic about them myself. I can see how a cockerpoo might go wrong, ending up with the highly strung temperament from the poodle side and the craziness from the spaniel side. (Love spaniels, btw). Yet looking at the harm done to dogs by breeding for exaggerated looks over breeding for health and happiness, it's hard to imagine how they could be any worse.

https://www.rvc.ac.uk/research/facilities-and-resources/animal-welfare-science-and-ethics/news/new-rvc-study-challenges-common-beliefs-on-desirable-behaviours-in-designer-doodle-crossbreeds

Some are really lovely but a lot seem to be owned by neurotic "mums" who bought them because they are "hypoallergenic". These are the ones who seem to tend towards being yappy and cause other dogs to lunge at them. It's usually only a character flaw but it is easily heightened by a fearful owner or one who is more worried about a clean house than walking their pet.

They will come from puppy farms you just don’t realise it. Big breeders send puppies to ‘normal’ people to advertise as a litter from their beloved pets pretending that they were bred in a home environment not a breeding facility. These people get a cut of the money for duping the public over their new puppies.
I wish the dog breeding business would disappear, I have a beautiful ex breeding mama and deal with the effects of the abuse she suffered

I got my cavapoo from a lovely breeder in Somerset. I met my dog’s mum (cavalier King Charles) and dad (standard poodle). I drove from London to get him 16 years ago. He is still going strong.

A mixture of puppy farms and good breeders. Much like every other dog breed I guess. We got ours from a well known breeder. I mean, if someone wanted a dachshund I’m sure you can get ones bred in awful conditions.

Thanks, everyone. It is good to hear that some people (like @stevienicksismygodmother ) have the experience of getting a Doodle from a responsible and caring source. Sixteen is a great age. My childhood dog was a pedigree Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. She was the sweetest thing, and I could spam the thread remorselessly with anecotes about her (the dead fish incident, the Easter Egg disaster, the day she decided to become a Bog Dog and didn't like it...etc). She developed a heart murmur and died in her sleep when she was ten.

But it also sounds, depressingly and perhaps predictably, as if the majority of Doodles are bred and sold by puppy mills, albeit by disguised ones. The lengths these people will go to hide their business practises are dreadful. And today's buyers, trained by decades of Amazon to expect purchases to be nearly instantaneous and easy, may not be prepared to look below the surface. Plus, I imagine the puppy mills are ready to fake their way through some of the checks.

I'm glad @OopsImUpsideDown, @Pointynoseowner and @pastadish have given homes to rescue Doodles. Many Tears is a great charity. The teacher at my evening class has rehomed several dogs from there over the years, and they always seem lovely.

Thanks @somethingnewandexciting for the link to the RVC article. I've saved the full study, which looks worth reading.

I think that people generally have no patience, and don't think sufficiently. Putting the whole designer breed thing to one side, the amount of customers I have who have bought a dog because it looks cute and haven't taken into consideration the generations of selective breeding that have been undertaken to accentuate certain traits, and then wonder why their Dachshund barks a lot, or their Husky killed a sheep.

Designer cross breed are a step in the wrong direction as the mix of bad genetics by unscrupulous breeders is worse here as they are playing to an extreme end of the above market.

Admittedly as a trainer, I tend to see more dogs with issues than not, but many of them have issues directly due to the quality of breeding. Then when you add to the mix that owners appear to think that training can be undertaken for five minutes a day over a month and then everything will be fine, and you have a whole world of problems.

We live in a throw away society who want instant gratification with little to no effort, and dogs are only one example of it. Very sad for the dogs.

Puppy farms!

one poodle stud x many different breed bitches

= churning out doodlydoos at an industrial rate.

you don’t need more than one poodle.

A standard poodle and a cavalier King Charles bitch?

even that is not ethical or sensible. They’re lucky the puppies weren’t huge and she was able to birth the litter. If in fact they were the parents.

i would not class someone breeding that mix as “lovely” or caring about the dogs.

@sortaottery Your second post highlights exactly how people get sucked in by puppy farmers.

You think Stevienicksismygodmother got their dog from a responsible and caring source. Based on what - the poster describing her as lovely?
No one who cares about the health and welfare of their CKC bitch would mate it with a standard poodle.
There is no mention of either of the dogs having had their respective breed specific health tests.
It sounds to me like someone owned two dogs and at best had an accidental mating. And at worst mated them purely for money. Back then, they'd have been called a back yard breeder.

I've no idea of the exact circumstances from which the dog was acquired, and as such would consider it rather too internet to tell a stranger they're wrong about their own impressions and experiences.

Puppy farms/unscrupulous breeders of mutts

And many tears is an awful “charity” that enables puppy farming

Basic dog knowledge though.

they may think the breeder was lovely. It’s not about her impressions or experiences, it’s the fact that breeding a large dog with a small bitch will result in puppies that are too big for the bitch to birth successfully.

basic biology tells us that crossing a standard poodle with a ckc bitch is incredibly risky for the dog and will more than likely need a c-section, if she or the pups actually survive.

so yes, I am reasonably sure that poster is wrong, wherever her impression. They chose to put that dogs, and her puppies lives in danger. What sort of person does that?

And yet without knowing the exact circumstances, you have accepted their opinion and singled them out as having got their dog from 'a responsible and caring source'. That is exactly how and why people are persuaded to buy from puppy farmers.

Not sure what 'too Internet' means. But in any thread discussing dog breeding, unethical breeding will be called out.

My rescue isn’t a doodle she’s a full Cavalier King Charles and like you said the absolute sweetest thing in the world but to watch the effects of what she suffered would literally break your heart for that sweet girl.
And surely no one can think breeding a cavalier with a male standard poodle is in any way right?! It’s utterly horrific and I can only hope it’s a mistake and she was actually bred with a miniature poodle

Probably wasn’t a standard poodle, though. Many people aren’t familiar with a standard poodle!

Aroumd 20 years ago i knew a woman who jumped on the money band wagon. She already bred puppies for profit from
her own dogs or used her males as outside studs. She then realised that these poodle crosses were becoming fashionable so bought a male poodle. She studded him
out to any female KC, non KC any breed. She also used him on her own bitches and made an absolute fortune. I don’t think her story is unusual

I agree with this. I hate dog breeding of any kind. I absolutely love dogs and have had them all my life but I would rather see the whole dog species go extinct than to have them continually used and abused as a commodity to make easy money.

I cannot imagine ever needing money and instead of getting a job I use a living soul to churn out puppies to make me money. Then hand over little souls to whoever will pay me regardless of whether they will care for them and love them properly.

I think nowadays we think breeders are ethical and nice and good if they don’t keep their dogs locked in a shed and beat the shit out of them. The bar is low

I got mine from a lovely breeder about ten minutes drive away, met the parents, met the rest of the litter, saw the home etc

Were the parents health tested? And I don't mean a vet looked them over and said they looked fine.

And how old was the bitch? How many litters did they plan on having from her? How many other dogs in the home? How experienced were they? What vetting did they do of you? What other vetting did you do of them?

(on top of @SpanielsGalore question about health tests - and I would also add heart tests as well, as those are critical).

Did the breeder own both parents?

that’s always a red flag to me. The chances of a small breeder owning two dogs that are suitable to breed from- and multiple litters at that, is very small.

that and if they own two intact dogs in one home, it’s pretty much guaranteed the bitch is mating every time she comes into heat, so will be having many litters close together.

That’s a popular opinion but if many tears didn’t take the dogs, they’d be slaughtered at the end of their use for breeding.
It has literally zero impact on the puppy farms whether they save the dogs or not. I’ve heard from a very reliable first hand source in rescue of some having incinerators onsite - surely it’s better not to destroy the dogs and give them a chance as individuals?