DESIGNER PUPPYS: Everything you wanted to know about raising designer or mixed breed dogs,
featuring The BOYZ: Prince Alvin His Cuteness (on left) and Sir Simon The Sad, Cockapoo pups.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Ten Reasons Why COCKAPOOS Are The Best Designer Dogs

Simon Sez:
"I'm a young mixed breed dog, a Cockapoo.
I look a lot like my dad Spotty,
a Cocker Spaniel."


What is a Cockapoo? No, it's not a vulgar expression, but a mixed breed dog. If you mate a cocker spaniel (American or English) with a Poodle, the result is a Cockapoo. For the most part, the size of the poodle determines the size of the offspring.

According to the Wikipedia definition of cockapoo, breeders usually choose a toy or minature poodle as one parent. On average, a full-grown Cockapoo weighs 12 to 24 pounds and stands 10 to 15 inches.

Most people think designer dogs represent a recent trend that eventually will fade away. But Cockapoos have been bred since the early 1940's. Contrary to what most designer dog naysayers believe, this mixed breed dog is not a fad.

Here's ten reasons why Cockapoos are the best designer dogs:
1. They can be small dogs (toy poodle/cocker spaniel combination), but not so small you can easily step on and hurt them.
2. They are all different - one might look like a poodle, another more like a cocker spaniel.
3. They are sweet dogs. And they are truly affectionate dogs. Maybe not necessarily lap dogs, but certainly owner-loyal.
4. If you are allergic to dogs, you probably won't react to a Cockapoo pup. Their coats are hair, not fur.
5. They love people and will wiggle their butts when their owner walks in the door and when they meet people on the street.
6. They are easily housetrained (relative to other types of dogs) and obedience-trained.
7. They are extremely photogenic (and easy to photograph).
8. They are energetic and playful.
9. People have a good time guessing what mix/breed they are. Alvin is a Bichon Cockapoo and looks a lot like a Bichon Frise; that really confuses some people.
10. You meet a lot of people when you walk your cockapoo pup!

valmillsy

P.S. Here's an effective obedience training DVD for your Cockapoo puppy or dog -
It's PAWSible! Dog and Puppy Training DVD.

See my review of this training DVD.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's ten reasons why mongrels are the best dogs:
1. They can be small dogs (small breed combinations), but not so small you can easily step on and hurt them.
2. They are all different - one might look like a westie, another more like a chihuahua, depending on the mix.
3. They can be sweet dogs. And affectionate dogs. Maybe not necessarily lap dogs, because every dog is an individual, and each one will have a different personality, and we're not stupid enough to assume all dogs of a certain breed (or mix) will be the same.
4. If you are allergic to dogs, there are plenty of breeds which are suitable, but remember that mix breeds can inherit traits from either parent. And all dogs' coats are hair, not fur.
5. Most love people and will wiggle their butts when their owner walks in the door and when they meet people on the street.
6. Most dogs are easily housetrained, and obedience-trained, if you have time and patience.
7. They are extremely photogenic (and easy to photograph).
8. They are energetic and playful.
9. People have a good time guessing what mix/breed they are.
10. You meet a lot of people when you walk your dog!

valmillsy said...

And your point is that Cockapoos are mutts. You're right, and as a special class of mutts, they do have characteristics that a dog lover might appreciate.

If you don't feel the same way, it could be your loss!

Anonymous said...

No, it's not our loss. We're just the people smart enough to look past the byb's advertisement to see that ALL dogs are the best dogs in the world.

Oh and if your mongrels are so easy to train, why are you constantly asking on forums why your dog won't stop his bad behaviours and why you can't seem to potty train them fully? Doesn't seem like they're any easier to train than any other dog...

valmillsy said...

Yes they are easy to train, and I never ever said they were perfect either, even though they represent the best of the designer dogs.

In the future, I'll remember to discuss only the dogs' positive behaviors on the forums.

Do you have anything else to nitpick?

Anonymous said...

Yes... You're spelling of Puppys is not "poetic license". That's a poor excuse for your inability to spell properly. It's PuppIEs not PuppYs.

And i was saying you can't say they're easier to train than other breeds when you're still having tons of difficulties training them even the simplest things not to mention Alvin who was showing signs of dog aggression despite your oblivion to the fact that YOU were in the wrong in the situation with the Rottweiler (or should i say the "disgusting big mean dog" that your "precious little cockapoo" snarled and instigated a fight with.

valmillsy said...

I'm continuing to post comments from Anonymous even though they may be inaccurate, biased, and sarcastic. I have sympathy for someone who attacks and then hides behind "anonymous." Perhaps this person should get a job with the media!

About the training issues with Alvin - I never said I was a trainer. In fact, I hired a trainer to figure out if my 2 pups were being too aggressive with each other. In the case of Alvin, the dog may be quite trainable, but the trainer is inexperienced. Who do you blame, the dog or the trainer?

But I've learned a lot from training 2 pups at once. And from what I just heard from the groomer this morning, I have to believe it's working. She called them "remarkedly well-behaved."

Emily said...

Just so you know, I posted the first comment here, not the other 'anonymous' ones.

My point wasn't that cockapoos are mutts, my point was that the points you made to validate your claim that cockapoos are the best dog could be applied to ALL dogs.

Anonymous said...

Oh and just exactly how many different breeds of dogs have you owned? It's hardly accurate for you to say your dogs are the best in the world and are the smartest and most easily trained compared to every other breed out there if you've never trained anything else. Have you ever met any herding breed? Their learning abilities and intelligence are MILES above any other breed.

I don't think you'll be able to train either of your mongrels to do this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5TW_uKSCUA

And quite honestly most dogs including bichons, cockers, and poodles don't tend to have the mental capacity to learn something like canine freestyle. Which is why we see mainly herding breeds in it.