I have worked with many different dog breeds over the years but ultimately I chose this medium sized hybrid dog. Why did I select this dog for a breeding program and all my fascination?

Easy

I just picked the dog that is, in my opinion anyway, the perfect companion dog. The Cockapoo makes an amazing family pet for a house with children or for singles or couples with social, active lives. Just as they are suitable for the working person who wants a great friend to come home to at the end of the day. They are extremely versatile and are just as perfect for a senior citizen in a quiet home as they are for the active and loud household with several rambunctious children. The cockapoo, in my opinion, is just an all-around great family addition. They aren’t a particularly destructive breed and they are relatively low-maintenance.

Of course all companion animals require care, training and maintenance and the Cockapoo is no exception, but in compared to many other breeds this is a carefree, easy, happy-go-lucky kind of dog. And it sure doesn’t hurt that the Cockapoo is an all-around beautiful dog with a sound build.

Structure

The cockapoo is not so small and light-boned that they cannot be safely in homes with children. Rambunctious or little children can (and do) seriously injure small dogs when accidentally stepping on, falling on, smashing or crushing the dog. Children are children, they can’t help themselves. Very small dogs (less than 15 pounds) are not advisable for homes with children. They can become nervous or afraid of children and therefore aggressive toward them. They get injured frequently which causes pain and lots of medical bills.

Larger dogs like the Labrador and the Golden Retriever are, well, large. Big dogs can be fun, but big means more; more food, more poop, more exercise, more space required, more everything! A cockapoo won’t clear your coffee table with an excited wag of his tail!

When a big dog decides to chew up something in the house he can cause some serious damage with those steel-trap jaws! A cockapoo might decide to chew something up in those naughty puppy stages, but it is a lot less likely to be serious damage! (But things easily chewed can still be precious and/or expensive, of course).

Larger dogs have accidents in the house, too. And when they do it isn’t cute. Cockapoos have accidents, or get sick, but it isn’t going to ruin your floors if taken care of relatively quickly.

A cockapoo can be trained to go potty inside on a newspaper area or a puppy pad, or outside, or both. This, combined with their ability to get all the exercise they need in a relatively tiny indoor space, makes the cockapoo an excellent dog for apartment living.

Cockapoos are not very heavy, either. They are much less likely to get excited and knock down your small child or toddler. They are less likely to tear thin child-skin with a playful smack of the paw or attempt at “shake”. They are also less likely to destroy wooden floors and carpets with their nails.

Being smaller, the cockapoo is also easier to travel with and is more likely to go with you on family vacations (when able) and will love every second of them!

And, of course, the low-shedding aspect means less clean-up and less brushing. The cockapoo does not require daily or weekly combing unless you want a long hair style. With regular clippings (every 2.5-3 months) you will not have to brush or comb out your dog at all except the ears and the hindquarters/back legs where your dog sits down to prevent tangles. And bathing a little cockapoo is a relatively easy task. So is transporting one in your vehicle.

If your dog gets sick or falls down you can lift him/her into the car and to the vet’s! I do not enjoy lifting the dead-weight of a bulky Labrador retriever. Those guys can be solid muscle and long and very awkward to carry!

The cockapoo is an athletic dog, but will also enjoy being a couch potato. This dog is small enough to be exercised completely indoors, so forget frigid blizzard walks or having a hyper, destructive dog cooped up in the winter! They do have energy, especially for the first year of their puppy life, so they will require play time and mental stimulation. Cockapoos are excellent fetch players! A good game of fetch can easily wear out a cockapoo indoors on a blustery winter’s day.

The cockapoo can be your running buddy and will happily jog alongside you for a few miles, just remember that puppies under a year old are not ready for extremely strenuous training and adults do require consistent athletic training the same as a human does. Don’t expect an adult cockapoo to be able to trot more than a mile or two at a jaunt without some athletic training first! Just the same as you, they can hurt themselves working too hard too fast, but with proper training your Cockapoo can be your workout buddy! Cockapoos are eager to please and do have a moderate energy level and are happy to accompany you on your athletic endeavors! If you’re training for a marathon and want a doggie running buddy I do recommend a shepherding (or other very high energy breed for you, though.

Unlike a hound dog, the cockapoo won’t run away the second he catches an interesting scent. They aren’t solitary dogs like many breeds, either. This makes them very people and family oriented. If you have extremely little time to spend with your dog (being physically around the dog as well as interacting with the dog) and you can’t get another dog to keep him/her company, you may want to think about getting a more solitary breed of dog. Cockapoos are extremely social guys and may become anxious, yappy or destructive if left alone for very long stretches of time too often. This is the case with all social family-type dogs. You don’t want your friend to be unhappy or to develop serious behavioral problems as a result of improper socialization. Cockapoos do well alone during normal working hours and are happy and thrive as long as they are given affection and attention and mental stimulation every day. They are not a breed to throw in the backyard on a chain for days on end, however. This would mean anguish and torment for this very social breed.

Cockapoos do make good watch dogs. They are very likely to bark when someone strange is on your property. They aren’t likely to yap at anything that moves when they are not isolated or overly bored. They should not bark incessantly. They are not silent dogs, though. They will warn you of trespassers (and you’ll never need a doorbell again) but they are not good guard dogs. (Meaning they aren’t aggressive, so they aren’t likely to put their money where their mouth is… their bark is worse than their bite.) They may let you know a burglar is in the house, but if the burglar pets the dog they just might follow the intruder home for a visit! This trait is good for most families, since a non-aggressive non-fighting breed is a much safer breed to have around children.

A dog that is not bred to guard, attack, fight or do anything inherently aggressive is MUCH less likely to snap, bite or full-on attack any person. An aggressive breed of dog may be raised to be loving and calm and gentle, but generation upon generation of purposeful selective breeding instills powerful instincts in dogs and, well, instincts are instincts. The dog can react to sudden and surprising events with those instincts… which could be very bad for the person that is nearest the dog. All dogs can bite, but the cockapoo is not likely to bite. They are like a smaller Labrador with less energy and less desire to chew everything to pieces, or a smaller golden retriever that doesn’t shed mountains of golden hair on your floor. Cockapoos make excellent companions for children and the elderly as well as young and active adults.

Cockapoos are trainable and mild mannered. For this reason they are favored as therapy dogs. Many of our cockapoo puppies have gone to homes to be trained as therapy dogs. This is wonderful and we love that! If you’re looking for a therapy dog, look no further. This is the breed for you!

A well-bred Cockapoo should not be suspicious or wary of strangers. Visitors to the household are more likely to have trouble keeping the friendly and affectionate dog from sitting in their lap or lying across their feet. Cockapoos should be extremely tolerant, patient and forgiving. This applies especially to children. Babies and toddlers can be rough with dogs and should always be closely supervised around any animal, even trusted family pets. That said a Cockapoo will not only tolerate the ear and hair yanking, toy stealing and noise-making antics of the human baby but will actually follow the baby around and seek out that excitable toddler to play with. Many dogs (often wisely) avoid small children but a Cockapoo can be found following them around, despite the discomfort that is sure to ensue! Is it the love that the small child heaps upon the Cockapoo that drives this dog to form that fast bond with his pint sized master? Is it the endless abundance of cheerios and fruit bits and crumbs that follow around this strange small human? Or maybe it is the knowledge that this little person will be there to throw plenty of balls, run in the sprinklers and heap piles of doggie kibble out for him in the many years to come. Either way the bond between a child and a dog is very precious. Few childhood memories are as dear as those involving the beloved family dog. Cockapoos make incredible companions for children.

The Cockapoo is bred from gun dogs on both sides of the family, so he should not startle easily and should take readily to water. There are few things I enjoy more than watching my silly dogs leap in puddles in my driveway with my children after a steamy summer downpour. Our dogs are happy to sleep through a thunderstorm (perhaps at the foot of a frightened child’s bed) and relaxed on the end of a leash as we walk down the pier watching fireworks on the fourth of July.

Since this breed is often bred in early generations their coat can vary greatly in texture and appearance. This is nice in that there is surely a coat type for everyone. There are tighter, denser curls and loose, soft and shaggy waves. There is a soft, shorter and silky coat that is shiny and lovely and still very low-shedding! Cockapoos can have facial furnishings (the mustache and eyebrows and bushy round face) or a smooth short-haired muzzle and an “open” face. Both are lovely and if I had to pick a favorite I don’t think I’d be able to! The vast majority of Cockapoos have the fluffy teddy-bear face and that, in general, is what people expect when they think of a Cockapoo, but the open faced dog has a lovely head and muzzle as well. Cockapoos come in just about every color of the rainbow so there is one for every taste. And generally I find the cockapoo breed to be the all-around perfect family dog (as if you couldn’t tell)!

All dogs have their pros and cons, of course. The cockapoo is not as smart and easy to train as an Australian shepherd or a Border collie, for example, but they don’t become as easily bored and destructive as these dogs do, either. And unlike a working or herding breed dog, they do not require hours of physical exercise every day.

While the hybrid Cockapoo is supposed to benefit from added health and vigor due to the crossing of established breeds they can still be prone to genetic defects and can suffer from as many problems as the parent breeds. With any dog, responsible breeding practices are required for this animal to display the outstanding temperament and sweet, clownish personality that make this dog a wonderful companion for families with children.

I love these dogs! If you’re looking for an extremely affectionate, eager to love and gentle family pet, the cockapoo is very likely the dog for you!