Essential Things to Know About Cockapoos

The Cockapoo may have a parrot-like name but it’s very much a dog. In fact, it’s a hunting dog or at least it’s the descendant of hunting dogs. Is it a good pet, however? Given its popularity it’s got to be, right? Let’s find out below as we go through the 7 essential facts to know about the Cockapoo.

7 things to know before getting a Cockapoo

Crossbreeds like the Cockapoo are typically called “designer dogs” which sounds almost derogatory. They are distinguished in that way because they are not just random crossbreeds – they are specifically designed with certain parents to achieve the best and healthiest possible result.

So, what was the Cockapoo “designed” to be, and was the desired result achieved? Let’s see.

1. The Cockapoo is one of the first designer dog breeds

Not only is the Cockapoo a designer breed, but it is also one of the first designer breeds, at least officially. After all, all breeds were intentionally “designed” by breeders, The Cockapoo’s emergence is just when the concept of designer crossbreeds started being used.

Either way, the cross was made in the 1960s as an attempt to combine the mild manner of the American Cocker Spaniel with the social nature and low-shedding coat of the Poodle. And it worked! The Cockapoo – at least a properly bred Cockapoo – is exactly what it was bred to be. It has the Poodle’s social nature with the Cocker’s calm nature. It has a low-shedding coat that’s easy to maintain with a quick daily brushing, and it has a manageable small size.

2. As the offspring of two hunting breeds, the Cockapoo is both intelligent and trainable

Both Cocker Spaniels and Poodles are bred as hunting dogs, albeit for slightly different roles on the field. Regardless, as all hunting and gun dog breeds, both of the Cockapoo’s parents are smart, obedient, have a strong people-pleasing instinct, and are easy to train. The Poodle heritage, in particular, helps greatly with the Cockapoo’s trainability?

Does this mean that the Cockapoo doesn’t need the training to be obedient? No, that’s not how this works. Your dog will still need obedience training but it will go through it much quicker and smoother than many other breeds.

Once the obedience training is done, you can train your dog pretty much anything any other dog can do. From complex games to various tasks around the house, the Cockapoo’s people-pleasing personality makes it a joy to be around.

3. On average, a Cockapoo would be more sociable than a Cocker Spaniel but not as much as a Poodle

As we mentioned, one of the few big reasons for crossing an American Cocker with a Poodle in the first place is to make the resulting crossbreed a tad more social. This isn’t to say that Cocker Spaniels are anti-social – they certainly are perfectly gentle and affectionate in their own way.

However, purebred Cockers can be a bit self-sufficient and buried in their own nose, so to speak. Most Cocker owners can attest to being in a situation where they try to introduce their dog to a friend and yet the Cocker keeps sniffing something invisible in the opposite direction.

Thanks to the Poodle in the cross, however, the Cockapoo is a very well-balanced dog. With proper socialization early in its life, the Cockapoo can easily get along with kids, other dogs, and non-canine pets such as cats, and it can tolerate guests and strangers at home.

What’s more, this cross doesn’t have much of a tendancy for barking too, making it even easier to have folks over.

Do keep in mind that this friendly and social nature comes with a price, however – separation anxiety. This is something very typical for all highly intelligent and social breeds and the Cockapoo doesn’t escape it. Simply put, this means that leaving your dog home alone for too long (and too regularly) will result in huge distress for the dog. This can show as barking (even as a Cockapoo), destructive tendencies toward your furniture, disobedience, depression, and more.

Simply put, if you’re going to have to leave your dog home alone too often, it’s best to consider a different breed.

4. These dogs have pretty balanced exercise needs that are easy to meet thanks to their small size

As former hunting dogs, you’d expect Cockapoos to require lots of exercise, right? Well, they do, but that’s largely offset by their small size. After all, the Cockapoo is just about 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 cm) tall at the shoulder and rarely heavier than 19 pounds. This puts them squarely in the “small dog” category, nowhere near the size of a Standard Poodle.

So, all the exercise this dog really needs is a couple of 30 to 40 minute walks outside a day. The rest of its playtime a Cockapoo can easily expel at home, playing fetch in the living room.

If you do have a yard, a Cockapoo would love to play there as well, of course. Any breed can benefit from having access to a yard, technically speaking. But the Cockapoo really is one of those breeds that adapts to an apartment pretty easily – both thanks to its manageable exercise needs and its low tendancy for barking.

5. The Cockapoo’s coat is gorgeous, low-shedding, and easy to maintain

One of the signature traits of the Cockapoo is its coat. Thanks to its Poodle heritage, the Cockapoo should have a single-layer coat, resulting in less shedding and fewer allergy problems for you. The coat should also be long and either curly or wavy. In terms of color, there are numerous single-color, bi-color, and tri-color variations – basically all variants typical for Poodles and Cocker Spaniels such as black, cream, white, red, apricot, chocolate, and more.

Even though a Cockapoo’s coat is low-shedding, this doesn’t mean that it doesn’t require care, however. On the contrary – **daily brushing is recommended **for this breed to keep its hair from entangling and matting. The occasional trim is also a good idea to keep those curls manageable.

Unlike Poodles, who often get a bad rep for being too “fancy” with their haircuts, the Cockapoo has a very casual look thanks to its cross with the Cocker Spaniel. So, by getting a Cockapoo you’re still getting a low-shedding, (almost) hypoallergenic dog with gorgeous hair but none of the stigma surrounding Poodles.

6. You’ll want to make sure that you’re really getting a Cockapoo

We tried emphasizing the importance of getting your Cockapoo from the right place a couple of times but we might as well say it explicitly. There are a lot of Cockapoos in shelters or being bred in puppy mills that aren’t really the breed we’re describing here.

That’s because a “true” Cockapoo is a 50/50 cross between a Poodle and an American Cocker Spaniel. It must also be a healthy cross, meaning that the breeder should have worked hard to make sure there are no hereditary diseases passed down their pups.

However, a lot of the Cockapoos we see are just random crosses of Cocker Spaniels with numerous other breeds, sometimes including a bit of Poodle, sometimes – not. Obviously, we’re not putting such crossbreeds down – by and far they are still awesome dogs. Very often they are just no Cockapoos. More importantly – they are rarely as healthy as a properly bred dog.

It’s also worth mentioning that even a 50/50 Poodle and Cocker Spaniel isn’t always a Cockapoo. That’s because crossing a Poodle with an English Cocker Spaniel rather than an American Cocker results in a Spoodle, not a Cockapoo. The two crossbreeds are obviously quite similar but there are some differences and modern breeders are working hard to further accent them as two separate dog types.

7. Overall, these dogs are pretty healthy when properly bred

On average, a properly bred Cockapoo will have an expected lifespan of 12 to 15 years and very few health problems. Proper care is still crucial of course and you will need to keep watching out for standard issues such as Patellar luxation, cataracts, ear infections, Liver disease, allergies, Hip dysplasia, and so on. However, a healthy dog can easily avoid most of those and live even above the breed’s average.

As you can see, Cockapoos are not just a designer breed, they are an almost perfectly designed breed. As long as you get a properly bred Cockapoo with a healthy lineage, you are all but guaranteed to get a smart, healthy, social, calm, and gentle companion for your home.

Does this mean that the Cockapoo is perfect for everyone? Of course not. If you want a larger or a more outdoorsy dog breed, the Cockapoo wouldn’t work for you. You may also want a dog with shorter hair that needs less brushing. Or a breed better suited for guard or watchdog duties. In those cases, the Cockapoo is obviously the wrong choice. However, if you do want a calmer and smaller companion pet, few are better than these little guys.