Simon James founded the Cockapoo For Life Website 10 years ago to help people find a Rescue Cockapoo or buy a Cockapoo puppy safely.
Simon is a lifelong dog owner going back to his childhood growing up with Labradors. He studied at Greenwich University and graduated with a BA Honours degree in Humanities.
Simon's full time career is in social housing where he often encounters dogs in unhappy situations and works with the Cinnamon Trust to arrange fostering for dogs in need. For more info see About Page and Facebook Page
Rescuing a Cockapoo s the first option that many people consider when starting their search. Although the majority of people want the joy of a puppy, and while Cockapoo puppies are adorable, a rescue option is a wonderful idea too.
If you’re certain you want to rescue a Cockapoo then you have a number of options to try. If you are not quite sure yet you definitely want a Cockapoo then read this article first. I also recommend reading reading up the hypoallergenic qualities of the Cockapoo. I should warn you option 5 (below) is quite risky (in terms of being certain you will end up with a happy and healthy dog). Many people do go this route which is why I have included it but you really need to know the difference between a responsible breeder and an irresponsible breeder. Here is the list:
Use the list of dog shelters below that accept small and mixed breed dogs (UK only)
Approach the National Cockapoo Breed Clubs
Cockapoo rescues
Dedicated Cockapoo forums
Search classified advertisements
Let’s look at these options in a bit more detail.
Rescue Cockapoo Puppy
Tobias & Trudy
You need to be aware that there are no specific Cockapoo shelters in the UK or the USA. There are dog shelters however that accept small, mix-breed dogs (which a Cockapoo is). I have compiled a list of over 100 shelters and grouped them into regions- just click on the region to find a shelter near you and ask if they have a Cockapoo.
All shelters want to ensure their dogs are going to a good home. They won’t mind you phoning up and asking if they have cockapoo dog as they want to place every dog in the right home. If you know that a cockapoo is going to suit your lifestyle it shows you have considered your circumstances and the type of dog you can manage. Most rescue dogs are at least 6 months old and you should be prepared to:
Exercise your dog at least once a day
Keep your dog well groomed
Spend money for pet insurance, quality dog food and general set up costs of keeping a dog (basket, crate, collar and leash, toys). It adds up!
There is usually an administration fee to pay if you are going to adopt which is around £100 ($150) – a small contribution to the shelters’ costs. This will often include providing an ID chip, inoculations and neutering. Most shelters insist on doing a home visit and will ask you to fill in some forms about your family composition. Children and other pets are always a consideration as to whether adopting a dog is going to be a success.
The dog should never be a gift for a child. Cockapoo’s live 15-18 years on average and will be around long after a child’s interest in having a puppy has passed. The last thing the shelter wants is for the dog to come back to them so they make every effort to find a permanent loving home. The best shelters offer ongoing support and advice after you adopt a dog as they see sustaining the dog in a new home as part of their service. That said, they won’t let you take the dog unless they feel certain you are ready to make a life long commitment.
Cockapoo Rescue
Tyrone
You should also be aware of the difference between a shelter and a rescue. Rescue groups are individuals usually connected to the national breed group or it can be a group of individuals who take in unwanted Cockapoos, and provide them with veterinary care, and seek to re-home them permanently. Shelters can have a level of government funding where as rescues are solely volunteer led and won’t have kennels to house their dogs. Temporary care is given from people’s homes.
The CCGB would be a good starting point of contact in the UK. Here is a page where you can register your interest.
In the USA the breed club has a different purpose as explained by Dave Zaro of the American Cockapoo Club in a recent email to me –
We don’t maintain a list of rescue sites. Rescue groups typically are not just for one particular breed, and they are usually fairly easy to locate in your area if you ask vets or local breeders. The purpose of the American Cockapoo Club is to maintain registry of members’ parents and puppies, and to set standards for the Cockapoo breed as well as hold our member breeders to ethical standards.
It’s not unusual for breed clubs like CCGB or Cockapoo Owners Club (in the UK) to find a foster home if they are notified that a Cockapoo is going to be homeless. If possible the original owner will hang on to their Cockapoo until a new owner is identified through the breed club. Again you can visit the CCGB to register your interest.
Dedicated Cockapoo forums
The forums below are run in association with the national Cockapoo breed clubs. People that are active on the forums are Cockapoo owners and genuinely care and are concerned to hear about Cockapoos who may need re-homing. It’s worthwhile joining the forums, going to the relevant thread and asking for advice about how to rescue a Cockapoo.
Because the UK is much smaller than the USA this option works as you should be able to drive to collect a dog no matter where you live. Forums are not an option in the USA because of the vast geography. As mentioned above only localised searching around registered veterinary practices and reputable cockapoo breeders is realistic.
I’m including this option as so many people choice this method. This is where the hobby breeders and puppy mill agents hang out trying to get rid of left over dogs. There are number of better known websites that are prominent when searching for rescue dogs. Remember to try and speak to the seller over the phone and ask as many questions as you can to find out the history of the dog. Trust your gut feeling about the person you are speaking to and don’t feel obligated to take on a project when you are just looking for a suitable family pet.
Here are the websites that seem to be have better administration around listings:
Below is a comprehensive list of rescue shelters in Scotland that accept mixed breed dogs. Contact by phone or check their website to enquire about cockapoo rescue dogs.
Borders
a look up the teviotdale valley, as viewed from the top of the heip hills. hawick, Scottish borders, Scotland
Arthurshiel Rescue Centre Arthurshiel, St Boswells, TD6 0DL Tel: 07581 878393 Email: info@arthurshiel-rescue.org Opening Hours: 10am – 3.30pm www.arthurshiel-rescue.org
Bandeath Stray Dog Shelter Units 70-72, Bandeath Industrial Estate, Throsk, Stirling, FK7 Tel: 01786 812908 Opening Hours: 9am – 12pm and 1pm to 4pm Mon – Friday, 9am – 12pm Sat and Sun http://www.stirling.gov.uk/… dog-shelter.htm
Dumfries and Galloway
River Nith, Dumfries & Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway Canine Rescue Centre Dovecotewell, By Glencaple, Dumfries, DG1 4RH Tel: 01387 770210 Email: info@caninerescue.co.uk Opening Hours: 12pm – 4pm Mon – Sun www.caninerescue.co.uk
Scottish SPCA Dunragit Animal Rescue & Rehoming Centre The Kennels, Dunragit, Stranraer, Wigtownshire, DG9 8PH Tel: 03000 999 999 www.scottishspca.org/…dunragit
Fife
St Andrews Harbour, Fife
Help Fife Animals Dog Management Centre 6 High Street, Leslie, Fife, KY6 3DA Tel: 01592 620300 Fax: 01592 745775 Email: annemcleanmeg@hotmail.com www.helpfifeanimals.org.uk
Below is a list of Cockapoo breeders by State registered with either Cockapoo Club America or American Cockapoo club. If they are not registered with the breed club this is made clear on the listings page.
*I know it’s not a complete list yet I will be adding states with the most interest in Cockapoos first.
If you have spent some time reading dog forums you will know the subject of puppies biting is often bought up. On one hand it’s to be expected but on the other… IT HURTS!
New owners are quick to question their Cockapoo puppies temperament but this really is not necessary. All puppies bite. But a sensible owner will teach their puppy soft mouth behaviour a long with other essentials like toilet training. As a puppy grows up you will find that they learn bite inhibition naturally as they notice that their playful bites cause pain and draw a negative reaction from their owner. After all, all puppies are looking for signs about how to please their owners.
So teaching bite inhibition is doing what most owners do in an accidental way by withdrawing when the bite becomes painful. By making the process into a intentional structured program you can encourage soft mouth behavior to happen sooner rather than later.
Why wait for your Cockapoo just to grow out of biting? What if there are children at home?; what if those sharp puppy teeth break the skin and a dressing needs to be applied?
Early Socialisation
If your puppy has had a normal start to life early experiences naturally teach bite inhibition while the puppy is nursing from the mother. If the puppy sucks too hard and uses teeth by accident the mother will push the puppy away or get up and leave. Also, when puppies begin to play with their litter mates, they learn to use their teeth softly or their play mates soon stop playing with them.
For this reason if your puppy is an orphan it may have a harder bite than other puppies who have had normal socialization with the mother and siblings. Also, for puppies that have not had this normal early socialization they don’t have a “tolerance for frustration” since they are not used to having to wait when siblings compete for attention.
Another factor that makes the cockapoo a good candidate for teaching bite inhibition is that genetically it has not been trained to bite down hard like some breeds. However, if you find your cockapoo puppy is biting down harder than expected you need to begin the process of teaching him/her self restraint straight away.
You can start lessons as soon as you like in fact after 5 months your puppy will start to grow adult canine teeth and have a stronger jaw so that is another incentive to start training early.
Anyone can teach their puppy bite inhibition
Start the process – The 4 Rs
Remove – When you are bitten severely enough, let him/her know it hurts and say “Oowww” as calmly as possible. Take your body part (hopefully just a figure) out of its mouth and look away. This is showing your puppy that biting hard means he/she will lose your attention and of course that is not desirable for any puppy.
If he/she keeps wants to continue biting move to a different room until the puppy is calm. Then re-engage their interest.
Repeat – This is a process but keep being consistent and you will begin to notice that the bite intensity becomes less hard.
Your puppy won’t stop biting. They have such a strong urge to bite and chew you won’t cure this. But repetition will lead to increasingly acceptable bites over the coming weeks and months.
As the bite intensity decreases you can increase your sensitivity to the bite. Still “Oowww” and remove. This will encourage softer and softer bites that slowly shape the puppies bite inhibition.
Reinforce – As with most training positive reinforcement is key. Softer bites should be rewarded with praise but keep withdrawing yourself as a negative consequence for harsh bites. Eventually soft mouth behaviour will be more common.
Redirect: You will probably notice times when your puppy is just in a rambunctious mood. Spare yourself some pain and have some chew toys to hand and leave the training for a calmer time.
How not to do it
Physical punishment is not the way to go. Firstly because it won’t achieve your goal. Hitting a dog on the nose with a rolled up newspaper will just make your dog cower and suppress anger. This suppression can then come back at stressful times and result in severe biting. It’s also worth saying that it’s never a good idea to push your dog’s patience level to the point its good behaviour is stretched to the limit. Dogs growl for a reason, it’s their way of saying, enough is enough please don’t continue annoying me or something worse might happen. This is a particularly good point to teach children as they love play with puppies but do not always understand where the boundaries are. (See “The Gift of Growling,” Whole Dog Journal October 2005.) For a full discussion on physical punishment read this discussion thread.
Teaching bite inhibition to an adult Cockapoo dog
Teaching bite inhibition to an adult dog is much harder as we all know old habits are hard to break. You can however, use this variation of the “Oowww” remove technique.
Have a treat in your gloved hand and only open it when your dog starts to bite more softly. Gradually they learn hard bites mean no treats!
Thick gardening gloves are recommended if you are teaching adult dogs bite inhibition. Be careful, an adult canine jaw has much more strength and a harder bite than a puppy!
Wrapping it up
With puppies and adult dogs you will find that biting down hard comes back at times of high emotion but gradually this will lessen if you keep on with positive / negative reinforcement.
Do continue to reinforce bite inhibition with your adult cockapoo dog, and guard against putting your Cockapoo puppy in stressful emotional situations where his/her tolerance might be tested. A dog is an animal and biting is natural to them even when they are part of a human family. It’s rarely a questionable temperament cockapoos have but environments that cause anxiety or over exuberance owners need to be mindful of.
Black Cockapoos are one of the most popular colours of the entire Cockapoo breed. There must be something about classic colours 🙂
Black Cockapoo with white tuxedo
Black Cockapoo Puppy
If you are after the a solid colour black Cockapoo, a nice surprise is they are infact slightly less expensive than two tone or tri-colour Cockapoos. Raffles process for 2018 list black or black/white as £1095. This is sensibly price from a responsible breeder.
Black Cockapoo puppy at 6 weeks
Black Cockapoo Full Grown
In the UK the most popular sizes are maxi or (standard) size or miniature. This will be the largest full grown size which measures in at:
At least 15 inches / 38.1 cm in stature and weigh more than 19 lbs. / 8.61 kg
Black Toy Cockapoo
Most Cockapoo breeders cater for these sizes. The Toy is less popular and the Teacup is only found in America (mostly Florida). As these sizes are rare, I would expect the price to be slightly higher.
Black Cockapoo For Sale
Look at the resource list below as well as this web sites breeders list (link above) and rescue pages.
Black Cockapoo at 3 weeks
As a general rule of thumb your search should follow these guidelines:
Source a local breeder. This is a good choice because you can visit the sellers premises before purchase and ask as many questions as you like.
Find a register breeder with the national breed club. In The UK stringent guidelines are enforced before certification is given for registered status. You know you are dealing with a trust worthy breeder.
Consider giving a dog a second life. Visit rescue shelters to enquire about adopting a dog
Don’t buy a puppy over the internet because you are likely to fall for a puppy scam.
Remember taking the time to research and buy your Cockapoo safely will lead to a happy new addition to your family. Quick internet searches and cheap purchases lead to puppies breed without health checks, vaccinations or a minimum socialisation period with the canine mother. Unhygienic kennels kept out of sight from internet purchasers often spread parvo virus which often means a sick puppy with short painful life.
Once you have screened your bitch to make sure she is fit and healthy to be bred you can consider next steps.
A young bitch should not be breed in her first season (under 12 months) as it will be detrimental to the dam to put her through the trauma of pregnancy and feeding a litter at such a young age. A pregnancy is quite an ordeal for a dam so she should not be bred in consecutive years as she will need time to recuperate if she is to be breed again.
Most bitches are ready to mate between the eleventh & fourteenth day of her season. However this does vary. If you are mating with a stud dog who lives far away then you may want to have the bitch examined by vet will carry you an ovulation test to pinpoint the cycle with accuracy.
Where should the mating take place
In most cases, the bitch will reside with the stud as they are more accepting of new environment and you don’t want the stud to get sulky. An experienced bitch is a good mate for a young stud dog.
When the actual mating commences the male will mount the female until ejaculation takes place. They will rest together for a period of ten–thirty minutes, this is called “tie time” and you stud dog can manifest bulbus glandis after they separate which is a pleasant way of saying swollen penis.
Respect the time that the animals are joined and they may move around together and appear stuck – do not try and separate them as it could cause injury; just wait for separation to happen naturally.
In certain situations artificial insemination is used but this is rare with cross breeds as it is a complex and expensive procedure. Also, because cross breeds do not have DNA certification vets would be unlikely consent.
One of the key challenges facing any responsible person searching for a ethical Cockapoo breeders UK is deciding who to buy your dog from?
And one of the most common questions asked is “How do I know they’re a good breeder?” Below is a short slide show covering the main pitfalls of buying a Cockapoo puppy and how not to get caught out.
Puppy Mill breeders are advertising on all the usual websites but be vigilant to avoid scams.
As a prospective dog owner understanding the science of dog breeding helps you not fall for a puppy scammer and will also help lessen demand for these poor dogs.
The following is an extract from Professor Bateson writing for the Dog Advisory Council (DAC)
the manner in which dogs are bred and reared has far-reaching effects not only on individual dogs but on whole populations of dogs. Their physical characteristics (colour, size, shape) are largely established by their inherited genetic material and, to some extent, by their upbringing. Both specific inherited diseases and conformation are inherited and so the selection of genetically healthy breeding stock is essential. The temperament of dogs also has a genetic component, but is also strongly influenced by early environment and therefore how dogs are treated in the first weeks of their lives has a profound effect on behavior throughout life. These issues are as relevant for mixed-breed, cross-bred or so-called designer dogs as they are for pedigree dogs and so this Breeding Standard applies to all and every type of dog.
The official Cockapoo breed club (CCGB) offers mentoring for novice breeders and they can be contacted through the CCGB website.
Here is a list of approved Cockapoo breeders UK offering Cockapoo puppies for sale. They are registered with the CCGB, have had the premises inspected, and signed up to a code of ethics that includes minimum health testing requirements.
I am inviting all the Cockapoo breeders UK to display their information here.
Cockapoo Puppies bred by Reputable Cockapoo Breeders
One of the key challenges facing any responsible person searching for Cockapoo puppies is deciding who to buy it from? And one of the most common questions asked is “How can I find a good breeder?” Below is a short slide show covering the main pitfalls of buying a Cockapoo puppy and how not to get caught out.
Puppy Mill breeders are advertising on all the usual websites but be vigilant to avoid scams.
As a prospective dog owner understanding the science of dog breeding helps you not fall for a puppy scammer and will also help lessen demand for these poor dogs.
The following is an extract from Professor Bateson writing for the Dog Advisory Council (DAC)
the manner in which dogs are bred and reared has far-reaching effects not only on individual dogs but on whole populations of dogs. Their physical characteristics (colour, size, shape) are largely established by their inherited genetic material and, to some extent, by their upbringing. Both specific inherited diseases and conformation are inherited and so the selection of genetically healthy breeding stock is essential. The temperament of dogs also has a genetic component, but is also strongly influenced by early environment and therefore how dogs are treated in the first weeks of their lives has a profound effect on behavior throughout life. These issues are as relevant for mixed-breed, cross-bred or so-called designer dogs as they are for pedigree dogs and so this Breeding Standard applies to all and every type of dog.
The official Cockapoo breed club (CCGB) offers mentoring for novice breeders and they can be contacted through the CCGB website.
Here is a list of approved Cockapoo breeders offering Cockapoo puppies for sale. They are registered with the CCGB, have had the premises inspected, and signed up to a code of ethics that includes minimum health testing requirements.
I am inviting all the Cockapoo breeders in the UK to have their own profile page, so check back for progress on that.
A responsible breeder should always make the new owner feel as though there is an open invite to get back in touch if they need help or have questions. You don’t have to run a dedicated help line but you should be interested if the new owner calls to say things aren’t working out, or the dog is unwell. You need to be prepared to remain as a primary point of contact even if it’s only to provide resource information or refer on to a veterinary care.
Dogs have highs and lows in life just like people. The dog breeder who made the decision to mate his bitch and bring new life into the world should be interested to know how things are working out.
