Puppy Coat:
The puppy coat of the Cockapoo is relatively easy to look after so for the first six months a very simple grooming regime of regular brushing sessions of 10 minutes or so, four to five times a week should keep your puppy in good order. A simple grooming kit consisting of a comb, a brush, nail clippers and a slicker brush will be all the tools you will need for these first months. Intermingle treats and praise with the grooming to make this a pleasant experience. Even though your puppy may not really need this recommended amount of grooming, it will later on when the adult coat 'comes in' so it's a valuable time to familiarise your puppy with being groomed. All dogs nails will need trimming every 2-3 months with nail clippers. If you do this yourself be conservative with the amount you cut off, just the very end hooks is sufficient. Alternatively any dog groomer should be able do it for you at very little cost.  At this time accustom your puppy to having you touch the membranes around the entrance to the ear canal, as later in life the ears may need to be plucked of excess hairs to prevent a build up of wax.
Adult Coat:
At any age soon after 8 months old the Cockapoo coat changes and the adult coat 'comes in'. Suddenly a comparatively easy care coat will start to matt. What is happening is that your dog is starting to moult its puppy coat to allow the adult coat to grow through. In actual fact all dogs moult, including Poodles, but not all dogs shed. Most Cockapoos are those dogs that don't shed, or if they do, it is a minimal amount. Great as this trait is for allergy sufferers it does mean that if this moult is not groomed out then the coat will matt and/or form dreadlocks. An adult Cockapoo can grow a coat up to about 15cms long so it does take some knowledge of grooming and confidence to keep it full length. Wavy/Ringlet coated dogs can look glamorous with a full coat but that look comes at a price. The price is extra grooming and extra grooming tools. For those who wish to keep the coat long they will discover that twice a year the coat will moult over about a two week period. You can feel the moult happening before you can see it. When you stroke the dog you will feel the matting and not easily be able to feel the skin through the long hairs. Special attention must be paid to carefully removing the moulted 'undercoat' at that time. It is a slow process and could involve maybe three grooming sessions lasting several hours each. If you brush this full coat when dry it reacts rather like frizzy human hair as the brushing damages the hair shaft and breaks it to some degree and it then fluffs up into an 'afro' style. So to prevent this the coat can be 'line' groomed whilst wet and soaked in coat conditioner. Starting at the paws and working upwards, the entire coat needs to be systematically groomed through from root to tip by using a combination of a rake to grab the undercoat and slightly dislodge it (an 8 or a 10 blade tool should be ideal) and then by using a flexible  Slicker Brush to grab the loosened undercoat and tease it down the long wet hair shaft and away. Once you are satisfied that the whole coat, or the section of the coat you had planned to work on in that particular sitting, is smooth and clear of matts then it is time to do a final rinse of the coat. Remove the excess water with a Dog Blaster, keeping the nozzle at a distance of more than 30 cms from the hair as any closer will create whirlwinds amongst the hair shafts and knot the hair, or by blotting with an Easi Dri Towel. Importantly - don't brush the coat whilst it is drying.  Taking your dog for a walk on a fine day will air dry it within an hour.  Alternatively you can use a human hairdryer and your fingers to 'scrunch dry' your dog. If dried in this way you avoid the 'hair bear' look and the hair quickly forms back into luscious waves/ringlets. Clipping or cutting a 'runway' off the tummy of a full coated dog from its groin to between its front legs will both keep it cool in summer and easier to keep clean in winter.
For those who don't have the time or inclination to groom their dog in this way, this coat can be trimmed into a Teddy Bear trim which is neat and is practical to keep your dog in good shape and is the clip we use on our poodle!
 
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​Personality: The Cockerdor is a happy, friendly, loyal, jealous, crazy bundle of joy that loves walks other dogs and people. They love playing ball and carrying one around. They just love everybody and everything.


Temperament: The Cockerdor is never agressive but loves a good play fight. They are very sweet, playful dogs who can be reserved around new people until they warm up to them.


Family Dog: The Cockerdor is a great family dog. They are typically very gentle with children, smaller dogs and cats. They can be rambunctious at times so care should be taken around the elderly or small children.


Shedding: Depending on the coat, the Cockerdor can be a low to medium shedding dog.


Grooming: The Cockerdor requires regular brushing to clear shedded hair during moulting season-we highly recommend a 'Furminator' for this - worth every penny!


Training: The Cockerdor is a great dog to train. They may have some jumping issues though and should be trained not to jump at a young age. The Cockerdor may be hard to crate train as they do not like to seperate from their owners or other companions. Start crate-training at a young age to help eliminate this.


Behavior: The Cockerdor is a loyal, smart, energetic and loving dog who absolutely loves attention.


Barking: The Cockerdor barks when they want to play, feel scared or threatened, when someone comes to the door or sometimes in their sleep. They have a deep, Lab-like bark and like to grunt.


Weather: The Cockerdor loves all weather.


Exercise: The Cockerdor loves walks, the park and the beach but they can also be happy curled up on the sofa beside you. They are happy with one long walk and play daily as well as longer country walks. They can be over exercised especially when young so you should build up to longer walks and make sure they have a day of rest every couple of days.


Physical Ability: The Cockerdor can be a jumper, with the ability to jump on to or off of tall objects. They can even jump very high to see out windows.


Size: The Cockerdor is around 20 inches tall.


Companionship: The Cockerdor makes a great companion dog. They love being with any living thing. They are very social and loyal dogs. They love to sleep right in your lap no matter how big they get. They don't like being left alone and will follow their owner from room to room.


Ears: The Cockerdor has long ears, though not quite as long as a Cocker Spaniel's.


Body: The Cockerdor has a small to medium, athletic body like a Labrador, but usually  with shorter legs.


Forequarters: The front legs of the Cockerdor are shorter than a Lab's.


Tail: It is possible for the Cockerdor to be born without a long tail looking like it was docked halfway up or they can have a long tail.


Coat: The Cockerdor's coat is medium to long, very soft, shiny and can be wavy.   

A question we’ve been asked numerous times although not usually so politely! In fact we have been on the receiving end of quite extreme aggression on occasion so it seems appropriate to do our next blog on the subject.

First of all we are HUGE advocates of rescue centres and have ourselves rescued several dogs. However, rescue dogs are not for everyone and certainly now with a young family we personally would not consider a rescue dog whose history, temperament and breed characteristics cannot be truly known.  Lots of people prefer to raise a dog from a puppy for this reason and many others, and both options have their pros and cons and it should be down to personal choice and circumstance and not for others to pass comment on!

Secondly there is a BIG difference between a ‘mongrel’ and a cross breed or hybrid. A mongrel is usually from unplanned and/or irresponsible breeding from parents where at least dam or sire are not from a known breed and whose pedigrees cannot be traced – short of DNA testing there is usually no way of knowing what breeds these dogs contain and so no way of knowing the exact requirements and characteristics of the dog (we appreciate there are exceptions to this and there are many people who have had the loveliest of mongrels and that is great – and lucky!)

The cross breed puppies we produce are the result of a deliberate mating between two dogs of two distinctive recognised pedigree breeds to produce a hybrid of the two breeds, and a dog with various personality and appearance traits acquired from both which can trace it's lineage back along the lines of both the pedigree sire and dam.  

There are several clubs and societies actively concerned with raising the profile and standard of hybrid dogs of various types, and it is entirely feasible that in the future, certain popular hybrid crosses of dogs will come to be recognised in their own right- after all, this is often how breeds which are now established as pedigrees with their own breed standards and specifications first came to be recognised!

The main reason behind producing a hybrid dog from two distinctive breeds of parents is to combine the two best features of two particular breeds into one dog. For example with our  Cockapoos the intention was to produce the ever popular cocker spaniel type dog with the signature non shedding coat for which the poodle is well known and often popular. With the Cockerdors it is to produce puppies from two fabulous and family friendly breeds that won’t grow as large as a full Labrador.

 

So there we have it – rescue centre or buy a puppy from a responsible breeder – either are fine so do what suits your family best and don’t be bullied! And for those that say you shouldn’t charge for puppies – a lot of money goes into maintaining our dogs and raising their puppies and keeping them all healthy and happy and if you can’t afford the initial outlay of buying the puppy then you can’t afford to own a dog at all!

 

Worms! Great for the soil and compost heap but not so great for our canine companions. Having just treated our crazy pack it seemed good timing to post our first informative blog …

A dog with worms doesn’t necessarily look unwell but they can cause real suffering and in extreme cases even death. Worms can also be transferred to people so it is really important (and in your best interests!) to treat them regularly. Worms can be picked up from other infected animals, from eating the larvae or eggs of worms found in infected faeces or grass and from eating raw meat.

Symptoms to look out for:

· Dog starts to lose weight

· Fur becomes dry and course

· Increased or decreased appetite

· Weakness and diarrhoea

· Dog will drag its bottom along the floor

· Excessive bottom cleaning

· Puppies in particular can get a pot belly

It is important to note that your dog might not show any of these symptoms and still be infected.

Prevention:

· Dogs should be wormed against roundworm from 2 weeks of age and adults against roundworm and tapeworm

· Help prevent tapeworm by flea treating regularly as fleas can carry tapeworm eggs

· Disinfect food and water bowls and housing with a pet safe disinfectant

· Wash your hands thoroughly before you eat

· Clean up after your pet and dispose of faeces carefully

A couple of gross facts!

· An adult worm can lay 80,000 eggs a day

· Worms can reach a huge 5m in length

Here at F-G Puppies we use Drontal Oral for our puppies from 2 weeks of age moving onto 3 monthly Drontal Plus. Drontal is the only wormer that kills every type of intestinal worm commonly found in the UK and with the exception of our fussy old West Highland Terrier Hamish, who has to have his made slightly more tempting by being wrapped in a piece of ham or dollop of cream cheese, they are all more than happy to wolf down the beef flavour tablets!

#Drontal @Bayer

After following the advice of a very tech savvy good friend I have decided to start a blog - I am told it will help to show all you lovely people that I know what I am talking about (most of the time!) and will help you get to know us better and trust that we are reputable and responsible breeders.  Over the next few weeks I will be adding various information on dog related subjects such as grooming and training and will also share our family experiences of being owners and breeders.  Now off to Google 'how to write a blog that won't send people to sleep'……!