# What to consider when getting a Cockapoo?



## cookiemonster1991 (Nov 27, 2017)

Hi all.
Could anyone kindly please list the things I should be really considering before getting a cockapoo, or even a puppy/dog in general?
A lot of what I've read on the internet seems to contradict itself, for example some sites say they only need 15-30 min walk, other places say at least an hour. Some say cockapoo's can be left for a while, others say not at all?
I've done lots of research already, but I'd love some insight from cockapoo owners as websites seem to all say differently.

A quick summary our circumstances, we're a family of 4. 2 adults, and what will be a 2.5 year old and 7 year old when I'm looking to get a pup.
Partner works shifts, I currently work 2 days a week. We've worked out that a dog would be home alone for 4 hours a few times a month, then on one day 7.5 hours (mother in law said pup can go to hers when I'm at work).
If I was to do 5 days at work in the future when little one is bigger, it'd work out that there'd be a few days a week where pup would be on their own approx 4 hours, then 3 days where it'd be 7.5 hours.
The boss has also said I can bring a dog into work too (boss brings in her spaniel regularly).

Sorry for the essay  I just want to be a thousand percent sure that I know what I'm getting myself in for, that a dog can have a happy life with us and getting a dog is the right thing to do for us.

Thankyou, any insight in getting a puppy/dog would be greatly appreciated xx


----------



## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Well done for doing your research before getting a pup 

I would say the vast majority of adult dogs are going to need at least an hours walks or stimulation per day. Pups can not have long walks but need much more time spending on them with house training, basic training and keeping them out of trouble.

Any pups are quite bitey and nippy initially which is daunting for any children but especially so for a 2.5 year old. You will need to closely supervise every interaction for a long time and probably rescue the child from the pup quite a lot. It is likely the 2.5 year old will be quite worried by and maybe frightened of the pup - biting hurts and you all need to be ready for it - I have seen pups get rehomed very quickly because the family did not expect the children to be scared and were not ready to work through it.

In terms of time left alone adult dogs can learn to cope with periods and up to 4 hours is probably fairly realistic for an adult. 7.5 hours is too long without provision for breaks for the pup. Any periods the dog is left alone as a pup will seriously set back your housetraining too. How much dog experience does mother in law have - is she prepared to have her carpets poo'd and wee'd on and belongings chewed? Same with boss, have you got somewhere you can set up a crate at work and will you be able to take pup out for toilet breaks during a working day.

Dogs and children can be wonderful - but they can also be hard work and especially the early months you will need to be constantly watching pup and diverting which will be difficult with a younger child who will also need a fair bit of care.


----------



## LuckyCockapoo (May 29, 2017)

Having a pup/dog, you get out of it what you put in, with a bit of random chance thrown in. If you want a well behaved, socialised dog that lives harmoniously with the family, you’ll all have to put time in. The first few months will be time consuming - just keeping an eye on it, managing its environment, house training and regular wee breaks, play and stimulation, walks exercise and socialisation... I think the trick is to make a routine of all these things. Dogs love routines. 

For the first few months I’d aim to try to leave it on its own for only short periods, an hour maybe. 4-6 months longer, maybe 2-3 hours, not much more. At 8 months I’d leave our dog for maybe half a day and I know he’d be ok. But doing that regularly I’d fear he’d develop some bad habits still which I’d rather avoid.


----------



## cookiemonster1991 (Nov 27, 2017)

Thankyou both for your very helpful replies! 

Is there anywhere that I might find a guide on how long pups can be exercised for?

It's a really good point about the toddler being frightened of the pup, and I'll admit I hadn't actually thought of it that way. My main concern was having to rescue a pup from her, in case she is too rough or annoyed it  ! We had my Mum's dog to stay for a week recently and she was very chilled around him, liked to give him a quick stroke and sit near him other than that she wasn't too fussed. However, he is 9, so would obviously be a lot more chilled out then a puppy.


With dog experience with my mother in law, she is also hoping to get a cockapoo puppy at the same time, possibly from the same breeder (if we can ever find a decent breeder in lincs). She has had several dogs over the years, the latest one unfortunately passed away of old age. I've also been brought up with the family dog (the one who's 9).

Training wise, I've sourced two different training classes who both do the puppy, bronze, silver and gold kennel club classes. Are these something people would recommend? I'm really keen to get training off to a good start from the second of bringing a pup home, but I'm at a bit of a loss on what training can be started as puppy classes can't be started until 12 weeks.

With the dog coming into work, there is space for a crate. The children there also take the dog(s) for a walk at lunch up a lovely country track. So plenty of space for a run/toilet breaks. If i was to take the dog into work, this wouldn't really be able to happen until he/she is toilet trained though. 

Thanks again for your replies x


----------



## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Even the 7 year old may be daunted by the biting machine which is a puppy so definitely needs to be prepared for.

For walking the general rule is 5 minutes per month of age for lead walking - you can give the pup a bit of free running over this but just not too much or you run the risk of damaging joints.

Training wise I am very much in favour of classes - but go and check them out first. Good classes will have set courses so you are with the same pups each week, limit the numbers, have a good trainer to pup ratio (we have two trainers to 6 pups) and classes will be fairly calm with no shouting and stress and positive reward based methods only. Good classes will also welcome you to sit in and watch a class. 

Molly came from a breeder in Lincolnshire (I took her on from her first owner) beware - there are some pretty awful ones out there. 

Work and mother in law all sound good  

I wish everyone did as much preparation before getting a pup!


----------



## LuckyCockapoo (May 29, 2017)

Classes are good but I found it helped to start training as soon as we got the pup. Zak George YouTube videos are a great start, follow this sort of advice and puppy classes will be much easier. 6 months on, I can now see that the early training was about both me and him learning how to teach/learn. Just simple training like name recognition, hand touches, and recall in the house. At the start they will follow you like a magnet. By 12 weeks you’ll think recall is easy, even when going out. By 6-7 months it all goes a bit wrong... I didn’t believe anyone that told me that, but it’s totally true. Work super hard at recall and it will pay off for you and the pup. 

For walks, I’ll admit I didn’t follow the common advice. We mostly did short walks, for socialisation as much as anything. But we have some wonderful woods nearby, and it was summer, so by 16 weeks we were having some 1-1.5 hour walks now and again. 

I can’t comment re children. Lucky is very good with them, the breeder/family we got him from had 4 kids so the pups were used to being (man)handled by kids and he loves them. However, as others have said, they are a biting machine and puppy teeth really hurt. At first they just bite anything, sticking a soft toy in their mouths helps. But before they loose their puppy teeth (6 months), they are biting less but hurting more. Fortunately adult teeth are a lot better. There are lots of good YouTube videos on how to handle biting, these will help. 

Get plenty old towels... muddy paws, wet dogs... 🙄


----------



## fairlie (Sep 7, 2013)

Good job for thinking things through so you are a thousand percent sure. If only all the posters here seeking expert help, to re home, or worse paid the same due diligence as you!

Two problems leap out at me. 2.5 years old is young for a puppy. Most experts suggest waiting until your youngest is seven years old. It's not that it can't be done, it's that it will be a lot harder on everybody including the puppy. 

Second thing is 7.5 hours alone even for an adult cockapoo will be a* very* long time. They are *extremely* family oriented dogs. Again, it's not unsolvable, there is day care and your MIL and you could always get a 2nd pup or a cat to keep your dog company. 

Here's what I would do if I were you. I'd convince your MIL to get two puppies of her own, a few months apart. You guys dog sit them, walk them, train them and visit them as often as you possibly can so your kids can have all the joy and all the learning but your MIL gets the headaches. Then in four or five years get two puppies of your own, again a few months apart. Your kids will be pros at training by then, everyone will know what to expect and leaving them alone will be much less of an issue.

Others here will advise you to throw caution to the wind and go ahead now. That will work out too because you are clearly the sort who will think things through properly. Good luck!


----------



## cfriend (Dec 22, 2016)

I think you got some great advice so far but I'm just going to chime in to give a little bit of a different perspective re kids with puppies. Yes 2.5 is young but I think it really depends on the kid... you said something about wanting to add a puppy next year? So your youngest would be 3.5-4? Is there a way for your youngest child to meet a puppy somewhere and see how it goes? I think with a young young child its all about management and evaluating if there is a space to keep both puppy and child is seperate if one is annoying the other. I think choice of breeder can be very important here. Finding one that will pick a puppy that fits for your family situation and especially one that does a lot of socializing with the puppies before they are given to their new families. Just a side not that it can work: I was 5 when we got our first puppy (24 now) and I have 0 negative memories of our first dog as a puppy and my mom doesn't think of it as a stressful time at all (even though it probably was). However I think you really need to want it (it helps get you through the tough times)


----------



## LuckyCockapoo (May 29, 2017)

I don’t know re kids. If you’re a structured and organised family with routines and schedules, and your kids like dogs and are comfortable with them, it can work out well and will help a dog know it’s boundaries and be well behaved. 

If you’re more a free wheeling family, always change and action, you may have a dog that amplifies this. Which may also work out for you!

Or not 😉

The fact you are thinking ahead and planning is a good sign.


----------



## cookiemonster1991 (Nov 27, 2017)

*thankyou*

Thank you all for your fab advice, it's definitely given me some food for thought and things to my to do/consider list! Especially on how we'd manage day to day things, like supervising a puppy and a toddler. Fitting in things like daily training, walks, how I'd separate when not able to have my eye on both 100% etc.

My main puzzle at the minute is how I'd manage walking a puppy with the toddler in tow in a pram at the mo! As I would want to teach it to walk properly on lead but wouldn't have hands free. Alternatively, it'd just mean working it around when hubby is home and one of us going out with pup/dog.

Thank you for the recommendation of the Youtube videos Luckycockapoo, I've had a look at quite a few (a lot) since seeing you'd recommended him :XD: 


There is certainly SO much to think about. I do have a tendency to research things to death and over think, but hopefully in this case it'll pay off. I wish there was a rule book that said do this and that, and you'll have a well behaved adult dog, I just don't want to inadvertently make any training mistakes which leads to bad behaviour


----------



## LuckyCockapoo (May 29, 2017)

If you spend the time to research and then put some effort (and in my mind structure/boundaries), you’ll make few mistakes you can’t easily correct. 

Once you get them learning, you can teach things pretty quick. We taught Lucky to crawl on his belly (for fun) and did the basics in 5 min. A week of repetition and he’d be very good at it. 

Same with patterns. Just putting my glasses on at a certain time of day he knows that means we will go a walk. They learn patterns you have that you’re not even aware of. 

At first (12 weeks), a puppy is all over the place on a walk. It doesn’t take much (a few days?) to actually be able to get somewhere. But they do start to get a mind of their own. A rock solid, focused, walk to heel with distractions is pretty hard. LOTS of practice in different situations. I’d guess at first most dog walks would be without pram.


----------



## cookiemonster1991 (Nov 27, 2017)

*Update*

Hi all!
I thought I'd post a quick update.
After lots more research, emails, phonecalls etc we have 100% settled on getting a puppy this year.
We believe we've found a good breeder, after a 30 min phonecall and 1 hour visit we're on a waiting list and hopefully there will be some puppies born in spring!! 
I've read Zak George's book and Gwen Bailey, can anyone advise anything else we should do/read?

Thankyou x


----------



## cfriend (Dec 22, 2016)

I can really recommend anything written by jean donaldson (for example culture clash). I use her book train your dog like a pro and it's an amazing step by step guide that makes training very simple and fun. I can also recommend Dr. Ian Dunbars website dogstardaily. He has a free online guide for before you get your puppy, the first week, and after, but don't let some of his wording stress you out (I think he is a bit overdramatic when it comes to potty training).


----------



## LuckyCockapoo (May 29, 2017)

cookiemonster1991 said:


> Hi all!
> I thought I'd post a quick update.
> After lots more research, emails, phonecalls etc we have 100% settled on getting a puppy this year.
> We believe we've found a good breeder, after a 30 min phonecall and 1 hour visit we're on a waiting list and hopefully there will be some puppies born in spring!!
> ...


Fantastic. Given your research and taking things seriously I expect it will work out great and you’ll have a wonderful dog that your kids will love. 

To be honest, most of the books reiterate the same things re training - at least any positive reinforcement based training (as almost all are). Zak George, Kikopup and Victoria Stilwell all have good YouTube content. Don’t Shoot The Dog is a good foundational book.


----------

