IMPARTIAL NEWS + INTELLIGENT DEBATE
The goldendoodle is now Britain’s most wanted dog, but I’m not sure I’d pick a poodle-cross if I had my time again
My dog is currently on hunger strike, again. Mona, our seven-month-old cockapoo, is refusing to eat her dinner for the third day in a row.
We square off – me gesturing at the bowl, her defiantly lying there – until a timer for 15 minutes beeps and I clear her food away. Despite her clear, instant regret (she often laps forlornly at the now empty bowl) she won’t give in without a fight. We repeat this twice a day for a few more days until she finally gives in, gobbles up her food, and order, for now, is resumed.
Mona is one of the many doodle dogs that now make up the UK’s canine population. A catch all term for designer dogs that are crossed with poodles (cockapoo is a cocker spaniel and poodle, Labradoodle a Labrador and poodle and so on) doodles have dramatically risen in popularity.
According to the Royal College of Veterinarians, ownership jumped from fewer than one in five puppies in 2019 being a designer crossbreed (18.8 per cent), to more than 1 in 4 puppies in 2020 (26.1 per cent). And pets4home’s latest report found goldendoodle (golden retriever and poodle) was the most searched for in the UK last year; with three other poodle cross breeds in the top 10.
It’s not hard to see why. They are unbearably cute and funny dogs – the poodle coat often leads to a shaggy, almost teddy-bear-like look, and their worker genes mean they are eager to please, and playful to the point of goofiness. They have a good rep too – a 2022 RCV survey found that owners perceived these crossbreeds are so popular in part because they are thought to be generally healthy, good with children, easy to train, and hypoallergenic.
This is what my wife and I were looking for. After 10 years together we knew it was time to add to our duo; we wanted a dog that wasn’t too big, would get us out, give us purpose, and not exacerbate my wife’s allergies. We settled on looking for a cockapoo with more dominant cocker spaniel genes (we knew that we couldn’t handle grooming teddy-bear level fluff).
When we brought Mona home at the end of August last year, we thought we had anticipated everything. We’d researched her breed and knew what to expect. We’d met her parents who lived with their owners, had the health checks, bought the 12-week training course. We were prepared to put in the work to avoid the behavioural problems we knew were affecting a lot of dogs right now (anxiety, disobedience, aggression to other dogs or people).
We were, of course, adorable fools.
Despite the catchall term of “doodle”, these designer dogs can vary wildly in size, energy, coat, temperament and behaviour. They are not a singular breed, so there is no guarantee for any facet of their personalities, their temperament, or even their highly touted hypoallergenic qualities. And as we found out, the trend for the cross-breed has led to some of the less desirable traits (like fussiness and propensity for anxiety in poodles) being glossed over in favour of their cuteness.
Take Mona and her food. Doodles are smart and therefore easy to train, right? But they can also be fussy about what they eat (thanks to their poodle genes), leading to random, unexplained hunger strikes when they get bored or get a taste for something else. Which is how I end up with a cranky dog who refuses food she does like because she prefers her training treats.
During these periods, I can’t train her (because then she gets the treats she’s waiting for) so she acts out (chews things she knows she shouldn’t) and doesn’t get tired, and I have to watch her while working like a helicopter parent to avoid destruction.
Then there’s the energy levels. We knew that she would need daily walks and lots of play. We didn’t know that she would have relentless energy – to the point that her doggy day care has commented that she’s “a lot”. Given the opportunity she will play and run, vaulting over other dogs and leaping after leaves, for hours on end. It’s amazing to watch but exhausting.
So we have to find workarounds to keep her happy – enrichment games, sniffing games, exercise that doesn’t disrupt our work days. But if she’s in one of her fussy moods, any work involving treats will just lengthen the hunger strike. It becomes an endless loop of worrying about letting down this wonderful, funny, relentless dog and trying to break the bad habits of this fussy, hormonal, deliberately defiant dog and never being able to deal with both at once.
We are lucky in so many ways. Thanks to early training and socialisation she is not anxious or aggressive. She rarely barks, she is crate and toilet-trained, and when she is eating and exercising to her heart’s content she is a dream. She is obedient (for the most part), has no apparent health issues and thanks to her cocker forward genes, doesn’t have unruly fur that needs regular grooming.
I also know that this is not because she’s a cockapoo. It’s because of us. We found the right parents and breeders, we did our research and we have and will continue to put in so much hard work every day. I’m so glad that we brought her home. But knowing what I know now, I don’t think we’ll get a doodle again.
For one, I feel worried and ashamed that I could have contributed to a dog breed trend that could be leading to an increase in puppy farms (as unscrupulous breeders rush to meet the demand). And I feel guilty that saying we wouldn’t go for a doodle again implies that we don’t care for her or love her, but deep down I’m frankly terrified that I’m not giving her the life she deserves. Her energy, her particular tastes, and her love of play requires so much more than I ever anticipated.
I am happy to keep doing this for her because I adore her, but I don’t think I will be able to be as devoted if we get another dog. And given how much I love this dog I would hate to not give a future dog the quality of life they deserve.
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