The name of this new breed is sometimes given as Cockerpoo. It was developed in America exclusively as a companion dog.
This new breed is a straightforward mixture of Cocker Spaniel and Poodle. It came into being to provide a companion dog that had the good qualities of both its parent breeds. The idea was to retain. the `sweet nature, patient disposition and sturdy build’ of the Cocker Spaniel and to combine it with the ‘extraordinary intelligence and non- shedding coat’ of the Poodle. The result, its supporters claim, is the ‘perfect family pet’, with a wonderful disposition and a ‘hybrid vigour’ that avoids many of the health defects of its pedigree parents.
This modern breed did not exist before the 1960s, but is steadily increasing in popularity in the United States and now has its own Cockapoo Club of America to ‘protect and promote’ it. They have made the following formal statement: ‘We do not plan to be associated with the AKC as our focus and purposes are different. We… focus on the unique personality, health, temperament and longevity with a much less important focus on beauty: In other words, they accept some variability of form (which would rule them out as dog-show competitors) in order to concentrate on perfecting the personality of the Cockapoo. If, with the passage of time, its form stabilizes nonetheless, there will undoubtedly be a moment when a set of breed standards is drawn up. This has happened with other popular breeds, like the Jack Russell, and it will probably happen here too.
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