Cockapoo FAQ

We have tried to compile some of our most commonly asked questions and answer them all in one place----but we also want you to know that we would still love to visit with you on the phone or by email! Don't hesitate to contact us if we can answer of explain anything for you :)

What size do your dogs mature to?

Short Answer: So far, our program produces puppies that should average at 15-18 pounds. **The high end of this number may go up a bit as we see our first puppies from new daddy Ryder!**

Explanation: Although we try to keep our parents in a tight size range to keep our puppy size as consistent as possible, some parent combinations may produce puppies that are bigger or smaller. Adult size is impossible to predict exactly, especially when a new parent dog joins our program! (You will notice I am adjusting this answer on 3/17/2021….while we are expecting our first litters from daddy Ryder, who is a few pounds larger than Johnny!) Please let us know if you are very specifically looking for a smaller or larger puppy, and we will help you all we can within your litter to make our best guess! However, do keep in mind that with all of the ancestors a puppy can combine size genes from, adult size is impossible to predict exactly :)

Are you parent dogs health tested?

Short Answer: Absolutely!

Explanation: All of our parent dogs are DNA health tested with a full 170+ disease panel. This means that your pup will absolutely be sure to never suffer from any of these genetic diseases. To learn more about why we health test, why it is important to make sure you purchase your puppy from a breeder who health tests, and see a full list of the diseases our dogs are tested for, visit here.

What color puppies do your dogs produce?

Short Answer: Black, Black Phantom, Brindle, Cream, Buff, Apricot, Red, and Black-based Merle (also known as Blue Merle) are all possible in our program. Many pups will have white chins, necks, chests, foreheads, and/or toes :)

Explanation: Color depends upon which parents are bred and what they can produce. Color genetics are quite confusing, and sometimes unexpected things can come out, but we are pretty good at predicting what will be available in a litter. All of the colors above are colors that we can produce. However, we emphasize and ask our families to always keep in mind, our program is based on quality and color doesn't change quality! Although we have many colors available, we do not guarantee any family a certain color. We do guarantee a beautiful, well cared for F1 Cockapoo from parents of excellent temperament and phenomenal AKC champion lines! Color is fun, but it is just the icing on our high quality cake ;)

So, no parti pups?

Short Answer: No, not at this time. Although we would love to add that in the future if we find the right dog!

Explanation: "Parti" is the beautiful pattern of colored patches on a white "background" that a couple of our mama Cockers have. Parti is a commonly seen pattern in Cockapoos, as parti patterns run in both Cocker Spaniels and Poodles. However, we do not have parti pups at the time of writing this, and it's because of our program standards. For parti patterns to show in a puppy, both parents must carry the parti gene. Although there are many beautiful parti-Poodles, parti is not considered to be the show standard for Poodles, and parti-Poodles are not allowed in AKC conformation events. This means that finding a Poodle that checks all of the boxes we require for our program AND carries the parti gene has been impossible up to this point. We do continue to watch, and fully plan on adding this in the future, but as our AKC champion bloodline standard is something we will NOT compromise on, parti Cockapoos are not in the picture for our program at this time.

However, with having our parti Cocker moms, abstract markings are common on our puppies! So you will see white chins, necks, chests, toes, and sometimes foreheads on our pups! We also have, at the time of writing this, one Cocker mama who can produce merle puppies! Each puppy in her litters has a 50/50 chance of receiving the merle gene and, unlike the parti gene, it only takes one copy of the merle gene to have merle show up! So we do sometimes have merle puppies, which causes a pattern of color dilution across the coat making the puppy appear to have patches.

And, as in the answer to the previous question, keep in mind that our program is built on the quality, health testing, and temperament of our parent dogs and their excellent bloodlines-----color is purely cosmetic. We will not sacrifice our standards to bring in a popular color or pattern. We fully intend to continue seeking a Poodle who carries the parti gene to add this fun pattern in the future, but just as with the hair color of a puppy, the pattern of puppies is secondary to our standards of quality, health, bloodline, size, stature, breeder, temperament, and personality sought as we add our parents.

Pictured below: One parti-colored Cocker female, Rebecca ~ An example of one of our pups with some white markings as described above ~ An example of one of our merle pups. ~ An example of one of our brindle pups.

I see lots of breeders talk about coat textures, shedding amounts, and curl types. What kind of puppies do you offer?

Short Answer: Our puppies are very uniform across the board on texture, propensity to shed, and curl type as we breed very specifically for this.

Explanation: Our high quality, AKC lines ensure that both parents are purebred which helps to ensure that our puppies don’t have the “Improper Coat” that often shows up in low quality and multi generational poodle hybrids. You can read more about the science behind why we only breed and advocate the F1 (first generation) Cockapoo from carefully chosen, AKC registered, AKC Champion line parents here. There is so much misinformation out there, and other crosses can make great dogs——but if you are wanting the predictable look and temperament of the true and original Cockapoo, these points should be important to you.

Do keep in mind that the looks of a dog can vary a lot based on the grooming style and how recently they have been bathed and brushed out. Here are some examples of how different pups can look with different haircuts——all of these dogs have the same coat type. It is a good idea for you to search online for the look you like, and then take the picture to your groomer——much like when you are getting a new hairstyle for yourself :)

Do you start training puppies?

Short Answer: Yes!

Explanation: Although their is much informal training just being with mom and littermates, we also start them on potty training. We start this at 2 weeks old, and puppies are using a litter box probably 95% of the time by the time they head home. We have often heard that this translates to never having an accident overnight in their crate when they move to their new homes, and have even heard a few times that this translated to a puppy never once having an accident at all in their new homes-----but of course this can't be guaranteed for everyone. You can be assured that your puppy has a great start on knowledge about where to "go" and where not to "go" by the time you take them home! If you come up with a name for  your pup while they are still with us, we start using that with them as well. We also work informally with puppies as opportunities present themselves, but leave the formal training to you when they come home as different families want their pups to respond differently, and to different key words.

Will you keep my puppy longer and train them for me?

Short Answer: No---we don't feel that this is the best interest for you or puppy.

We do recommend Baxter & Bella complete online puppy school, and they have been kind enough to give us a 25% discount code to share! Visit www.baxterandbella.com and use the code MILLCREEK

Explanation: This isn't something we offer. We originally considered it, however, every time we thought about it, all we came to is that "Puppy Training" is only partially about the puppy! Just as much as it is about puppy learning commands, it is about people learning how to communicate with this particular pup. It is also what we consider to be a very important bonding experience, and leaving them here not only robs you of that experience, but also of the 8-12 week age which is a very important bonding stage! And even if we did keep them and train them, passing them onto you when you have not been part of the training, and you are not trained in how they have been taught-----keywords, reactions, methods of enforcement and encouragement-----we imagine that passing even a well trained pup on to you would be much like a mother having her well behaved toddler turn into a nightmare as soon as he is left with a new babysitter! :) What we recommend instead is that you join Baxter & Bella (use the code MILLCREEK for 25% off!) prior to your puppy coming home for complete access to the most comprehensive and complete training program we have ever seen! This allows him or her to learn while they see you as a leader, and ensures you are trained on how to properly communicate with you dog. This leaves both of you with a better start to your relationship than had we trained them here.

With all of that said, we do lots to prepare them for success while they are here! See previous question for a snippet about that :)

I see your parent dogs are all AKC registered——what about your puppies?

Our puppies are registered, but as the AKC doesn’t recognize the Cockapoo as it’s own breed at this point, registration isn’t through the AKC. We register all of our puppies through the American Cockapoo Club, and your puppy will come with the paperwork for his/her registration, along with pedigrees of both AKC parents detailing the 6 generations of high quality, heavily championed dogs that it took to build your sweet new family member!

Could you send me pictures of some of your puppies as they have grown up and information from other families?

We love to share updates on our puppies! We share them fairly regularly on our Facebook page, and try to keep things updated on our Puppy Updates page. Check them out to see how you can expect to see your puppy from us grow!

I know I want one of your puppies, but I won't be ready until a future time. What should I do?

Short Answer: Go ahead and get on the list and leave us with the date that you can take a puppy after :)

Explanation: In this situation, we recommend going ahead and making your deposit and getting on the list----as long as you are sure you want a pup from us! This situation is very common in our program.....either because of a planned vacation, a move, retirement, job change, or just not wanting to bring a puppy home over the holidays! What we will do is go ahead and put you on the list with a note that you can't take a puppy until, for example, *after March 2020*. Then, as we work through litters that arrive before then, we will simply skip over your name while keeping you updated about everything that happens in our program in the meantime. This type of situation often provides a wonderful advantage as your name continues to move up the list as families above you get their puppy----often someone who leaves a deposit in this situation will be up for pick of the litter when their time finally comes :)

When do I pick my pup?

This depends on the situation and the deposit list at the time, but we try to explain that process in depth here.

What age do puppies go home?

Our puppies go home at 8 weeks old. Obviously if some reason arose where we thought it was in puppy's best interest to stay a bit longer, we would of course reserve the right to make that decision----but that has only happened with one litter over the course of all of our puppies. We do not allow puppies to go home before 8 weeks.

I want one of your puppies, but I live so far away! What do we do?

Short Answer: NO PROBLEM! We can make it work!

Explanation: If you pay any attention at all to our waiting list, you notice that our puppies go home ALL OVER THE PLACE!! For example, in ONE litter (Candy in 2018) we had puppies go to New York, Oregon, Louisiana, Minnesota, Texas, and Nebraska! Of course you can drive to meet us, but for families in which that isn’t an option, here are your choices on how to get your puppy to your home:
1. The most common choice for long-distance families is to fly in to MCI airport in Kansas City. You plan your flight, and let us know when we need to be there! We will meet you at your desired time with your puppy, and you can fly home to most locations same day. This works very smoothly, and allows us to meet you in person, which is always a bonus :) In this scenario, you plan your flights, bring along the airline approved carrier (example in our store), and make sure you let your airline know you are going to be traveling with an 8 week old puppy. Just make sure you add into your decision that we are about 2 hours one way from the airport, so there is an additional $150 fee for our driving down.
2. If you are unable to drive or fly in, we also have a flight nanny that we are able to work with in sending your puppy home. We would drive to meet nanny at the airport, where they would carry your puppy on board with them to meet you at your airport. In this scenario, you pay the fee for the flight nanny as well as our travel to the airport as in option one ($150). Flight nanny prices can change based on variables at the time of service, but to give you an idea, our last flight nanny flight (8/2020) cost $500. In this situation, all you do is meet your puppy at your desired airport——everything else is taken care of!

What if I place a deposit, and then there aren't enough puppies/males/females to get to me?

In this situation, your name will remain in order on the list for the next litter.

Are your puppies good with kids?

Short Answer: Heavens yes!!!

Explanation: We are a family with 5 young children-----temperament is of utmost importance in our parent dogs, and your puppy will have been around kids literally from day 1. Do make sure that your children understand how to treat a puppy, but being around children is no big deal :)

What do you do for tails and dew claws?

Short Answer: We believe both serve a purpose, and removal bears a risk. We leave our pups all natural, and do not remove tails or toes!

Explanation: We very purposely choose to leave our puppies in tact with all the parts they are born with :) There are breeders out there who will tell you that those of us who don't dock, and especially don't remove dew claws, choose this because we are lazy or don't want to spend the money...seriously, our vet charges $3 per puppy in the litter to dock tails and remove dew claws. Cost is not the case at all! First of all, in tail docking and dew-claw removal, you are exposing a 3 day old puppy to the risk of bleeding and infection. Although rare, there are occasionally very serious side effects, and more commonly secondary infections from the trip to the vet at just 72 hours old. But even more than that, the fact is that a dog uses both it's dew claws and it's tail in day to day life, and research is actually finding more and more all the time of how important these "extra" parts are! Please visit our health page on tail docking, and our health page on dew claws if you would like to learn more!

Do you microchip puppies?

We do not microchip every puppy as we like this to be a decision left to the families. Much like vaccines, they have a purpose and are a great tool, but there are groups who have concern. We like for each family to make their own decision concerning microchipping, and we are HAPPY to chip your puppy before he or she leaves if you so choose. We visit with our families about this in the 5 week informational email, but feel free to ask us questions about it at any time if you have them!

VACCINES

What vaccines will my puppy come with?

Short Answer: We give a Parvo and Distemper shot before puppy goes home.

Explanation: If you have checked out info on our hogs and cattle, you may have noticed that we lean towards natural ways to build health and the immune system versus multiple vaccines on a schedule just because somebody, somewhere said so. Every vet will tell you something different on what is needed and when, and every breeder’s schedule is a little different in what is given and when. What really made us start thinking on the vaccines for our Cockapoo puppies is that they were supposed to have the exact same shot at the exact same time as our Great Pyrenees puppies that are 4 to 5 times their weight and size. We began researching what we could do to do our best to offer you the peace of mind that your puppy is as protected as possible, but not overwhelm these tiny puppies 8 week old systems. For this reason, and because we are not running huge kennels with lots and lots of puppies and people in and out, we are able to follow a more delayed protocol, and give you some choices in the process!

We see a lot of sense in approaches like that of Dr Jean Dodds and Dr Ronald Schultz. We take a lot of our info and timing from their suggestions. What we have on hand to give puppies is Dr Dodds recommended shot for Distemper and Parvo in a modified live virus (MLV) vaccine. Dr Dodds recommends this shot at 9 to 10 weeks of age, however, since we do want to do our best to protect puppies before they leave, we do give the shot while they are still here. Timing depends somewhat on the litter, but we don’t ever give the shot earlier than 7 weeks, and wait until as close to 8 weeks as possible without giving it too close to when puppies are going home. Here are your options in our giving your puppy his or her first shots, and I will split your options by the three groups of people we generally talk to:

1. I am not concerned about vaccines at all: For these families, we give your puppy the DPv shot as listed above. Your puppy will come home with his or her health record so that you and your vet can discuss how to proceed at your first visit :)

2. I am somewhat concerned about vaccines in such a small puppy, but I am also nervous not to have my puppy start on core vaccines before heading home with me: For these families, we give your puppy the DPv shot as normal, but there are a few things we are doing in addition to try and help minimize chances of vaccinosis.

a) We source and use only a 2-way vaccine that is a modified live virus, as recommended by Dr. Jean Dodds.
b) We do our best to always use aged vials to give our vaccines. This means that the preservatives that often are what those being vaccinated react to have already begun to break down, leaving a little less chance of a reaction.
c) We dose our vaccines based on weight instead of giving every puppy of every size the exact same dose.
d) Our puppies are on NuVet Plus vitamins from the time they are conceived through their mother, and as soon as they start on solid food for themselves. This supplement helps their young immune system to be the best it can be, and its high antioxidant properties help increase the body’s immune response to the vaccine given.
e) We allow our mama dogs to naturally work through weaning with their puppies, following their cues of when they are done nursing puppies instead of pulling them off because of an arbitrary date. This allows puppies to continue to receive the benefits of mom’s milk for much longer than puppies raised with many other breeders.
f) We use homeopathic thuja for all of our puppies alongside and following vaccination in order to “assist in the removal of associated vaccine side effects without removing any vaccine benefits”.

3. I would like to forego my puppy’s shots in your home, and follow a delayed schedule starting at a later date: Unlike any other breeder we have ever encountered (remember, we are very acquainted with the process as we bring home our mama and daddy dogs!) we have no problem with you skipping your puppy’s shots while they are here. Also, we work out the details of which puppy is headed home when in order to split the litter and protect your non-vaccinated puppy from any possibility of littermates who have received the vaccine shedding the virus.

Can I come to your farm to pick up my puppy?

This has been a tough one for us. We love to see where our animals come from, and would love for you to come and visit where your puppy comes from. However, with all the projects we have going, we could have people we don't know at our house on a very regular basis! For several reasons, mainly safety of our family and disease/illness for our animals, we do not have buyers come to our home. Because of this decision, we have worked hard to build a very detailed and transparent website to "show you around" our farm. We include many pictures of our parent dogs, from puppy-hood on up, so that you can "meet" them and see how they have grown and changed. We provide weekly picture updates of puppies to purchasing families in order for them to see how their puppies are growing and the environment that they are in. We are also open to phone calls and emails with any questions, are very open and honest about our practices and what we do. I understand that not coming to the farm is an inconvenience for some, but we hope that you can put yourself in our shoes and try to understand why we have made the decision that we have.

Could you point me to your contract or buyer’s agreement?

Unlike almost any other reputable breeder you will come across, we actually do not have a contract or buyer’s agreement. Through our extensive experience of adding high quality puppies to our farm and family, we have run into some doozies! Breeders who want to control how you train your pup, what you feed your pup, when to vaccinate, spay, or neuter your pup, how tall your fence has to be, how long your walks can be, how old your children are, and the list goes on and on!!! We feel very strongly that your puppy is…..well, YOURS! We are very fortunate that our deposit list lets us get to know our families over some time before we send a puppy home, so it is our very strong opinion that if you are one of the families that takes one of our puppies home, that puppy belongs fully and completely to you upon leaving our care, and you are the decision maker for that puppy. The only thing we have you sign is a receipt stating that you did receive your puppy and his/her health record. That’s it! Now, you can be sure we are here for the lifetime of your puppy to offer advice, give encouragement, answer questions, and “ooh-and-ahh” over updates, but we acknowledge you as their sole owner and decision maker!