Cockapoo News

Have you got or found some Cockapoo news?
Have you seen Cockapoos in the news online? Has your Cockapoo excelled in a dog sport? Has your Cockapoo graduated as a Pets as Therapy (PAT) dog? Do you have a Cockapoo assistance dog and a story to tell? Has your Cockapoo won a show prize? Would you like to share a good or bad experience with others? If you are a CCGB member please start a thread on chat, including a photo if possible, and ask admin if the article can be included on the website.

Missing Cockapoo

Alfie is a apricot, male cockapoo and went missing from Holtwood, near Wimborne, in Dorset on Sunday, 23rd December 2012.

There are lots of wooded areas and farms and fields in the area and the owners is sure he is sheltering somewhere.

There is a reward for Alfie’s safe return. See www.doglost.co.uk/poster.php?dogId=46700

UPDATE 3/1/2013 – Alfie has been found and is now safe and sound at home.

CCGB mentioned in the BVA Animal Welfare Foundation Annual Review

Extract from the annual review
To see the full report click on the image

“We were delighted that the Puppy Contract received the endorsement and carries the logos of Dogs Trust, PDSA, Universities Federation of Animal Welfare, Advisory Council on the Welfare Issues of Dog Breeding and the Companion Animal Welfare Council. 

The Puppy Contract also received Parliamentary support. The Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare commended the contract and called on the Kennel Club, Blue Cross and breed clubs to get behind a single contract by joining the organisations who have already endorsed the Puppy Contract and Puppy Information Pack.

The Cockapoo Club of Great Britain became the first breed club to endorse the Puppy Contract and has made it a condition that breeders registered to its Approved Breeder Scheme must use it. We hope that many more breed clubs and other organisations concerned with animal welfare will add their support.

It’s a marvellous contract and a great foundation to someone’s happy healthy puppy ownership experience and we back it 100%.
Stephen Charlton, Cockapoo Club of Great Britain

Seasonal Canine Illness

Following a serious and worrying turn of events following an Autumn woodland walk, one of our members they have asked for this information to be made available to raise awareness:

Nelly Moose

Kizzy

“Please please please be aware of Seasonal Canine Illness – Be vigilant, the signs are vomiting, dehydration, lethargy, diahorrea and shaking. It can NOT be passed from dog to dog, it is picked up in woodlands (theory is fungus spore or blue/green algae).  Click on this link to find out more www.aht.org.uk

Mr.R took our 3 dogs for a walk in woodland on Thursday afternoon around 4.30pm, both Kizzy and Nell were off lead as usual but never out of sight, Charlie was on lead throughout the walk. There was no sign of any problem on Thursday or even Friday first thing. Friday morning I was greeted as normal by all 3 dogs, the doorbell rang at 9am and the dogs all ran to investigate and greeted our visitor. My mum and her 2 dogs came by at 9.50 and again all seemed well. I first noticed Nell had been sick at approx 10am Friday she then went on to be sick again this being white and frothy, she was very lethargic lying in her bed and shaking. Within half an hour I noticed Kizzy starting to be restless, she couldn’t settle and was stretching her front legs onto the floor and leaving her back legs and bum up high for a few minutes at a time, this rang alarm bells and I rushed them straight to the vet. By the time I arrived at 12.45pm I had to lift Nell out of the boot and she was totally limp, Kizzy was also struggling to move. Within 5 mins of arriving to the vet assessing them Kizzy was sick and then collapsed. Nell had a low temperature, Kizzy very high and both were shaking. In under 24hrs the symptoms started and they rapidly became seriously ill.”

Both dogs improved over a 3 day period following intensive treatment and, due to the prompt actions of their owner, have now made a full recovery.

CCGB ‘poos Triumph at Bark in the Park

The 3 lucky winners with their rosettes

Bark in the Park was held on 28th July in Fleet, Hampshire, having been organised as a charity event by a local dog lover.

The event consisted of a dog show with categories for: Best Puppy, Best Bitch, Best Dog, Golden Oldie, Best Rescue, Cleverest Trick, and Best 6 Legs.

A few of the local CCGB members had a mini-meet and entered for as many categories as we could. We were delighted when Pip & Kipper were awarded 2nd place in the Best Bitch category, while Ian with Ruby, and Darron with Charlie fought a fierce battle in the Best 6 Legs category.  Darron and Charlie reigned supreme coming 1st, while Ian and Ruby were awarded 3rd place – I don’t think Darron will ever let Ian forget! 

There was an agility display given by a local club and it was great to see the different standards and how the dogs reacted to being at a mini-event.  When they had finished their display they invited the rest of us to have a go at agility in return for a small contribution to the charity.  One of their instructors was on hand to make sure that all of the dogs and handlers had a good introduction to the sport, in a safe environment.

I am already training Ruby and Pepper at agility but have not yet done a competition, so it gave me the opportunity to take them over some equipment in a different environment. Ruby was very excited – her wait wasn’t great and she pinged off the end of the dog walk.  But when she started to concentrate I could see the potential.  I was particularly pleased that she attacked the weaves twice and completed all 6 poles on both occasions.  

Ruby in action

Great weaving

Pepper has only been training for 3 months so I didn’t really know what to expect.  Under the circumstances her wait was quite good and she did everything that I asked of her.  Here is Pepper in action:

Overall we had a lovely day out.  We hope that they choose to make it an annual event and hope to improve on 3 rosettes next year!! Helen

The Cockapoo Club of GB Inspector training at Wood Green Animal Shelter

An increasing demand for honest, reliable Cockapoo related information being sought by the growing UK market triggered a group of dedicated owners, enthusiasts and breeders to join together to form The Cockapoo Club of GB. The sole focus of this Club was to produce a static website where this valuable information could be set-out to assist, educate and advise on all aspects ‘Cockapoo’. 

To all regular followers of an on-line forum, it became quickly apparent that the same questions were being posted on a weekly basis as rolling threads which made information difficult to access. With breeder specific websites not all able or willing to show the potential range of Cockapoo options, one breeder posted a question on this global forum as to what would be wanted, needed and desirable for a GB based organisation. The response was huge and the number of other forum users who put themselves forward to assist with forming a GB club surpassed expectation.

Within 4 weeks, a select team was engaged in open on-line dialogue and with a prolific work rate they created a Members’ Club. A full Committee was voted on and the duly elected Chair announced the Club in November 2011. People wishing to join put themselves forward for proposal and seconding by way of a brief summary of their interest in Cockapoos. 

The CCGB’s focus is to offer information, encourage members’ networking, offer support and advice, promote animal welfare and actively encourage ethical breeding practices. To this end it offers a registration for puppies to all Approved Breeder Members and will produce five generation lineage papers showing parents’ health test results and identification details. Validation of the information provided was part of the incentive in setting up an inspection scheme for all prospective Breeder Members. This ground breaking approach has been backed up by training of the CCGB Inspectors at Wood Green Animal Shelter in Godmanchester,Cambridgeshire, which was sponsored by a suitably impressed owner member. Fourteen of the CCGB members travelled from all over GB to attend. A very successful day saw those members undertaking eye-opening and thought provoking seminars on all the relevant topics of animal welfare, husbandry, Emotion Mood Reinforcement Assessment (EMRA), education, mentoring, support, home visits and rescue. Wendy Kruger who headed the training on behalf of Wood Green said “ What a fantastic group of people. You’re doing a great job and I wish you all the very best of luck with it.”

Breeding membership is open to anyone whether it’s for a one-off litter, a Hobby breeder or fully Licensed breeder. The CCGB Inspectors’ role will be to both gather the required information and to offer the Club’s support and advice to the breeder, from conception through to how to give lifelong support to the puppies’ owners.

Stephen Charlton on behalf of the Club stated “This has been a wonderful day, spent with like-minded people with the same goal and commitment from all around GB . Following this initial step in Inspector training we can now look to visit those breeders who are aready awaiting an inspection which, if passed, will place them on the Approved Breeders’ List. The CCGB is certainly going to be a strong force and by setting the bar high we hope that this beautiful, happy, cuddly, intelligent, versatile and loving dog can be fully catered for with regards to health and longevity.” 

Picture: Back row l to r: Wendy Kruger, Michael Watson, Julie Ashforth, Harri Sharples, Ali Shearman-Jones, James Blazey, Helen Ranaghan, Karen Greenwood and Colin Straughan.
Front row l to r: Eileen Gilmour, Julia Charlton, Karen Fox-Williams, Mandy Bates and Sarah Moore.

CCGB Inspector Vacancies

We are looking for volunteers who feel that they have what it takes to be trained as an official CCGB Inspector for a geographical area. We have 6 posts to be filled to cover South Yorkshire, North West (Southern), West Midlands, Wales, Northern Ireland, Eire. Each of the National CCGB Inspectors will be required to attend a formal training day on 19th January 2012 at Wood Green Animal Sanctuary. We are hoping to attract applicants who are either Cockapoo owners or enthusiasts, however we cannot accept applications from Cockapoo breeders. The role will include lone home visits to Breeder Member applicants, to gain sight of health test certificates/all relevant paperwork and to assess the animal welfare conditions of the breeding facilities and all animals in their care. Also to verify that said breeder’s practices are in-line with the CCGB’s Code of Ethics.
We look forward to hearing from willing applicants for this prestigious position within The Cockapoo Club of GB. If this position is not for you but you would like to be actively involved in the working of the CCGB, please do contact us and outline what you would like to offer. Thank you.

CCGB Inspector Application Form

10 + 5 =

Christmas Caption Competition Winner

Following our caption competition in December we would like to announce that the winner is Dave Sharples and you can read his winning caption below.  We had a great response so many thanks to everyone who entered.  Natural Instinct chose the winner from a list of unnamed entries in order to make it fair and unbiased, so it’s quite funny that our Chairman won!  Well done Dave, we hope Luna enjoys the prize! (10kg of Natural Instinct food)

                    “I don’t know what you are smiling at – once you get as big as me, she’ll make you wear a hat like this too!”

Other entries that caught our eye are:-

“At the stroke of midnight you can have the carrot. The mince pie and sherry are mine!”
 “Don’t you know… Santa won’t come if you’re not asleep!”
“See I told you I could do Tommy Cooper!… I can make a cockapoo appear out of my hat..  Just like that!”
“I wonder what reindeer tastes like?”
 “Yawn! Can we go for Silent Night puppy?”

Cockapoo Photo Competition Winners

During November we asked ILMC members to send in pictures of their cockapoos for our Poo Pics Competition. We had an amazing response – many thanks to everyone who entered. Cockapoos might come in all shapes, sizes and colours but they all have one thing in common – they’re all real little posers! How to begin to make a choice?  We decided we had to use as many of the pictures as possible, so when you browse the website you might well come across a poo or two that you recognise! But in true X-factor style we’ve made a decision! Here are the judges’ favourites. Well done Poos!
and the winner is…

Let’s all shout ‘Poo’ at the lifeguard!

As much as we wash, groom, brush, de-mat and perfume our lovely dogs to look their best, show them some muddy water and they’re right in there!

Runners up that made the team go ‘Ahhhhhhhhh’…

Second Place Rosette for Rufus!

Date: Saturday 5th November
Time: 10am
Place: Merrist Wood College
Event: Millbrook Agility Dogs Winter League

There were two events in which to compete. In the agility round (jumps, contacts, weaves and tunnels) we received five faults for a refusal. Rufus was steaming around the course in very good time but was ‘going on’ so well that I couldn’t keep up with him! At the penultimate jump Rufus turned around to see where I was and missed a jump! My fitness regime begins tomorrow…..

In the jumping round (just jumps and tunnels) Rufus did brilliantly and we were so delighted to find out at the end of the competition that we had got second place! At 20″ to the shoulder, Rufus measures large and so has to compete against all those Border Collies out there …..only one of them was faster! Well done Rufus!

Bowled over by a Cockapoo

Nick Robinson is charmed by his family’s new dog – a cross between a cocker spaniel and a poodle. The Guardian August 2009