No Teddy is a Cavapoo and Alfie is a miniature poodle. We were looking for another Cavapoo but the prices had jumped in the 2 months we'd got Ted to £2500 for one. We were steered away from anything with "Cocker" in it cos they are mad. Quite literally. Doris's daughter has 3 Springers and a Cocker (all working dogs) and the Cocker spaniel is absolutely mental and bounces off all the walls when you visit. It's like shes on a wall of death! So we decided to go the miniature poodle route as Ted's playmate. Nala puts up with a lot from Alfie especially as he is in the biting stage and tends to be hanging off her face or ears most of the time when they are playing. But she's very good with them both and very protective of them
His leg was much better when we got up this morning so thankfully it looks like it was probably just a sprain after all.
They're "designer dogs" though, often bought by people with more money than sense who have seen a Love Island contestant turned social media influencer with one. See also, cockerpoos, frenchies and miniature dachshunds. Since the new builds went up just outside the village a couple of years ago, every other dog you see in the area seems to be one of the above, usually being walked by a woman with a face full of filler who is paying very little attention to the dog as she's constantly staring at her phone, or a guy who looks like a slightly less extreme version of the Ibiza Final Boss. The house next door to me is the one new build in the village, which with depressing inevitability, was bought by a couple fitting that description and before long they'd acquired various lifestyle accoutrements including the mandatory miniature dachshund puppy. I'm sorry to say that it has grown up into the worst socialised dog in the area as it barks and howls continually and is a nasty little piece of work with a hair trigger temper. Every time I see it, it's straining at its leash while snarling and snapping at something or someone.
Working cockers are not for the faint hearted, especially the boys. If you think a female WCS is full on, then imagine what a male is like and then imagine what an intact male is like. When Iggy had the liver issues 6 months ago which, I was told might leave him with brain damage, the universal response of everyone who knows him was "how will we be able to tell"? You have pretty much described how he gets around the house. He either doesn't bother trying to take corners or he just overshoots them, so literally bounces off the wall at full pelt and as per my posts above, he takes staircases at a running jump, usually landing at the bottom with all the grace and poise of a fully laden cement truck. We are also persona non grata with one of my neighbours at the moment because despite me warning her not to do so, she crouched down and then called him over, only to find out to her cost that 17kg of bone, sinew and muscle piling into you at 25 mph in a frenzy of hypersocial enthusiasm will knock you flat on your arse, knock the wind out of you and leave you with a bruised coccyx. "FAFO", as the Americans say....
Show cockers are a lovely dog. Mental like they’re working cousins for the first year or so, then they calm right down.
Same with Border Collies. Show lines (like our 5) are much calmer and easier to live with, even though they're genetically the same dog as a Working Collie. That said, I've had a few Working Collies that have been spectacularly easy to train and live with. It's just more random.
In amongst all the madness, there’s also a LOT of love. This is how every morning starts. I reckon he’s thinking “I really love our personal space”
Had a working Golden Retriever staying for a long weekend. Gorgeous dog but breathed a sigh of relief after she was picked up by her owners yesterday, as did my black lab Reuben. Last night we had a relaxing evening and a decent night's sleep. High energy dog...
