Malti Poo Puppies- Have one??

[mommy4]

We are looking into getting a puppy and are interested in malit poos since they said they don't shed. Anyone have any insight? Are they good with kids?

 

[mjkacmom]

Check your local shelters - I'm sure they're bursting with them. Really, they come from puppy mills, or ignorant breeders (because a "real" breeder won't breed mutts - they're looking to improve the breed, and take health precautions).

Sorry, this is a soapbox issue for me, especially when so many are out there to rescue.

 

[princessmom29]

My BIL is a vetrenary internist and he refuses to own a purbred dog. He says they lack genitic diversity and as a result health problems are magnified in the breed, even when breeders are being responsible. Mutts are often the healthiest b/c they have a broader gene pool. NO dog is truly shed free. They may shed less than another breed, but as my BIL says "If it has hair, it sheds".

 

[bunny]

We have a cockapoo. His mom was a 20 pound cocker spaniel and his dad was a 10 pound toy poodle. He is around 18 pounds and is a little over a year old. We got him last year around Christmas. He is awesome. I have 2 boys- ages 11 and 6. They love him to death, but they are rough with him. He doesn't care. He is really smart. And he doesn't shed. We had another cockapoo prior to him that did shed a little but our current dog doesn't shed. You can test the shedding by gently pulling on its fur. The only negative with our dog is that because his fur (hair) is curly and long he tends to get things stuck in it like leaves and burrs. But we live in the country so he is around those things more than a city dog would be. My best advice would be to pick one out in person. We saw pictures on the internet of the litter, but when my husband went to pick up the puppy we had choosen, he seemed really shy. With two boys we knew we needed a puppy with a more outgoing personality. Also don't forget to crate train your puppy. It will make your life a lot easier.

 

[PrincessToozie]

We dont have a malti poo but we do have a cocka poo and they are the best! She is so good with the lil ones and loves to be held. I am allergic to dog and cat dander, so this worked out good. She is about 12 pounds and was the runt of the litter. We also have her crate trained but she does tend to sleep in our bed as well. Its a good training device, but we dont use it all the time. Sometimes she just likes to go and lay in there even wen the door is open. Good luck with your new puppy!!

 

[Millermom0606]

We had a Pekapoo when I was growing up, and he was the best dog ever!!! but back then they were just mutts

 

[Scurvy]

My BIL is a vetrenary internist and he refuses to own a purbred dog. He says they lack genitic diversity and as a result health problems are magnified in the breed, even when breeders are being responsible. Mutts are often the healthiest b/c they have a broader gene pool. NO dog is truly shed free. They may shed less than another breed, but as my BIL says "If it has hair, it sheds".

Mutts are great. Sadly the "hybrid vigor" thing is really more of an urban legend. They can be healthier, but they can also inherit the worst of each of their parents, including all the predisposition to genetic problems. A purebred dog from a responsible breeder is just as likely to be healthy (thanks to genetic screening) as the healthiest of mutts. A mutt from a breeder who is interested in cashing in on the "designer hybrid" craze is not likely to be especially healthy.

OP, anyone who claims the mutts they are selling will not shed is lying to you. There is no way they can know what the offspring of a mixed pairing will turn out to be like. They could inherit all the best traits of their parents or all the worst ones - there's no way to know. That's one advantage of getting a purebred dog from a responsible breeder - there are generations of selective breeding and genetic screening that make it far more likely that the puppy will have predictable characteristics.

There are lots of mutts to choose from if someone wants a mutt, and they can be the very best pets you could ever find. Shelters are full of mutts who need homes and any one of them could make the perfect pet for some family. Sadly, many of them will die because there are too many of them and not enough homes for them to go to. Anyone who is intentionally breeding mutts and making up cute names for them, and claiming that they are a predictable breed, is just in it for the money and isn't at all concerned with the welfare of the puppies that they are producing. You'd be much better off finding a puppy in a shelter or through a rescue organization and giving it a home.

 

[princessmom29]

We have a cockapoo. His mom was a 20 pound cocker spaniel and his dad was a 10 pound toy poodle. He is around 18 pounds and is a little over a year old. We got him last year around Christmas. He is awesome. I have 2 boys- ages 11 and 6. They love him to death, but they are rough with him. He doesn't care. He is really smart. And he doesn't shed. We had another cockapoo prior to him that did shed a little but our current dog doesn't shed. You can test the shedding by gently pulling on its fur. The only negative with our dog is that because his fur (hair) is curly and long he tends to get things stuck in it like leaves and burrs. But we live in the country so he is around those things more than a city dog would be. My best advice would be to pick one out in person. We saw pictures on the internet of the litter, but when my husband went to pick up the puppy we had choosen, he seemed really shy. With two boys we knew we needed a puppy with a more outgoing personality. Also don't forget to crate train your puppy. It will make your life a lot easier.

everything with hair sheds, including you and me. It is just a matter of the dergree. Any dog with hair sheds hair and dander in some quantity into the environment, enough to cause an allergic reaction in someone sensitive to it, like me. If there is any kind of dog in a home I know it as soon as I step foot in the door. Doesn't matter if it is one of the supposed non-shedding breeds or not.

Mutts are great. Sadly the "hybrid vigor" thing is really more of an urban legend. They can be healthier, but they can also inherit the worst of each of their parents, including all the predisposition to genetic problems. A purebred dog from a responsible breeder is just as likely to be healthy (thanks to genetic screening) as the healthiest of mutts. A mutt from a breeder who is interested in cashing in on the "designer hybrid" craze is not likely to be especially healthy.

OP, anyone who claims the mutts they are selling will not shed is lying to you. There is no way they can know what the offspring of a mixed pairing will turn out to be like. They could inherit all the best traits of their parents or all the worst ones - there's no way to know. That's one advantage of getting a purebred dog from a responsible breeder - there are generations of selective breeding and genetic screening that make it far more likely that the puppy will have predictable characteristics.

There are lots of mutts to choose from if someone wants a mutt, and they can be the very best pets you could ever find. Shelters are full of mutts who need homes and any one of them could make the perfect pet for some family. Sadly, many of them will die because there are too many of them and not enough homes for them to go to. Anyone who is intentionally breeding mutts and making up cute names for them, and claiming that they are a predictable breed, is just in it for the money and isn't at all concerned with the welfare of the puppies that they are producing. You'd be much better off finding a puppy in a shelter or through a rescue organization and giving it a home.

I should have been more clear. He isn't talking about these "hybrid" dogs, but a true mutt whose parents were mutts, and thier parents were mutts ect. We are talking about a dog that you cannot look at and say "that is a _______", unless you fill in the blank with dog or mutt. They ARE genetically more diverse and much less likely to carry a congenital problem than a purebred or hybrid dog. The hybrid dogs really do little to eliminate conegnital problems for a first generation hybrid, and you are right, a dog like that could get the best or the worst from both parents. A dog is a true mixed breed from mixed breed parents has a much lower likelyhood of congenital disorders than a purebred or hybrid dog.

 

[Scurvy]

I should have been more clear. He isn't talking about these "hybrid" dogs, but a true mutt whose parents were mutts, and thier parents were mutts ect. We are talking about a dog that you cannot look at and say "that is a _______", unless you fill in the blank with dog or mutt. They ARE genetically more diverse and much less likely to carry a congenital problem than a purebred or hybrid dog. The hybrid dogs really do little to eliminate conegnital problems for a first generation hybrid, and you are right, a dog like that could get the best or the worst from both parents. A dog is a true mixed breed from mixed breed parents has a much lower likelyhood of congenital disorders than a purebred or hybrid dog.

I shouldn't have assumed you meant things like Maltese/Poodle crosses! I see people use that argument about these hybrids so often, I just assumed you were also, and you know what they say about assuming. Sorry! You are absolutely right about "real" mutts, though. Those "Heinz 57" kind of dogs are (in general, at least) far more likely to avoid the genetic problems found in most specific breeds. A true mutt can be a wonderful pet, and you're less likely to have high vet bills with them due to their genetics.

I'm still a fan of responsible breeders preserving the established breeds, because I like the predictability of them. I think there's a place for responsibly bred purebreds, just as there is for mutts. But most breeders aren't anywhere near as responsible as they ought to be. They don't make sure that they are breeding the healthiest and best examples of the breed. And I don't know of any responsible breeders who breed these mixes. Anyone who is looking for a pet would be better off either looking for a mutt to rescue or buying a purebred from a responsible breeder rather than going to someone who is intentionally breeding these designer hybrids.

 

[bunny]

everything with hair sheds, including you and me. It is just a matter of the dergree. Any dog with hair sheds hair and dander in some quantity into the environment, enough to cause an allergic reaction in someone sensitive to it, like me. If there is any kind of dog in a home I know it as soon as I step foot in the door. Doesn't matter if it is one of the supposed non-shedding breeds or not.

My dog sheds very little! I can brush his fur and only a few hairs will come off. In fact he loses a lot less hair than I do. I have never found fur around my home. Yes, he has an odor. I bathe him often to overcome that.

I realize people are against designer breeds, but cockapoos have been around for a number of years. They aren't new.

 

[Scurvy]

My dog sheds very little! I can brush his fur and only a few hairs will come off. In fact he loses a lot less hair than I do. I have never found fur around my home. Yes, he has an odor. I bathe him often to overcome that.

I realize people are against designer breeds, but cockapoos have been around for a number of years. They aren't new.

For some people, getting a "hypo-allergenic" dog like a poodle or Bichon reduces the shedding enough to make it possible for them to have a dog despite their allergies, but some people are allergic to all dogs since all dogs do have some shedding and/or dander.

My aunt had a cocker/poodle mix and he was adorable. Very sweet, too. He shed like crazy, though.

I'm certainly not opposed to people owning them - they can be great dogs. I am, however, opposed to people buying them because they think they are a predictable breed. They aren't. Any time you mix two different breeds, there's a wide variety of possible results you could end up with. People have been mixing Cockers and Poodles for decades, but each time you mix a Poodle and a Cocker (as opposed to breeding one "cockapoo" to another "cockapoo") it might as well be the first time. As with any two breeds being mixed (whether it's a Cocker and a Poodle or a Beagle and a Great Dane), the offspring is a mutt. (Which doesn't mean it can't be a great pet, because of course it can.) There's no predictability because there's no history with that particular genetic line. If people start to attempt to track the results of the breedings, and start to breed one cocker/poodle to another and track those results, then it might at some point become a predictable breed. (As an aside, I think there are some people who are currently doing that with Goldens and Poodles, trying to create a "real" Golden-doodle breed.)

 

[chabs]

Check your local shelters - I'm sure they're bursting with them. Really, they come from puppy mills, or ignorant breeders (because a "real" breeder won't breed mutts - they're looking to improve the breed, and take health precautions).


Totally not true! We have a 5 month old Maltipoo (that we bought from a friend of ours-a reputable breeder who only breeds one litter a year and isn't running a puppy mill). You just have to look around to find a family raised dog as opposed to a pet store dog. She is the sweetest little puppy we ever had. Plays with the cats and other dogs-gets along with everyone and is friendly with strangers.

She doesn't shed much-at least I am not finding her hair all over yet and we've had her for a couple of months. You will have to have them groomed though-we just took her to get her first haircut yesterday and she will need to be brushed regularly so that her fur doesn't get knotted. I wouldn't recommend them with younger kids because of how little they are-they could dropped or hurt very easily because of their size. My kids are older so we don't have to worry about that.

 

[playswithstars]

I had a mutt. She was our one and only dog and she was the best dog a person could ever have. She lived to be about 17/18 and then she started developing a lot of health issues and the vet recommended we put her to sleep. I would def. get a true mutt again if I wasn't still living at home while finishing college.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I have a Cockapoo and I
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE him...he just turned 9, still my baby....and he shed very little, actually I do not even consider it shedding at all, he loses some hair (much less than you and me) and he is just the BEST, sweetest, dog and he is about 26 pounds, came from a Cocker mom and a poodle mom, VERY smart dog, and VERY funny.
He gets ear infections (common to Cockers) and he gets ITCHY a LOT, more so lately...we're on a new natural supplement now and have changed his food recently to all natural as well...it is COSTLY and frankly I am frustrated but again,
I LOVE him and will do what I can to deal with it...I just HATE to see him itching.. It does however seem to be getting better, got my finger (and toes too, if that'll help crossed )
Good Luck choosing so many cute pups out there...
we;re considering a another right now as well....Hmmmmmm.........so cute!!!

 

[Scurvy]

He gets ear infections (common to Cockers) and he gets ITCHY a LOT, more so lately...we're on a new natural supplement now and have changed his food recently to all natural as well...it is COSTLY and frankly I am frustrated but again, I LOVE him and will do what I can to deal with it...I just HATE to see him itching.. It does however seem to be getting better, got my finger (and toes too, if that'll help crossed )

My Sheltie was having lots of problems with itchy skin and for the longest time we thought it was food sensitivities or allergies. It actually turned out to just be really dry skin. We've got her on food with a higher moisture level and it seems to help. The vet also recommended adding fish oil to her diet. If you don't know for sure what's causing your dog's itching (and if he doesn't get completely better), it might be worth trying something like that just to see if it helps.

 

[Holly]

We are looking into getting a puppy and are interested in malit poos since they said they don't shed. Anyone have any insight? Are they good with kids?

If you have young children I would be very hesitant to get a malti-poo because they are small and delicate. Maltese are also known for being nippy with young kids.