Cockapoo Genetics: Size, Coat, Colours and Temperament

A Cockapoo is a cross between a Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle, usually a Miniature or Toy Poodle, which makes most Cockapoos small to medium-sized dogs. The Cocker parent can be an American Cocker Spaniel or an English Cocker Spaniel, two separate breeds. Cockapoos come in more colours than almost any other doodle because both parent breeds carry so many colour genes, and their coats follow the same furnishings and curl genes as other doodles.

The short version

• Two parent breeds: the Cocker Spaniel (American or English) and the Poodle, usually a Miniature or Toy.
• Size follows the parents: toy, miniature and standard Cockapoos come from Toy, Miniature and Standard Poodle lines.
• Coat: F1 Cockapoos are furnished and usually wavy; more Poodle ancestry means curlier coats on average.
• Colours: almost anything, from black and chocolate to apricot, parti, roan and phantom.
• Merle turns up in some lines, and research links the merle gene to hearing and eye problems in some dogs.
• Behaviour research: in a large UK owner survey, Cockapoos scored worse than both parent breeds on several behaviour measures, so plan for training and socialization.
• Not hypoallergenic: no dog breed has been shown to be.

American or English Cocker?

In North America, "Cocker Spaniel" usually means the American Cocker Spaniel, a separate breed from the English Cocker Spaniel. They're close relatives, but kennel clubs register and judge them separately, and a Cockapoo can have either one as a parent, or both somewhere in its family tree.

DNA can tell them apart. A breed ancestry result can list Cocker Spaniel and English Cocker Spaniel as two different breeds, and one of our example reports does exactly that: a Poodle-dominant dog with Labrador, Cocker Spaniel and English Cocker Spaniel ancestry.

How big will a Cockapoo get?

Both parents' sizes matter, and the Poodle parent sets most of the range. Going by breed-standard ranges:

• Toy Cockapoos have a Toy Poodle parent and are the smallest.
• Miniature Cockapoos have a Miniature Poodle parent and usually land between their parents.
• Standard or "maxi" Cockapoos have a Standard Poodle parent and are noticeably bigger.

These size names aren't standardized, so ask a breeder about the parents' adult weights rather than relying on the label. The PuppyGenes report includes an estimated adult height and weight based on your dog's own genetics: useful context, not a promise.

Cockapoo coats and generations

A study of more than 1,000 dogs from 80 breeds found that three genes, for furnishings, curl and coat length, account for most coat types in purebred dogs. Cocker Spaniels have long, silky coats with feathering on the ears, chest and legs, but no furnishings and little or no curl. Poodles usually carry two copies of the furnishings and curl variants. So:

• F1 Cockapoos are furnished, with the beard and eyebrows of a doodle, and usually have long, wavy coats.
• F1B Cockapoos (an F1 crossed back to a Poodle) are all furnished, and about half are curly.
• F2 and later Cockapoos vary more, and about one puppy in four from two F1 parents is expected to have an improper coat: a smooth face and a flatter, more spaniel-like coat.

Our guides to doodle generations and improper coats cover the odds for each generation.

Do Cockapoos shed?

Most shed lightly. Furnished, wavy or curly Cockapoos shed least, while an improper-coat Cockapoo sheds more like a Cocker Spaniel. Like any low-shedding coat, a Cockapoo coat traps loose hair, so it needs regular brushing and grooming to stay free of mats. Our guide to doodle shedding explains the genes involved.

Why Cockapoos come in so many colours

Both parent breeds carry a wide range of colour genes, so their puppies can inherit almost any combination:

• Red, buff, apricot and cream come from two copies of a red variant of the MC1R gene, one from each parent. Red and apricot dogs across breeds usually carry this pair (Schmutz et al. 2002).
• Chocolate comes from inheriting brown versions of the TYRP1 gene from both parents. The same gene gives some red and apricot Cockapoos a brown nose.
• Black needs only one copy of the dominant black variant at the K locus.
• Phantom, black and tan, and tricolour coats come from the tan-points version of the ASIP gene, which a puppy usually needs from both parents (Dreger and Schmutz 2011).
• Parti (white with patches of colour) comes from white-spotting genes found in both breeds.
• Roan and ticking, flecks of colour through the white, usually come from the Cocker side.

Merle, a pattern of diluted patches, turns up in some Cockapoo lines too. A 2006 study identified the gene behind merle and linked it to a range of hearing and eye problems in some dogs. If you're considering a merle puppy, ask the breeder how the parents were tested and paired.

Temperament: what the research says

Cocker Spaniels have a reputation as cheerful, affectionate companions, and Poodles as clever and active, so Cockapoos are often marketed as easy family dogs. The research suggests more caution.

A 2026 UK study compared owner-reported behaviour in 9,402 Cockapoos, Cavapoos, Labradoodles and their parent breeds, using a standard behaviour questionnaire. Cockapoos showed the most undesirable behaviours of the three crosses. Compared with Cocker Spaniels, they scored worse on 10 behaviour scales, including aggression toward owners and strangers, fear, separation-related problems and excitability. Compared with Poodles, they scored higher on aggression-related behaviours such as owner-directed aggression and rivalry with other dogs.

That's an average across thousands of dogs, not a prediction for yours, and the study measured differences rather than their causes. Breed is a weak predictor of any one dog: a 2022 study of more than 18,000 dogs found breed explains only about 9% of behavioural differences between individual dogs. What the research does say is that a Cockapoo isn't a shortcut to an easy dog: early socialization, training and a well-chosen breeder matter as much as for any breed. Our guide to what a dog's breed means for daily care covers how to use breed context without over-reading it.

What a DNA test shows for a Cockapoo

The PuppyGenes report covers six sections:

• Breed ancestry: how much Cocker Spaniel and Poodle is in your dog, whether that's American Cocker, English Cocker or both, plus any other breeds.
• Coat colour predictions, including patterns and markings where the sample supports them.
• Physical appearance: coat length, curl, furnishings and shedding, each where the sample supports it.
• Temperament and size predictions, including an estimated adult height and weight.
• Genetic diversity.
• An oral microbiome snapshot.

The report does not include genetic disease or health screening. Our example reports show what the results look like for two Poodle-dominant mixes with Cocker Spaniel ancestry.