If you’re looking to add a Cockapoo to your life, you might be wondering what coat types they have. If Poodles have coarse, curly coats, and Cocker Spaniels have very flat silky coats, what happens when you combine the two? Find out if there’s any way to predict Cockapoo coats. And, above all, how to care for the different Cockapoo coat types. Read on to find out.
Cockapoos come in three main coat types; curly, wavy, and straight coats. Each coat has its own care requirements ranging from regular grooming of the curly and wavy coats while straight coats require the least amount of grooming.
Let’s find out more about each Cockapoo coat type and its care requirements.
Curly Coat Cockapoo
Let’s start with the Cockapoo coat that most resembles that of a Poodle. This coat has thick, tight curls and can be wiry than the other coat types.
These very tight curls are popular because they look very neat and cultured. They are also the lowest shedders, making them the most ideal for those with allergies.
However, the curls are prone to excessive matting.
How to Care For a Curly Coat Cockapoo
Curly coats may need to be trimmed often in order to prevent excessive matting. A touch-up and a bath every six to eight weeks is enough for older, less active dogs. More may be required depending on your lifestyle.
Additionally, I recommend that you brush your curly-coated Cockapoo at least once a day.
Make sure that you focus on problematic areas such as behind the ears, the back of the legs, and the bellies.
In order to maintain the tight curls, avoid using a pin brush when your Cockapoo is dry. Instead, use a pin brush only when it is wet.
A great tip I have found when working with very curly dogs is to use a detangler so that you don’t have to rinse. This will not only wet the fur and keep their curls when brushing. But will also help prevent matting throughout the next few days.
Blow drying your Cockapoo may result in a silkier coat, improving matting, but it may also affect the appearance of their curls.
Wavy Coat Cockapoo
Wavy-coated Cockapoos look just like little Teddy bears. This makes them very popular amongst families with kids.
Their curls tend to be quite loose and fall in ringlets. Their fur is also far silkier than the curly coated Cockapoos. However, they still require a large amount of grooming. The wavy coats also shed slightly, which is important to keep in mind.
How to Care for a Wavy Coat Cockapoo
The wavy-coated Cockapoo requires just as much grooming as the curly-coated variant.
You still need to brush these dogs daily, or they will start matting. However, because they do not have tight curls to maintain, you can get away with brushing them dry.
A pin brush is still great. However, a slicker brush will also work for these dogs. Make sure that you get all the way down to their skin, though.
You may not have to trim your wavy Cockapoo, although a lot of people do to prevent excessive shedding. And in my experience, they do require just as much trimming as a curly coat Cockapoo.
Straight Coat Cockapoo
These are the most like the Cocker Spaniel of all the Cockapoo coats.
Even though it is called a ‘straight’ coat, it is not perfectly straight. Instead, there is a very slight kink concentrated around the ends of the fur. This coat is very silky but tends to shed a lot, even when cared for.
These Cockapoos don’t mat nearly as much as the others. But there are still some problematic areas where you should concentrate your care.
How to Care for a Straight Coat Cockapoo
Dust seems to fall from the silky coat, which makes it tempting to groom less often. However, your Cockapoo will start to smell if you delay baths too much. A ‘hygiene cut’ is recommended for these dogs to make sure that their hind quarters stay clean.
Consider going over your straight-coated Cockapoo with a slicker brush at least once a day. Be diligent around their ears and ‘armpits’ as these areas move constantly, causing matting.
Flat Cockapoo Coat
A flat coat is not a true Cockapoo coat. Instead, it is a Cocker Spaniel coat with a very little curl. It rarely occurs in Cockapoos and is considered very undesirable due to how much it sheds.
Caring for a flat coat is the same as caring for a straight coat.
Do Cockapoos Have a Double Coat?
Cockapoos do not have a double coat. They only have a single-layered coat and never have any undercoat.
This is because neither the Poodle nor the Cocker Spaniel are double-coated dogs.
What Affects Cockapoo Coat Type?
Parents Coat
The coat of the parents largely affects the coat type of your Cockapoo.
Curly hair is considered to be dominant, while straight coats in dogs are recessive. The genetics that this results in are complex. However, the basics are that your pup will have curly or wavy hair if there is any curly genetics.
If you want to guarantee a Cockapoo with a straight coat, you can only do this by breeding two straight-haired Cockapoos together.
Generation
Just like the parents greatly affect the texture of your dog’s coat, generation will too.
As mentioned above, the only way to guarantee straight hair is to breed two straight-haired dogs together. There is no such thing as a straight-haired Poodle. For this reason, it is very rare to find an F1 Cockapoo with a straight coat.
However, excessive breeding of straight-coated dogs in later generations makes flat coats occur more often. This is especially true if backcrossing with a Cocker Spaniel occurs.
How to Find the Ideal Coat Type for You?
Once you have decided which Cockapoo coat type is ideal for you, it is rather easy to find.
Puppies start to show signs of their coats at a very early age. If you pick your puppy up at 8 weeks, then you will definitely be able to see if it has a curly or straight coat.
You can also give your specifications to a breeder before the puppies are even born. They will be able to make predictions based on the parents that they used. This means that you will already know if the litter may have a puppy suitable for you.
In my experience, you may have to wait a little bit to get the perfect coated dog for yourself. But, it is always worth it.
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