Science Digest: How do undesirable behaviours compare between the popular designer Poodle-crossbreeds and their purebred parent breeds?

18 May 2026

Over the last decade, there has been a rise in popularity and ownership of certain ‘designer-crossbreed’ dogs, particularly Poodle-crossbreeds – Cockapoos, Labradoodles and Cavapoos.

Previous research has shown that breed-associated actual or perceived behaviour strongly influences pre-purchase decision-making, with owners more likely to choose a breed perceived to have desirable behaviours, such as being easy to train and/or good with children. However, there is very limited research on the behaviour of these designer crossbreeds.¹

A new study by researchers at the Royal Veterinary College is the first of its kind to explore owner-reported undesirable behaviours in the three most popular Poodle-cross designer crossbreeds – Cockapoos, Labradoodles, and Cavapoos – and compare this to their relevant purebred parent breeds.¹

Using an online survey of owners, behavioural data were collected from 9,402 dogs under 5 years old, comprising designer-crossbreeds (Cockapoo, Cavapoo, or Labradoodle) or their respective purebred progenitor breed (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Cocker Spaniel, Labrador Retriever, Miniature Poodle, Standard Poodle or Toy Poodle). Behavioural profiles were assessed and compared using the validated Canine Behavioural Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ), focusing on six aspects: training and obedience, aggression, fear and anxiety, separation-related behaviour, excitability, and attachment and attention-seeking.

The study found that the designer-crossbreeds (Cockapoo, Labradoodle and Cavapoo) differed from their purebred parents (progenitors) in 54% of their behaviour comparisons, with the designer-crossbreeds overall showing more undesirable behaviours in 82% of comparisons.

The common undesirable behaviours shown by the designer-crossbreeds were non-social fear (e.g. traffic, loud/sudden noises, novel objects/contexts), separation-related problems (e.g. vocalisation and destructiveness when left alone) and excitability (e.g. strong reactions to walks, visitors or doorbells).

There were notable differences in the levels of undesirable behaviours shown between the three designer-crossbreed breeds, suggesting that designer-crossbreed dogs shouldn’t be considered as a homogenous group from a behavioural perspective.

Cockapoos displayed the most undesirable behaviours in comparison to their progenitor breeds, scoring worse than Cocker Spaniels and Poodles in 16 out of 24 behavioural scale comparisons. In particular, Cockapoos scored significantly higher (i.e. had more undesirable behaviours) than both purebred progenitors in aggression-related behaviours, including owner-directed aggression, stranger-directed aggression and dog rivalry.

Cavapoos exhibited significantly more undesirable behaviours than their progenitors for 8 behavioural comparisons (owner-directed aggression, stranger-directed aggression, dog-directed aggression, stranger-directed fear, non-social fear, dog-directed fear, separation-related problems, and excitability), and significantly less undesirable behaviour for trainability.

Labradoodles had a more mixed profile, displaying more undesirable behaviour than their progenitors in 5 comparisons (dog rivalry, non-social fear, separation-related problems, excitability, and trainability), while exhibiting less undesirable behaviour in 6 comparisons.

Another notable finding was that not seeing the puppy’s mother at the time of collection was linked to lower trainability scores in all comparisons between the designer-crossbreeds and their progenitor breeds. This was also associated with higher scores of owner-directed aggression and excitability in the Cockapoo and progenitor breed comparisons, higher separation-related problem scores in the Labradoodle and progenitor breed comparisons, and higher dog rivalry scores in the Cavapoo and progenitor breed comparisons.

The most commonly used source of training advice/resources were dog trainers (34% of owners), but owners of designer Poodle-crossbreeds were more likely to rely on non-professional sources, such as friends and family (28%), books (28%), social media (26%) and animal charity websites (20%), which are of varying quality and can sometimes be misleading.

These findings show that widely-held public beliefs that Doodle-cross designer-crossbreeds have more desirable behaviours, such as being easier to train or being well-suited to households with children, aren’t supported by evidence. This highlights the importance of prospective owners thoroughly researching the characteristics of any breed or crossbreed to avoid misbelief-driven acquisitions, and meeting the parents of any prospective puppy to assess their behaviour before making a final purchasing decision. Veterinary professionals can support both prospective and current owners by increasing awareness of undesirable behaviours in these specific breeds.

Limitations of the study include the use of owner-reported surveys, which may have resulted in less reliable behavioural data than if it had been reported by a qualified behaviourist, and may have been biased towards owners who are more welfare-conscious or who have previously had behavioural issues with their dogs. The number of Poodles in the study was relatively low compared to the other purebred breeds, so the responses for each Poodle-type breed were combined for analysis, even though the behaviour profiles of these three types of Poodles may differ.

Take home message

The three Poodle-cross designer-crossbreeds – Cockapoos, Labradoodles and Cavapoos – overall show more undesirable behaviours than their progenitor breeds, with Cockapoos exhibiting significantly more undesirable behaviours. Veterinary professionals can support prospective and current designer-crossbreed owners by increasing awareness of the negative impacts of these undesirable behaviours and offering remedies to address them.

Reference

1 Bryson GT, O’Neill DG, Belshaw Z, Brand CL & Packer RMA (2026) Comparing undesirable behaviours between ‘designer’ Poodle-cross dogs and their purebred progenitor breeds. PLoS One. 21(3): e0342847. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0342847