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A cockapoo is not a hybrid

Ligers, mules and cockapoos are some of the world’s better known hybrid animals.

Seriously….

Two baby “shalais” lambs have been born at Farmer Palmer’s petting zoo in Poole after their mother, an unnamed Shetland ewe, got into the neighbouring enclosure of Hank, the Valais ram.

That’s not a hybrid either. Might as well say some bird from Bristol getting knocked up by someone from Bath is a hybrid. That would be a horror of course, but not a hybrid.

18 thoughts on “A cockapoo is not a hybrid”

  1. Waaaaaah!!! I thought they might be a cross between a cockatoo and a kangaroo.

    But they’re only damned dogs.

  2. There’s a whole array those crosses, labradoodles, cockadoodles and many others. As noted, simply crosses between different breeds of the same species. With rare exceptions genuine cross species breeding produces infertile animals. And just to note, there are Mules and Hinnies, depending whether the donkey is the male or the female in the cross. They are different but not very.

  3. Rambling Sid Rumpo: A young swain stands beneath his sweetheart’s window, plighting his troth.

    Kenneth Horne : I’ve often wondered. What is a troth ?

    Sid : It’s a cross between a trout and a sloth.

    Horne : An unusual combination.

    Sid : I don’t know what they saw in each other, to be honest.

  4. This is just down the road from me. It really is the sort of thing that passes for news in Dorset. Must be a slow day for a national to pick up on it though.

  5. EdSnack-
    The difference is that the expensive (so called designer) are the 1st generation. Its exactly because they aren’t breeds. If you put a 1stgen cockapoo dog with 1G cockapoo bitch… the litter will be a massive hodgepodge of sizes/shapes/coats and colours none particularly looking like their parents. That is what a breed is…get two the same together- the progeny will look like, have the same attributes with mild variations as the parents.

  6. We’ve got a cockapoo. I don’t know whether she is a hybrid or a mongrel. But she’s a little beauty.

  7. Hallowed be, I do realise that. A labradoodle is a cross (obviously) between a Labrador and a Poodle, not sure if it matter which is the sire. It might be possible to get a very similar result from breeding two labradoodles together, statistically possible, but I suspect very very unlikely. To be honest, never heard of anyone trying. Given time and careful breeding one probably could create a breed that approximated to a (example) labradoodle and have them breed true, but that is not what we currently have.

  8. The case where it is interesting, i.e. not just personal taste is in Springer/Cocker crosses called Sprockers. Technically they can’t be pedigree, but you can’t necessarily tell from sight. (and they used to be the same breed anyway) To earn big bucks as a gun dog breeder you need a field champion, and you need to be a KC registered breed to compete. I think there was a scandal ten years or so ago where the Queens Trainer or at least someone very well known in that world was accused of introducing a Springer bloodline to produce a field trial Cocker champion. Springers supposedly bringing speed and stamina advantages.

  9. Little bro has just taken possession of a Springer/Clumber cross. She’s a beaut!

    I have a theory that these crosses show F1 hybrid vigour – but you can’t get that from second generation (which keeps seed merchants in business).

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