Contrary to Popular Belief, Some Doodle Crossbred Dogs May Have More Behavioral Problems Than Their Purebred Parents

Pet owners often pick “designer dogs” because they think they’ll be easier to train and friendlier with kids than purebreeds. A new study suggests that’s not always the case

Mary Randolph | Correspondent

March 20, 2026

Share

Copy linkEmailSMSFacebookXRedditLinkedInBlueskyPrint

Add as preferred source

Everywhere you look, you’ll see designer crossbred dogs; goldendoodles, Yorkipoos, bernedoodles, Shih-poos and more are common sights around neighborhoods. From 2016 to 2021, ownership of “doodles”—poodles mixed with other breeds—doubled in the United States, according to a report by the pet care company Rover.

Many pet parents gravitate toward these “designer dogs” for their reputation of being easy to train and friendly with kids. But a new study, published March 19 in the journal PLOS One, found that certain poodle crossbreeds are more likely to have poorer behavior than their purebred parent breeds.

“These aren’t the kind of behaviors we want to ignore. They’re not benign,” says study co-author Rowena Packer, an animal behaviorist at the Royal Veterinary College in England, to BBC News’ Emily Unia and Jonathan Fagg. “Preconceived beliefs, such as the idea that designer crossbreeds are naturally easy to train or are safe with children, can have serious consequences if they aren’t supported by evidence.”

Packer and her colleagues examined three designer crossbreeds—cockapoos, labradoodles and Cavapoos—and their progenitor purebred breeds: Cavalier King Charles spaniels, cocker spaniels, Labrador retrievers, miniature poodles, standard poodles and toy poodles. Using an online survey posted from late February to late April 2023, the researchers asked pet owners about 12 behavior scales, including trainability, attachment, aggression and rivalry with other dogs, along with questions about themselves, such as how they trained their dogs and their pet expectations.

The questionnaire yielded responses about 9,402 dogs, about one-third of which were designer crossbreeds. Analyses revealed that crossbreeds had more behavioral problems than their purebred progenitors in 44 percent of behavioral comparisons, and fewer in only around 10 percent. All three types of designer dogs exhibited more non-social fear, such as fear of inanimate objects and loud noises, problems with separation from their owners and excitability compared to their non-poodle parent breeds.

Across all crossbreeds, cockapoos—mixes of cocker spaniels and poodles—displayed the most undesirable behaviors compared with their parent breeds. Cavapoos also showed more behavioral issues than their progenitor breeds, poodles and Cavalier King Charles spaniels. Labradoodles, however, showed better behaviors than poodles but worse behaviors than Labrador retrievers.

While the findings are important, the highlighted breed differences don’t necessarily reflect a genetic predisposition for bad behavior, Daniel Mills, a clinical animal behaviorist at the University of Lincoln in England, who was not involved in the study, tells the Guardian’s Nicola Davis. “Behavior is always the product of the interaction of genes with the environment, and looking for simple causes in one or the other is doomed to failure.”

For instance, the survey data revealed that crossbreed owners were more likely to be first-time dog parents and use non-professional sources of training advice than purebreed owners.

Other outside influences, like not getting enough socialization and stress on the dogs’ mothers during pregnancy, could also impact behavior, Dom Burke, a behavior policy officer at the U.K.-based dog welfare charity Dogs Trust, tells BBC News. “As the demand for certain breeds increases, we see a lot more unscrupulous breeding going on, including really poor breeding practices and puppy smuggling.”

The designer dog trend started with the labradoodle, first bred in the 1980s by professional dog breeder Wally Conron, who created a hybrid to be a service animal for a blind woman whose husband was allergic to dog hair. (Poodles shed less fur than many other breeds.) In 2019, however, he told Fiona Pepper at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s “Sum of All Parts” podcast that it was one of his biggest regrets, and that designer dogs’ popularity has led to unethical breeding and adoption practices.

“I opened a Pandora’s box and released a Frankenstein’s monster,” Conron said.

Mary Randolph | Read More

Mary Randolph is a former editorial intern with Smithsonian magazine.