We bought tiny ‘Cockapoo' puppy but it grew to HUGE 7-stone hound after breeder crossed it with 5ft Bernese Mountain Dog

The Sun

8 hours ago

A COUPLE were left stunned when their tiny "Cockapoo" puppy grew into a whopping seven-stone hound — after the breeder crossed it with a 5ft Bernese Mountain Dog.
Laura McFarlane, 43, and Jamie Griffiths, 51, adopted Bobby from an animal rescue in November 2022 and were reportedly told he was the popular cocker spaniel-poodle crossbreed.
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Being a small breed, the couple expected him to end up weighing less than two stone - so they were shocked when he grew to almost four times the size.
Laura says they first realised there was something unusual when Bobby was not even fully grown, but already the biggest dog at the cockapoo socials they were attending.
The couple decided to carry out genetic testing that revealed that there was no trace of Cocker Spaniel in Bobby and that he was a Bernedoodle - a mix between Bernese Mountain Dog and Poodle.
Bernese Mountain Dogs are a large breed originating from the Swiss Alps that were bred for such tasks as pulling carts due to their power and size.
But Laura says they have "no regrets" about adopting Bobby - who now weighs the same as a 13-year-old child - and that there is just "more of him to love".
Laura, from Pontypridd, South Wales, said: "We were told that he was a cockapoo. We expected him to grow to a maximum of 12kg.
"Once he'd had his injections, we started taking him to cockapoo socials.
"He was the biggest dog and he just got bigger.
"Everybody kept saying to us that they thought that he was a labradoodle.
"We sent for a DNA test for him and it came back that there's no Cocker Spaniel in him.
He's a Bernese Mountain Dog and Poodle - so not a small dog.
"He was so big by that point compared to what we thought he would be.
"I don't regret adopting him, there's just more of him to love.
"He's my best friend. He's a lot of fun, he's extremely cheeky. He's extremely fun and he's got lots of doggy friends."
Regional sales manager Laura says the 45kg beast is served up three meals a day and even joins in with the couple and has a full English breakfast or Sunday roast on special occasions.
Laura said: "We feed him three times a day - he's always hungry anyway but we're quite strict with his food because he does have a sensitive stomach.
"He has three feeds a day so if we can do him a Sunday dinner or a breakfast we'll do him a little one as well because he likes to join in.
"We don't like leaving him at home on our days off because one of us is always working from home.
"We just take him everywhere. He's done everything - he's been on speed boats, been camping.
"He lives the life of Riley."
Laura now wants to encourage other prospective dog owners to adopt rather than buying from a breeder - and would advise them to ask questions in order to avoid the same doggy blunder.
Laura said: "Ask as many questions as possible - if you're going to a breeder then get their backstory maybe.
"I would always encourage adoption over going to a breeder and buying a puppy.
"That's the second dog we've had from a rescue. We had our first dog for 10 years and we've had Bob for three so I would [recommend adoption] because there's just so many dogs there.
"We can't live without a dog really.
"Bobby is no trouble to us."
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