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The recommended tests for Cockapoo breeding dogs, what each test screens for, when it is done, and the questions and red flags that separate careful breeders from the rest. Full profile: the Cockapoo breed profile.
This page is general information drawn from the published guidance of the organizations listed under Sources below. It is not veterinary advice, and it does not replace your own veterinarian, who knows your dog. If your dog is unwell, contact your veterinarian, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center on (888) 426-4435, or the Pet Poison Helpline on (855) 764-7661 for urgent concerns. A consultation fee may apply on the helplines.
The Cockapoo, a Cocker Spaniel crossed with a Poodle, is one of the oldest of the modern crosses and still has no registry or published test list of its own. The working standard is the same as for every cross on these pages: both parent breeds' published panels, applied in full to the two parents. Here the spaniel side can be either an American Cocker Spaniel or an English Cocker Spaniel, and the lists differ slightly between them, so the first question for any Cockapoo breeder is which spaniel stands behind the litter.
For the American Cocker, the parent club list published by the AKC is a hip evaluation and an ophthalmologist evaluation. For the English Cocker it is a patella evaluation, a hip evaluation and a PRA-prcd DNA test, and the AKC DNA recommendations for the English Cocker add familial nephropathy, a serious inherited kidney disease, plus an exercise induced collapse test and an acral mutilation syndrome test. The Poodle side, usually a Miniature Poodle, brings the Poodle club list: patella, hip and eye evaluations and a PRA-prcd DNA test, with von Willebrand disease testing also named for the breed. Eyes run through every version of this cross: spaniel eyes, poodle eyes and a DNA tested retinal disease on both sides of the family tree.
These are the tests the sources listed at the foot of this page set out for this breed. Tests are done on the parents before breeding, not on the puppy you take home, and the point of every one of them is the same: to lower the chance of puppies inheriting a condition that testing could have flagged.
| Test | What it screens | When it is done |
|---|---|---|
| Spaniel parent: hip evaluation (both Cocker lists) | Hip dysplasia, on the recommended list for both the American and the English Cocker Spaniel. | Final OFA grading in the adult dog. |
| Spaniel parent: ophthalmologist evaluation (American Cocker list; eye checks also standard for English Cockers) | Inherited eye disease, a long standing concern in Cocker Spaniels, examined by a specialist. | Repeated through the breeding years. |
| English Cocker parent: PRA-prcd DNA test and patella evaluation (parent breed list) | An inherited blinding retinal disease, and slipping kneecaps, both on the English Cocker club list. | DNA test once, at any age; patella in the adult dog. |
| English Cocker parent: familial nephropathy (FN) DNA test (AKC DNA recommendations) | An inherited kidney disease that typically shows in young dogs and is fatal. A DNA test identifies carriers. | Once in a lifetime, at any age. Ask for the report if the spaniel parent is an English Cocker. |
| Poodle parent: patella, hip and eye evaluations (parent breed list) | Slipping kneecaps, hip dysplasia and inherited eye disease, the examination side of the Miniature Poodle list. | Patella and hip in the adult dog; eye examinations repeated. |
| Poodle parent: PRA-prcd DNA test (parent breed list) | The prcd form of progressive retinal atrophy, DNA tested on the Poodle side as well as the English Cocker side. | Once in a lifetime, at any age. |
Begin by pinning down the family tree: American or English Cocker, Miniature or Toy Poodle. Then take both parents' registered names and check each against its own breed's list in the OFA database. The DNA paperwork is the part to insist on seeing rather than hearing about: PRA results for whichever parents were tested, and the familial nephropathy report where the spaniel is an English Cocker. Cockapoos have been bred for decades, so some parents are themselves Cockapoos; for a second generation parent, ask for the documented results behind it in exactly the same way, traced back to the purebred grandparents if that is what the breeder holds.
Two habits protect you in every breed. First, match names: the dog on the certificate must be the registered parent of the litter, permanently identified, not a relative with a similar name. Second, respect dates: joint grades have minimum ages, eye certificates expire, and heart results in at risk breeds age quickly. A result that was true three years ago may say little about the dog being bred today.
None of this replaces meeting the dogs. Watch the parents move, breathe and settle, ask how long their parents and grandparents lived, and take the paperwork home to check before money changes hands. A careful breeder expects exactly that. Back to the full Cockapoo profile for size, temperament, costs and care.
No list exists for the cross itself. Both parent breeds' panels apply: the Cocker parent brings hip and eye evaluations, with patella and PRA-prcd added on the English Cocker list and a familial nephropathy DNA test in the AKC recommendations; the Poodle parent brings patella, hip and eye evaluations plus a PRA-prcd DNA test.
The two Cocker Spaniels are separate breeds with separate club lists. The English Cocker's paperwork includes a PRA-prcd DNA test and a patella evaluation that the American list does not, and its DNA recommendations include familial nephropathy, a fatal kidney disease with a DNA test.
It is an inherited kidney disease of English Cocker Spaniels in which the kidney filters fail, usually in young dogs. A DNA test identifies carriers, so an English Cocker parent's result is a document worth asking for by name.
Both parent breeds carry inherited eye disease, and PRA is DNA tested on both the English Cocker and Poodle lists. Eye examinations on both parents plus the DNA results are how a breeder covers a risk that arrives from both directions.
Establish the exact breeds and sizes of both parents, check each in the OFA database against its own breed's list, and ask for the DNA laboratory reports for PRA and, for an English Cocker parent, familial nephropathy.
Last updated: November 2026. Every test listed on this page comes from the sources above. How we work: our methodology.