Yorkiepoo, Yorkapoo, Yoodle ... A unique mixed breed dog

The Yorkiepoo (or, as they are sometimes called, the Yorkapoo or Yoodle) is a hybrid or mixed-breed dog that consists of the rather unusual combination of a Poodle and a Yorkshire Terrier. While this crossing might not, at first glance, seem like the obvious choice for the thinking breeder, it is worth noting that the Poodle comes in a variety of sizes as well as the medium height Standard Poodle, some of them fairly small! The Yorkiepoo is usually produced by crossing a Yorkshire Terrier from the larger end of the spectrum with a miniature or toy Poodle, to produce a small dog that is around the same size as the parent dogs.

More about the Yorkiepoo

The Yorkiepoo is a relatively recent addition to the group of popular cross-breed dogs that are increasing exponentially every year. A good choice for dog lovers who are happiest in the presence of small, energetic and affectionate dogs, the Yorkiepoo is a firm favourite among people who like both the Poodle and the Yorkshire Terrier.

Yorkiepoo breed status

Like all other cross breed and hybrid dogs, the Yorkiepoo is not classed as a pedigree breed, and as such, cannot be registered with The Kennel Club for breed shows. Yorkiepoo puppies will not be able to receive pedigree registration papers, even if both of their parents are pedigrees from their respective breeds.

However, the standard and quality of any Yorkiepoo (as with any other breed or type of dog) will to a great extent be dictated by that of its parents. A Yorkiepoo whose parents are both pedigree dogs of a good standard are likely to be of a better quality than a Yorkiepoo whose parents were simply of a Yorkshire Terrier type and Poodle type (or non-pedigree dog) respectively. A Yorkiepoo can also be produced by breeding two Yorkiepoo dogs in their own right as well as crossing a Poodle and a Yorkshire Terrier, of course!

Because the cost of buying a Yorkiepoo puppy can vary considerably from breeder to breeder, it is well worth checking up on the veracity of any claims made by the breeder regarding the ancestry or quality of the litter they are selling.

What does the Yorkiepoo look like?

The simple answer to this question is basically “like a cross between a Poodle and a Yorkshire Terrier” but that is of course, a wide range of traits! Different Yorkiepoos will look rather different to each other, and even dogs from within the same litter or who are otherwise closely related may vary considerably from each other in appearance. Yorkiepoos are generally around the size of a miniature or toy Poodle, although with a more rounded appearance and greater bulk to the body that comes from the Yorkshire Terrier side.

The Yorkiepoo generally stands between six and ten inches tall at the withers, and can weigh anything between 5lb and 16lb, so as you can see, quite a lot of variation is possible!

The Yorkiepoo coat

The Yorkiepoo coat can be as variable as any other trait of the crossbred dog, and one of the reasons why the Yorkiepoo and other hybrid dogs are not currently being considered for formal breed recognition is because there is no consistent appearance and set of traits that reliably repeat themselves across the majority of the dogs produced.

Generally, however, the Yorkiepoo coat tends to be on the smooth side rather than take on the tightly curled appearance of the poodle, although curly coated Yorkiepoos also exist and may be found within the same litters as their smoother coated brethren! One of the key reasons behind why the Poodle is one of the most popular dogs for inclusion in hybrid mixes is due to the fact that their coats only shed minimal amounts and are light on dander. This means that they may cause less of a reaction in people who suffer from dog allergies, or in some people, no reaction at all.

If the Yorkiepoo inherits the Poodle coat traits from the Poodle side of their parentage, this means that their coats may provide the same benefit, and the Yorkiepoo is just one of the many Poodle-cross breeds that are popular with allergy sufferers. Yorkiepoo puppies who inherit a minimally shedding coat with most of the Poodle traits are often advertised as hypoallergenic dogs and command a higher price because of it, although you should not take it as a given that any dog that is claimed to be hypoallergenic will not trigger allergies in sufferers.

The Yorkiepoo colour range is fairly wide; Yorkiepoos can be seen in black, white, brown or tan, although rarely do they inherit a two-tone coat colouration.

Yorkiepoo health

There is a lot to recommend the Yorkiepoo and other hybrid or cross-breed dogs in terms of the health benefits that cross breeding promotes, as widening the gene pool to encompass the additional genetic diversity of a whole separate breed can have a marked positive effect on the health and robustness of the resultant dogs.

As such, the Yorkiepoo is less likely to be prone to any of the genetically inherited health conditions that more commonly affect the Poodle or Yorkshire Terrier respectively, although they will still retain slightly elevated risk factors when compared to dogs of other breeds.

The Yorkiepoo is generally considered to be a robust and long-lived little dog, but some of the health conditions for which the Yorkiepoo has slightly elevated risk factors include:

• Epilepsy
• Patellar luxation
• Hip dysplasia
• Hypothyroidism

However, due to the relatively recent advent of the Yorkiepoo as a popular dog type and as they are only now being bred in reasonably large numbers, no long-term figures are as yet available as to the occurrence rate of any of these conditions within the Yorkiepoo.