10 things you need to know about the Poochon before you buy one

The Poochon is one of a number of dog types that are petite and curly coated, and whilst it can be hard to tell different similar-looking dog breeds and types apart unless you’ve very familiar with them, they all tend to have very different core traits and personalities!

The Poochon can be more challenging to find out more about than most too, as this is actually a cross-breed and not a breed in its own right, comprised from the mating of two separate unrelated breeds – and so, is apt to contain a mixture of traits from both of them.

If you’re wondering what a Poochon is or have started to look into this dog type in more detail with a view to potentially buying a Poochon of your own, this article will get you started with some pointers on the various factors you need to research in more detail.

Read on to find out ten things you need to know about the Poochon dog, before you go out and buy one or start shopping around for a puppy.

The Poochon is not a pedigree dog breed

First of all, we refer to the Poochon as a dog type rather than a dog breed, because they’re not pedigrees and are in fact crossbreeds or hybrid dogs.

Poochons are produced by crossing a Bichon frise with a toy or miniature poodle (generally a miniature) or at least, have one parent from each of these two breeds making up the two respective 50% ratios of their ancestry.

As a crossbreed, the Poochon has no formal breed standard in place to dictate their looks and temperament, and they’re not eligible for Kennel Club registration.

The Poochon’s two parent breeds might look similar, but their personalities are very distinct

Both the poodle and the Bichon frise have tightly curled fur and at a glance, look somewhat similar, although even their conformations under all that fur are not hugely alike. However, the personalities of these two respective parent breeds are quite distinct from each other in many ways from intelligence, to energy levels, excitability and tolerance for stress among other things, which can make Poochon temperaments quite hard to predict in their turn.

Poochons are small and versatile

One trait that Poochons all share is a small size, as both poodle breeds used in the crossing plus the Bichon frise too are reasonably small dogs. Miniature poodles are a little larger than the toy variant and Bichon frises can vary in size too; but the Poochon is a small, but not tiny dog, and they never grow overly large.

Poochons are quite expensive for a non-pedigree dog type

As you might expect, pedigree dogs cost more to buy on average than non-pedigrees, but some popular hybrid crossings buck this trend, and the Poochon is one of them. The Poochon actually costs more on average to buy than many similarly sized pedigree dog breeds, with average advertised prices on Pets4Homes for Poochons for sale, being around the £734 mark.

Poochons are generally quite a nice dog type to train

The poodle is the world’s second most intelligent dog breed (out of 138 different dog breeds and types considered for ranking) whilst the Bichon frise falls rather further down the list, in 78th place.

The intelligence of any individual Poochon therefore can of course be variable, but the middle ground is a dog that is towards the overall higher side of the canine intelligence spectrum, but without being so sharp as to be a challenge to train due to being one step ahead of the average trainer!

Poochons are generally quite nice to train, and can learn and retain as reasonably large number of commands.

Poochons generally have a very low-shedding and potentially low-allergy coat

The Poochon coat is comprised of tight curls that lie quite close to the body, and that don’t shed a large quantity of individual hairs. The nature of the curls mean that hair the dog does shed tend to remain tangled up in the rest of the coat, rather than being dropped around the home.

This in turn means that Poochons may potentially be less likely to trigger allergies in people who are commonly allergic to dogs, although this is by no means a given and each Poochon should be assessed individually alongside of each individual allergy sufferer in this respect.

Poochons need a lot of brushing and grooming

The fact that the Poochon coat doesn’t drop a lot of the hair it sheds makes it prone to knotting and tangling, and it needs a lot of grooming and attention to remove loose hair and keep it in good condition.

Many Poochon owners have their dogs clipped to make their fur easier to manage, and they may have specific coat designs clipped and trimmed by a professional groomer too.

Poochons may be prone to allergies themselves!

Whilst Poochons are often a good pick for dog allergy sufferers, the Bichon frise breed is one that tends to suffer from more than its fair share of skin and coat problems, and a reasonable number of dogs of the Poochon type suffer from allergies of some form of their own.

The hybrid vigour inherent to the Poochon reduces the chances of them inheriting any individual health problem found in either of the two parent breeds, but Poochons may have elevated risk factors for skin allergies due to their Bichon heritage.

For a small dog type, Poochons need quite a lot of exercise

Poochons might be small, but they are quite lively dogs that need a reasonable amount of exercise to keep them happy and fulfilled. Without plenty of brisk, varied walks and off the lead play, they will soon become a handful, and may become destructive.

The Poochon is a good match for a reasonably wide range of different types of owners

Poochons are small and versatile dogs, which may be a good pick for quite a wide range of different types of owners; however, they are not generally considered to be a great choice for families with very young children.

Any prospective Poochon buyer needs to appreciate the dog’s need for a reasonable amount of exercise and coat maintenance, and plan for this accordingly before committing to a purchase.