These dogs are all supposedly the same breed, but their owners were duped into buying a fake designer puppy - so can YOU guess what kind they're meant to be?

Daily Mail​

12-06-2025

Miniature cockapoos are among the most expensive dog breeds in the UK. But some unlucky owners have fallen for false advertisements and ended up with a dog of an entirely different breed.
Back in lockdown when Britons went crazy for designer dogs, a string of unscrupulous breeders put out manipulative advertisements claiming to sell the coveted pups to cash in on the rampant craze.
When they're young, it can be difficult to distinguish the breed of a given dog, which in turn led fraudulent sellers to prey on prospective owners longing for the popular Cocker Spaniel and Poodle crossbreed.
However, as time went on, owners have come to realise that they're beloved canines aren't of the designer breed.
UK-based Samantha Eyon was one of the unlucky individuals who splashed out on a cockapoo only for him to look like an entirely different breed just months later.
Taking to TikTok, Samantha explained that she was expecting an F1 Toy Cockapoo, meaning she wanted a dog resulting from a first-generation mating of a Cocker Spaniel with a Poodle.
As a result, she paid a premium price for her new family member and splashed out a staggering £2,000 to bring him home.
But just months later, her pooch grew into a dog that bore no physical similarities to a Toy Cockapoo but instead developed black and white spots, leading to speculation that he was a Dalmatian cross.
'Paying £2000 for a Toy Cockapoo and getting...,' Samantha wrote before sharing a selection of adorable images of her not-so-Toy Cockapoo. She added in the caption, 'We love him all the same'.
Elsewhere, an anonymous Reddit user took to the platform after her 'Cockapoo' Piper grew into a dog of a different appearance.
She wrote, '[I] got her because we wanted a small dog that doesn't shed and thought she was cute.
While Piper is adorable, she's by no means the second-generation small Cockapoo that the owner was expecting.
Curious of her dog's true heritage, the owner purchased a DNA test for Piper, which revealed her to be 100 per cent Cocker Spaniel.
'Told she was a cockapoo, thought cocker spaniel genes were dominant but never expected results we got,' the owner added.
Reddit users took to the comment section to share their thoughts. One wrote, 'That's giving accidental BYB litter. I bet the female spaniel was supposed to be paired with a poodle.'
'I think you lucked out. Cocker spaniels are wonderful, and her coat will be infinitely easier to deal with. What a babe,' a second wrote.
'I was thinking 'I… don't see any poodle.' Sure, her hair is a little curlier than usual for a cocker, but that face is pure cocker,' said a third.
Others marvelled over Piper's appearance, with one writing,' Her wig like hair is truly fabulous.' A second added, 'She is perfect!'
Meanwhile, puppy Instagram account @doodlehomes shared the experience of owner Kiara Michael.
Kiara set out to buy a small dog, but months later her dog was almost the same size as her.
'POV: You asked for a dog but got a whole man,' the Instagram user joked while sharing footage of the giant poodle jumping up and touching her face.
Elsewhere, people who splurged hefty sums to purchase a miniature Cockapoo - the designer dog crossbred from the Cocker Spaniel and the Poodle - have ended up with a huge canine lumbering around the house.
Miniature cockapoos are specifically bred with toy poodles so that, in theory, they are small in size.
Adult dogs are meant to be 10-12 inches tall and weigh 10-12lbs, but instead of having a small, teddy-bear lookalike, a string of owners have been left with huge dogs weighing several stone.
When UK-born Kitty Morse, who now lives in the Netherlands, purchased a black cockapoo from a breeder in Cheshire, she expected a medium-sized fluffy dog.
The pooch was advertised as a 'Gorgeous F1 all black Cockapoo puppy', alongside two snaps of the adorable pooch.
However, the dog, though he's no less adorable, quickly transformed into a canine triple the size with wavy hair.
Similarly, TikTok user Ria, 21, who goes by @jazzmariax, wanted a 'small' dog and so she settled on purchasing a cockapoo.
Fast forward seven months later, and the pooch was quadruple its size compared to the time of purchase.
'They said he was going to stay small,' the content creator added in the post's caption.
Elsewhere, owners Liam Griffin and Tiffany Kingdon, from Coventry, purchased 'miniature cockapoo' Winnie for £2,000, and expected her to weigh no more than a stone.
At the time of purchase, Winnie was 11 weeks old and weighed 4.6kg, but soon enough, she defied the couple's expectations and grew to a whopping 32kg by her first birthday.
Liam told The Sun, 'We love her to bits but it's a good job we've got a house with a garden. I don't know why the breeder passed her off as a miniature dog. It was very irresponsible.'
The breeder's blunder didn't appear to be so innocent either. Liam added, 'The guy asked us to send him some pictures but when we tried, they just bounced back. It seems he used a burner phone for the sale of the litter of pups and then moved on.'
After speculating over Winnie's breed, Liam and Tiffany settled on a DNA test, which revealed her to not be a miniature cockapoo at all, but a Poodle and a Irish Setter Cross.
When the UK was plunged into the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, many Britons sought a furry friend for companionship during the lonesome period.
Cockapoos proved to be a popular choice, with the average price rising by 168 per cent - reaching £1,336 in 2022, according to The Mirror.
Breeders scrambled to meet demand. But other unscrupulous individuals attempted to cash in on the craze by branding dogs of various breeds as a Cockapoo to flog them for thousands of pounds.
As a result, there's a generation of dogs around the UK with an appearance that is world's away from their owner's original expectations.
While many stood by their canines despite their physical differences, a number of owners abandoned their pets.
Laura Hedges, of the London-based charity All Dogs Matter, said animal shelters were overwhelmed by the sheer number of abandoned pets in 2022.
At the time, she said, 'We have seen a big rise in the number of mother dogs being abandoned after producing multiple litters for unscrupulous breeders. Often still lactating and in need of vet care, whilst their puppies are sold on for profit.
'The pandemic – and the huge rise in dog ownership across this period - has had a devastating impact on the number of dogs now being abandoned or surrendered and dog rescue centres across the country are in crisis as a result.'