Looking at a Cavapoo puppy checklist is highly recommended before bringing one of the adorable dogs home.
A Cavapoo is especially suitable if you’re a family with kids, and these dogs are both smart and adorable, which are traits that are very useful for a family dog.
What is a Cavapoo?
Cavapoo’s also goes by the name Cavoodle or Cavadoodle, is a combination of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Poodle. It seems to merge all the best assets of both breeds. As with Poodles, it won’t be shedding hair all over your house. They are usually also quite Intelligent.
The Cavapoo is a relative newcomer in the world of dog breeds and is already showing signs that it’s going to become very popular. A true Cavapoo (designated F1) is a 50/50 mix of purebred Poodle and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
Perhaps surprisingly, these F1’s will grow up to be a lot healthier than either of the parent breeds. You can get a Cavapoo that has been mated with either a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel or a Poodle, and these dogs (called F1b) are fantastic for people with dog allergies due to their extremely low amount of shedding.
Where to Find an Adorable Cavapoo Puppy From a Trusty Breeder?
Looking for an adorable Cavapoo puppy? PuppySpot is the place to go! They’re a reputable online marketplace that connects potential pet owners with responsible breeders and shelters across the United States.
PuppySpot’s friendly and knowledgeable team of puppy managers will provide you with personalized guidance to find the Cavapoo that fits your lifestyle and needs. Each puppy comes with a comprehensive health guarantee, giving you peace of mind knowing that your new furry family member is healthy and happy.
By choosing PuppySpot, you’re also supporting their mission to promote responsible breeding and pet ownership. They give back to the pet community by supporting various animal-related charities and initiatives.
Puppy Preparation – What To Do Before Your Puppy Arrives
It is highly recommended that you prepare in advance for when your new Cavapoo puppy arrives. The time waiting before your new puppy arrives is very exciting, and it is a good idea if you focus on all the preparations you can. There are perhaps several changes you will have to make to your home to prepare it for your new furry family member, and just as when you’re expecting a baby, there are numerous items for you to buy.
If you’ve never owned a puppy you will be surprised at the multiple ways that your new Cavapoo will be able to cause mischief, so take a good hard look at every single room in your home where the puppy will be able to access through the eyes of your new puppy.
Choosing a Local Veterinarian
I would recommend that you do a bit of research in your local area about what vets are available. Seek out other pet owners about their experience with their vet, and ask if it’s one they can recommend. The best way of ensuring you find a good vet is word of mouth.
Once you’ve found your preferred vet, check out their surgery times, and collect their contact information in case you might suddenly need it.
Gather All the Information From The Breeder
At this point of your puppys’ life, the breeder is the one person on earth who knows your dog best. And any respectable breeder will be more than happy to share their information and knowledge and give you all the advice you can ask for.
Questions you might ask the breeder about could include some of the following: general questions about the health of your puppy and the parents, feeding times and if there are any routines they have, and how your puppy is socializing with the rest of the litter.
You should also:
- Ask for any diet sheet the breeder might have for when you bring the puppy home
- Ask for contact information if you forgot something
- View any health certificates for both the puppy and its’ parents
- What brand of food or formula they are using
- Treatments and vaccinations received and when they are due next time
These basic questions will make it much easier for you to help reduce your pups’ shock of being removed from their parents to this new home.
Your Cavapoo Puppy Checklist
Here is a suggested Cavapoo puppy checklist of things you should consider buying before your puppy arrives:
- Puppy food – We highly recommend this!
- Mental Stimulation – Read This
- Nail Clippers – Recommended Dog Nail Clipper
- Dog Brush – A slicker brush is a must for puppies – Recommended Brush
- Food and water bowls – Recommended Bowls
- The right size and type of crate – Recommended Crate
- Puppy toys – Best Cavapoo Toys
- Pet first aid kit – Read More
- Leash – Recommended Leash
- Collar – Recommended Collar
- Harness – Recommended Harness
- ID tag for the collar – Recommended ID Tag
- A dog bed – Recommended Bed
- Puppy treats – Recommended Products
- Puppy gate (s) – Recommended Gate
- Cleaning materials for those little accidents
- Poop Scoops and Poop bags
- Waterproof matting – Recommended option
- Lots of paper towels
- Air freshener
Preparing Your Home
Thinking about the logistics involved when having a new member of the family living in with you is essential, and it isn’t something that should be done after your Cavapoo puppy has arrived, but something you should prepare for in advance.
Potty Place
Consider where you want your new puppy to go potty. A new Cavapoo puppy will have to learn from the very beginning that this one specific place is OK to go potty and that the rest of the home isn’t. If you postpone this training it will only lead to your puppy adopting a lot of bad habits.
I had a friend who once brought their new puppy home in a wire box for cats. They placed the box in a corner of their living room on top on a hard floor, and their puppy then decided that the wire cage was where he should go to pee and poo. At first, they laughed about it and allowed him to continue doing that, as they thought that the puppy would eventually move on to somewhere more fitting. But it didn’t and even when the dog got larger it would do all it could to squeeze into the tiny cage to go potty.
They have only recently have managed to convince him to go outside beside the wire cage, which they have now been placed in their yard, but it has been a very long process.
Sleeping Arrangements
If you’ve ever experienced bringing home a new baby, bringing home a new puppy will lead to much of the same disturbed nights at first. Your New puppy is used to sleeping together with the rest of the litter and haven’t yet experienced sleeping alone. Leaving their parents and the rest of the litter is an enormous hurdle to overcome for a small puppy.
The puppy, and you, will get a much better sleep for the first nights if you allow the puppy to sleep in a crate at the side of your bed. The puppy will be calmer when they are close to you as you’re the new parent. Inside the crate you should place a simple waterproof mat and something to comfort the pup (anything from an old t-shirt or whatever might have your smell or that of the breeder).
Internal Gates
Any new puppy is going to be insanely curious and eager to look around your whole home. It’s a great adventure for a small puppy and if it can get anywhere, you can expect it will get there eventually. We were lucky when we brought our new puppy home as our home had open plan stairs and when he looked through the steps at the floor below it would scare him from using the stair.
Our puppy had a real fear of heights; we could even hole him close to an upstairs window, and he would quickly turn away rather than looking through the windod. So going up the stairs was quite the issue for him and he never really built up enough courage to climb past the first few steps until he was about 1 year old, when he suddenly bolted up the stairs at break-neck speed…
Placing some child gates around your home will make life a lot easier and allow you to confine your pup to specific rooms of the house. It will also give the dog a lesser chance of creating any mischief and ensuring their safety.
Potential Hazards
Any home is full of potential hazards, especially to a small Cavapoo puppy. Cables running across the floor is something that any puppy will greatly enjoy trying to chew to bit. A bottle of bleach beside your toilet is also quite a challenge. A small puppy will see basically anything in a new home as something for him to play with and chew.
Keeping hazards out of their reach is absolutely essential.
Garbage Bins
Most of us have a rubbish bin somewhere inside our home, typically in the kitchen, and for an adventurous puppy, they are a source of great wonder. All those highly interesting smells from whatever’s inside the bin, and a lot of stuff to play with. If your puppy somehow finds the opportunity, you can be guaranteed that he will find a way of tipping the bin over allowing your pup to access those goodies inside.
This is the same when the puppy gets access to your yard, expect him to take great delight in the challenge of somehow finding a way into your garbage.
Playtime Aids
You will find that it is much easier if you use some baby gates to seal off certain rooms or create a playpen in an area of your house. In that area, you should remember to place your dogs’ water and food bowls, some different toys, and somewhere for him to relax.
Your Cavapoo Owners’ Guide
Potty Training Issues
You will have to accept it sooner or later, there will be “small accidents” around your home with A new puppy. By far the worst thing you can do in those situations is to start shouting and scaring your dog or even considering smacking it.
All that will lead to is to make your dog scared of you, which will be a huge disadvantage for any future training. Remember that the pup isn’t doing it to annoy you, he just hasn’t figured out what your master plan is and where he’s supposed to go potty.
Whenever your dog makes a mistake, bring it outside to your chosen area and use a phrase such as “Go Potty” or whatever you prefer, as long as you use the exact same phrase every single time you bring him there. And if you catch him about to go potty anywhere else, use your chosen phrase, and eventually he will work out that when you use that phrase, he should go to the designated place. Cavapoos are rather clever dogs, and your pup should be able to learn this faster than a lot of other breeds.
Choosing the Proper Diet
When you first bring your new Cavapoo back from the breeders, you should hopefully have some supplies of the same food that he has been used to eating at the breeder. And eventually, if you wish, you can slowly move him to other puppy food products, but during the first month or so, you should try to keep as many things like exactly the same as when he lived at the breeder.
When you bring home your puppy, his small stomach is only slowly adjusting to eating solid foods, so you should make sure that you’re feeding him puppy food that’s specially designed for their sensitive stomachs. Do not go out and just buy any random dog food.
House Arrest
Having your dog confined to a chosen part of the home or in a playpen is in your pups’ own best interest. You are just ensuring his safety. The area within the playpen or chosen area should be free of anything that your puppy might risk choking on or harming itself with.
This kind of confinement is also very much in your own best interest as you will know that he is not doing any damage around the house, or discovering different ways to break out the second you are out of sight. Choose an area that has hard floors, so that any accidents will be easier to clean.
Even if you aren’t planning on in from the beginning, there will be times when your Cavapoo is going to have to be left alone. In those situations, it is fundamental that you confine your dog to the chosen area – his puppy haven, for his own safety. Your pup will be a lot more familiar with this area and less scared compared with parts of the house he is less familiar with.
Puppy Haven
Make sure that your dog feels great in your chosen area. Don’t make your Cavapoo see this place as a punishment, but instead, you should make him believe that it is a playground filled with all of his favorite toys and foods —a spot where he actually wants to go.
Comforters
Comforters are something that will carry your scent on it, something an old unwashed shirt or anything along those lines. The puppy will feel calm when they’re near the comforter.
Make sure you place a comforter in his puppy-haven if you for any reason have to leave your dog for a bit of time. The comforter should also be in the crate when your dog is put there for nap-time. A comforter being present there, should help make these places feel completely safe for a young pup.
Cavapoo Puppy Checklist
Bringing your Cavapoo home is without a doubt the biggest event of a new puppy’s life and unquestionably also the scariest that it will have encountered in its short life. Removed from their parents and siblings, they suddenly find themselves all alone and unsure of what is going on around them.
By taking the right arrangements, you can help make this transition a lot easier for your Cavapoo. Do it right, and they will switch that famous puppy loyalty from their parents onto you and form a strong relationship that lasts forever.
Choosing a Cavapoo is an excellent choice, and with a little patience and consideration during the first few weeks, it will be an investment that is repaid several times over for the next 15 years as your dog continues to grow.
Some of My Favorite Products For Dog Owners
I hope this article has helped you just a bit in everyday life as a dog owner. Being a dog owner for more than 25 years, I’ve tried many different products with varying success, but these products below are some that I can highly recommend to every dog and their owner without hesitation!
These links are affiliate links, so if you do end up using the links, I will earn a commission. But it’s products that I use daily myself, and I have the utmost praise for.
Dog Food: Every dog needs to eat correctly, and finding the best food for your dog can be challenging, as the market is absolutely flooded with products. But since 2015 when the company was founded, I’ve been using Ollie Petfood. With their product being tailor-made to suit every dog’s specific needs, and as my dogs love the product, I’m pretty sure I’ve found a product I will continue to use for many years more. If you use my link you can get 50% off your first order.
Dog Training: If you’ve ever owned a puppy, you know that it requires a lot of training to grow into a well-behaved adult. Brain Training for Dogs has helped me immensely with the mental training part of raising a dog, and it’s something I strongly recommend you consider.
Grooming: If you have a dog in your home, you’re going to need a brush, and for this, I recommend a Hertzko Self-Cleaning Slicker Brush. For that price, you simply can’t beat this brush for everyday grooming.
If you’re looking for the most up-to-date recommendations, check out my recommended products section that I’ve created to help every dog owner!
