Cavapoo 101: The Dog Breed For Your Whole Family

Highly intelligent and friendly, the Cavapoo is the perfect family dog.

If you're looking for a great companion for your family, look no further. The Cavapoo dog (or the Cavoodle if you're in Australia) is a superb mixed breed dog that you'll want for your family.

Known as a designer breed, these designer dogs are a crossbreed of the sweet-natured Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and the highly intelligent Poodle. While some parts of the true origin of this dog breed might be a little fuzzy, the now-popular Cavapoo puppy is known to have first originated in Australia. The Cavapoo is also known as a Cavadoodle or Cavoodle.

This hybrid dog breed was bred with the goal to have the best traits of their purebred parents: the good nature of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and the low-shedding qualities of the Poodle. Like other poodle mixes, such as the Cockapoo, the Goldendoodle, and the Labradoodle, the Cavapoo is a hypoallergenic dog and is an excellent choice for allergy sufferers.

Personality

Stemming from their Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Poodle parents, the Cavapoo is super affectionate, with few socialization problems. They make a popular family pet, due to their exceptional friendliness and gentle nature, along with their high intelligence. They are also playful and can be very sociable, getting along with everyone they meet, including strangers. Their high energy level makes them great for young children.

Cavapoos make good watchdogs as they will bark excitedly at anybody at the door. These affectionate balls of fluff love attention from their humans and love nothing more than being with them. In fact, they're always up for a good cuddle. Unfortunately, this attachment to their humans also means that they don't like to be left alone and can suffer from separation anxiety. Their kind personality makes them great candidates for therapy dogs and their high intelligence makes them very easy to train, but they need mental stimulation and a high activity level in order to offset their prey drive. Without the proper positive reinforcement, owners might find that this breed has more energy than they're willing to deal with.

Appearance

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With long and soft floppy ears, the cutest puppy eyes, and short wavy or curly hair, they are loved for looking like a sweet teddy bear. Depending on if they are mixed with a toy poodle or a miniature poodle, their size can vary, but they're generally a small size pup. This is a small dog that typically weighs from 9 to 20 pounds and can range from 9 to 14 inches in height. However, since it's a mixed breed, the adult size can be quite unpredictable.

Cavapoos come in a variety of colors. Depending on their parent breeds, they can have coat colors of:

  • red
  • chestnut
  • cream
  • fawn
  • chocolate
  • gold
  • white
  • black
  • black and white
  • chestnut and white
  • fawn and white
  • chocolate and white
  • tricolor

Although mixed breeds usually avoid some of the health problems of their purebred parents, their mixed heritage doesn't make them immune to health issues entirely. From their spaniel and poodle parents, Cavapoos can inherit progressive retinal atrophy, hip dysplasia, luxating patella, and a host of other health problems. For this reason, it's important to purchase your Cavapoo from a reputable breeder who can usually test for these risky health conditions. Cavapoo breeders will also have a record of genetic lineage and usually try to avoid breeding dogs who are  prone to these conditions, meaning your pup can live a more normal lifespan.

Needless to say, the verdict is in: the Cavapoo is an excellent dog breed and makes the perfect family dog. We highly encourage you to find out more about this mixed breed!

Do you have a Cavapoo? Have you thought about getting one? Share your thoughts on the Wide Open Pets Facebook page!

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