The Importance of Grooming for Cavachon Puppies

Cavachon puppies come in all shapes and sizes, but one thing they all have in common is that they love to be groomed. Here’s why grooming is so important for your Cavachon puppy and some tips on how to start. 

Maintaining a Healthy Coat

Cavachons' hair is thick and wavy, so regular brushing is essential to keep it smooth and free of tangles and matting. Brushing your Cavachon at least a couple of times a week will help keep your dog's coat smooth and free of knots. Not only will this make your Cavachon look great, but regular brushing will also help prevent matted fur from causing discomfort and skin issues. If your Cavachon has curly or wavy hair, it’s a good idea to consider investing in a good quality slicker brush, or comb.

Preventing Skin Problems

Grooming isn’t just about taking care of your Cavachon’s fur—it’s also about keeping your puppy’s skin healthy. Using a gentle dog shampoo every few weeks can help get rid of dirt, allergens and excess oils. However, it’s important to remember that too many baths can strip your puppy of natural oils, which can lead to dry skin and irritation.

Trimming and Maintenance

Regular grooming also includes trimming your Cavachon’s fur, especially around its eyes, ears and paws. Maintaining these areas clean and tidy not only makes your puppy look better, but it also helps prevent infections and other problems. If you’re not sure about trimming, it’s a good idea to ask a professional groomer for help. You can also look for tutorials or even edit videos online for free to make your own grooming guides.

Final Thoughts

Regular grooming can help keep your puppy’s coat healthy and free of matting, help prevent skin problems, and build a strong bond with your puppy. Whether you groom your puppy at home or take them to a professional groomer, the time you spend grooming your puppy will be worth it when your puppy looks and feels its best.

The Compliant Puppy

You can read in their faces if you are a student of all things “DOG”, a puppy’s expression and manner will give you much in the way of direction in the path you need to take in your role as pack leader to your new little canine charge.

Of course I’m passionate and raise the Cavachon, not only for their beauty which is much of their draw for me I’ll admit, but what led me to this breed above all other’s is what I call a soft nature or a compliant personality which makes the average dog owners life so very much easier when it comes to raising a loving family companion.  We all lead such busy lives and some breeds of dog while delightful in many ways, are so much more strong willed than many people are willing or able to cope with.

Compliant puppies take a lot less in the way of correction than more strong willed puppies, comparing say a Jack Russel Terrier or perhaps a Beagle, both may be great dogs but will absolutely require a lot in the way of structure and direction on your part to ensure that the energy that they typically would have vented chasing rabbits or assisting in the hunt, doesn’t turn into chewing your new wool rug or favorite pair of sling-backs!

That being said, if you’ve followed this blog very long at all, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of loving but firm ownership and training, it’s easy to spoil compliant puppies (look at that precious face of baby puppy girl above) if you’re not careful, you’ll lean heavily toward the affection and love side of ownership but neglect the structure and firmness that make for a superb companion dog. Love them with all your heart, but remember to love them enough to lead them as well.

The Strong Willed Puppy Grrrr!

Well I must qualify that a bit, I’ve worked with so many breeds over the years, a “strong willed” Cavachon puppy is a far cry less difficult to deal with than say a strong willed Rottweiler puppy!  That being said, in every breed, even a breed as generally laid-back and sweet natured as the Cavachon, there are individual puppies in a litter who are just a bit more precocious, yes, a bit more strong willed, and you as puppy owner and trainer, need to know how to train your particular puppy. For those who would be students of the dog and learn how to live with them more effectively, you need to access where your puppy fits as far as his temperament goes?  If you watch carefully he’ll give you numerous clues to find the path to being the loving but firm owner this puppy needs.

If your corrections are often ignored, you might have a strong willed puppy. (OR you might not be giving proper corrections, given with the right timing, given with the right amount of energy, the right tone of voice etc we’ll discuss all of that in an upcoming article). An easy way to decide where your puppy falls on the line between compliant and strong willed is to look for how he carries his ears and tail, especially when you are disciplining him.

Are his ears held high on his head? Is his tail high in the air and waving? Probably a sign that your little munchin will need a bit more firmness and you’ll need to carefully watch that you are the pack leader, not the follower which he’ll happily prefer. Compare this adorable little Ruby Cavachon puppy with his more soft natured sibling,,, see the ear set?

The soft expression (rather a sweet forlorn I’m trying to be a good puppy” look), our red head above is equally adorable, but looks more ready to chase the cat if you’re not quick to teach him the boundaries he needs to be a truly good dog!  Not to worry, both puppies (especially in THIS breed), with care and wisdom will end up at the same place, but your journey will be a happier one for both of you if you acquire the skills to train your puppy effectively from the very beginning.

Keeping the Peace

If there’s already a canine companion in residence when your new bundle of puppy love arrives, there are steps you can take to keep everyone happy and get new family members off on the right paw!

Essentially, you must allow time for friendships to develop, even between your feline family members, you’ll be surprised at the level of affection that will come if you basically let your new puppy and his older “siblings” have a bit of supervision, but not too much well meaning interference.

You’ll want to keep things safe of course and if your older dog or cat shows signs of losing patience with your puppy, it’s time for a time out, literally, send everyone to their corners so to speak, try not to force introductions, let advances be made gradually and without rushing anything, you’ll be amazed at the bond that will grow given time and loving supervision as needed.

Sometimes I Forget To Be A Good Dog

“I try to be a good dog, but sometimes I forget…”

I try to be a good dog, but sometimes I forget…

Oh the puppy blues~ some puppies sail through puppy-hood smoothly and put nary a paw wrong all the time they are growing up (I like to think that mine are in that category of course!), others are a bit more strong willed and will keep you on your training toes, regularly asking “who’s in charge here?” and you’ll need to be quick to answer that all the leadership spots have been taken thank you very kindly!

That being said, having a structured start with a fair amount of discipline and guidance even as babies helps loads, but sometimes even the best of puppies will make rather alarming departures from the path you want them on, not to panic!

Often it’s simply a need for more opportunities to vent puppy energy, like all young creatures, puppies need to be able to run and play, it’s amazing how much better a puppy will listen to your commands when he’s had a half hour to let off a bit of steam!  Look at it from the puppy’s viewpoint, life is so much fun and learning to sit can be rather dull, make training fun and try to time your sessions for after your little fellow has worn himself out slightly, he’ll listen ever so much more diligently!

Remember to make doing the right thing fun and rewarding, doing the wrong thing, not so much! Your voice is your most valuable tool, use it wisely, use it with great timing, praise sincerely, reprimand firmly but fairly and hang in there, your puppy baby will be all grown up before you know it!

Tired Puppy = Good Puppy

Try to remember with all the structure, puppy gates and crates that are an important part of having a new small furry one who doesn’t have full rights and privileges of the fully house-trained dog, that too much confinement, not balanced with a proportionate amount of exercise will very quickly create a puppy with vast reserves of unused energy that may begin to evidence themselves in ways that are not on my top ten list of puppy good behaviors!

Puppies like children are energy filled and are simply easier to live with if you keep in mind that lots of time in a small crate must be balanced with time to run and stretch little legs, with fun and affection & with yes, discipline and some training thrown in for good measure.

Fun and Games

Your new puppy can learn to enjoy just about any family activity given a bit of encouragement and lavishly applied praise. Here’s a photo of one of our Cavachons, Maggie Masters from Georgia  who obviously couldn’t be happier riding on the family boat (love the goggles!). Don’t be afraid to take your puppy along to the kids soccer game, camping at the state park, even in a basket riding on the bike trails. The more your puppy does with the family at an early age, the better well adjusted and social dog she’ll become.
I tell my clients not to wrap their new puppies in cotton wool, by that I mean that little puppies benefit from just about any new experience, again experiences that are pleasant and filled with praise, even a few puppy biscuits can make walking through the dog friendly local Lowe’s an enjoyable & fun time for your new canine companion!

Who is your puppy learning from?

Remember, your new puppy is like a sponge, she’ll absorb and learn from everyone she associates with, so keep an eye on her four footed role models!

Just like with children, puppies quickly pick up behaviors and begin to imitate the older more mature friends they spend time with.  If your neighbor wants their barky Jack Russel Terrier “Bosco” (who loves to run off, ignores their shouted commands, and is more than a little on the disobedient side of things), to spend lots of time having play dates with your little angel, be aware that your baby could quickly begin to display some of the same hard to correct behaviors if she spends too much time with Bosco on a regular basis!

Try to tactfully keep interaction with dogs who are not good role models to as much of a minimum as possible or you’ll have a little Bosco of your own before you know it!  “Bad company corrupts good morals” be they canine or no!  That being said, playtime is important for dogs of all ages, there’s no better way for your puppy to learn how to be a stellar canine companion than to observe the great dogs in your circle of family & friends and have them help her learn the doggie ropes. Rather than wrap your puppy in cotton wool & never allow her to put a paw to the ground when other canines are around, just be a good observer and if you think things are heading in a direction you prefer your puppy not go, don’t be afraid to scoop her up for a bit of a time-out until the rough housing ends or the less than well behaved Fidos head to greener pastures!  Let her practice a bit of patience and either pop her in her crate for a nap or hold her out of harms way until calm reigns.  Never forget, your puppy is always learning, you decide what you want her to learn and more importantly, not learn, no apologies!

Correct Effectively

Learn to be an observer, when correcting your puppy, less is sometimes more, but on the other hand, too mild of a correction is often worse than none at all.

Gauge your puppy’s reaction, if when you clap your hands, she skitters away and hides under the ottoman, soften your correction. Your goal is two-fold, to quickly stop bad or unwanted behaviors i.e., chewing your new rug, before puppy excitement builds and establish your role as puppy’s leader and loving but firm guide.

If on the other hand, “Phoebe” is tugging wildly on your daughter’s shoelaces, and you clap your hands and she tugs even harder, adding an excited growl to her antics, your correction was too mild for your particular puppy. Some puppies for example, Georgie in the story shared below, take less correction.  Some puppies, like Phoebe, for instance, will need you to up the level of correction so that you change her direction, and she drops her energy level to one of submission and not aggression.

Here’s an example of puppy personality that shows the difference in three puppies and how their personalities will guide your approach in training. I was giving Snowball and Georgie a bath this morning, they are just small and at about 4 pounds each, they enjoy a bath buddy, since no dog really enjoys getting bathed in the first place, might as well have a friend along to share the misery!

Snowball got soap in his eyes and though it’s a safe non-tear formula, he was blinking and looking a bit unhappy, his littermate Georgie sweetly leaned over and began to wash his brother’s face, amazingly sympathetic and nurturing behavior in such a young puppy.

Case in point, Georgie is more of a sensitive and gentle natured puppy, observant and quick to pick up cues, his corrections need to be very mild until he gains confidence, he may always be a puppy who listens quickly and takes only soft training.

On the other hand, Phoebe stood on her hind legs during most of her bath (no bath buddy for this little diva!).  Here’s a puppy with a higher energy level and loads more confidence than Georgie, in addition, she’s about a month older which adds to her enthusiasm and her confidence level as well.  Phoebe will need firmer corrections, more likely picking her up and looking deep into her adorable brown eyes & telling her “No Phoebe!” will help her drop her energy and excitement level.

Your new puppy is like a sponge, able to absorb both the good and the bad your training (or lack thereof!). Most importantly, your puppy must learn that you are a loving & kind, but firm leader, you must balance the geneous amounts of love and affection you naturally want to lavish on your new puppy, with equal amounts of educating her in the basics of canine good manners and obedience. If you don’t invest time in early training, a year from now you might find yourself the unhappy owner of an ill-mannered dog. Puppies are a lot of fun, but you’ll enjoy your dog more if you train properly now. What is cute on a puppy may not be so cute when she’s all grown up – plan for the future. A proper foundation is crucial!