One of the most lovable attributes of a Cavapoo is their soft, shaggy fur (hair coat). Because of the Poodle genetics in our hybrid breeds, most Cavapoos require regular grooming to keep their low-shedding fur tangle-free and beautiful. Many families opt to take their Cavapoo to a professional groomer on a semi-regular basis (often every 3 months or so is pretty typical). Other families desire to groom their Cavapoo on their own. Maybe to save money by not going to the professional groomer, or maybe just as a way of spending more time with their Cavapoo while they groom. At Toy Cavapoo, we would love to share some of our favorite tips to keep your pet groomed and gorgeous!

The first step in grooming your pup is brushing out their fur. To properly brush out your Cavapoo’s coat you will want to have a Grooming Comb and Slicker Brush. A slicker brush is handy for fluffing the outer coat on your Crockett Cavapoo. A slicker brush is simply a brush that’s dense with very thin, strong and bendable pins. These hundreds of pins work at separating hairs, which de-mats your dog as you brush. A grooming comb is used to remove any of those hidden mats the slicker couldn’t reach. The comb is dual-sided with coarse, fine teeth and is an essential tool for finishing and fluffing coats. It’s perfect for finishing your dog and making sure they’re 100% clear and free of tangles.

You will want to use the slicker brush and grooming comb to brush your entire Cavapoo’s coat in a line brush fashion. To brush a line, use the grooming comb to pull a section of your Cavapoo’s fur up and then use the slicker to brush your dog’s fur down until the section is de-tangled. You should see a line of your dog’s skin while brushing their fur away from each other, hence the name “Line Brushing.” Continue this process throughout their entire coat so that their fur is mat and tangle free.

If you come across any mats in your pet’s fur that are too difficult to brush out then simply trim out the matted part of their fur. It is far easier on you and less painful for your dog for you to cut out excessively tangled fur rather than try and brush it out.

After brushing your Cavapoo’s coat, you might need to shave larger sections of their fur. If there is a large section of their fur that is matted then you will need to remove the entire section with a set of Dog Clippers. It is a good practice to remove mats from your Cavapoo’s coat as their dense fur will act like a sponge when tangled and this can lead to infections. You will also want to shave trouble areas like their belly, genital areas and directly below their ears.

Groom your Cavapoo’s ears. Read our separate article that details good ear care practices for your Cavapoo which you can find here.

Once you have de-tangled your Cavapoo’s fur, it is bath time! You will want to make sure that you have your Dog Shampoo, a cup to rinse your Cavapoo and enough towels to dry your pup off after bath time is over. Run the bath with lukewarm water and use your rinse cup to soak your Cavapoo’s coat. Once fully soaked, lather your pup up with shampoo and clean out all the dirt that could potentially cause tangles. Rinse your Cavapoo’s fur out with the rinse cup again and repeat this process until you are completely confident that your pet’s fur is clean.

Towel dry your pup and brush out their fur one more time. There should be no need for the line brush method this time as it is best to brush your dog’s fur only in the direction that their fur naturally grows. While their coat is wet it is much more prone to getting tangled, this is the best way to fluff their coat and avoid future tangles.

Now it’s time to trim your Cavapoo coat! We recommend using a 1 inch clipper head for the grooming process. You will want to use grooming scissors to blend the back of your Cavapoo puppy’s head into their neck and clip the hair around their eyes, but after that initial step with scissors you will be using the Dog Clippers.

Run your clippers with the 1 inch attachment over their cheeks and then move to the body of your dog. Clip the entire body of your dog, using the clippers in all directions to make sure that you don’t miss any spots. Make sure to cut the fur on their chest, back, sides, belly and neck. Stop when you get halfway down your dog’s legs and only go over the bottom half of your pup’s legs one pass, in one direction. Use the clippers to make a single pass over the front, back and sides of the lower half of your Cavapoo legs.

Congratulations! If you’ve been patient enough to follow these steps correctly you should have a beautifully trimmed, tangle free Cavapoo!