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Being a new puppy parent to a cavoodle is scary and challenging enough at times let alone when you get mixed messages about how often you should wash your dog from the breeder, the pet shop, the vet, family and friends. At the end of the day decisions made with love and sometimes gut instinct is the way to go, and sometimes even a little help from Dr Google! 

That’s why when it comes to grooming your new cavoodle puppy, let me share some of my past experiences to help you make up your mind about what is best for you and your new furbaby. 

There are many reasons people will tell you not to groom and wash your dog weekly, monthly or even every couple of months. Here are 3 reasons I found bathing and grooming my precious cavoodle girl Bambi in the first week I bought her home beneficial.

1. Created an instant bond and sense of security 

Although my cavoodle’s first wash was far from perfect and she cried literally the whole time, I made sure the experience was stress-free as possible. 

How to make the process stress free:

• Make sure no one else is home - although it might be fun for the whole family to be in the room to watch their first bath, I can assure you it won’t be fun for your new little pup. It’s best to tackle the first bath one on one. 
• Try not to use excessive amounts of water near their face - this may scare them and the shampoo may get in their eyes, sometimes accidents happen, but that's why you want to look for a tear free shampoo to be safe. 
• Hold them close to your body the whole time - this gives them a sense of security and also creates an instant bond of trust. Just make sure you’re wearing old clothes as you are sure to get a bit wet!

Having grown up since I was 11 years old with a cavoodle (back when they were not a popular breed), I know a majority of them seem to fear or even have anxieties around water and the grooming process. 

With Bambi, it was a goal of mine for the bathing routine to not be a total dreaded event that we both didn’t look forward to. This is why in the first week she was bathed, also in the second week of having her and the third. Some may argue this is not good for their skin or coat. However, each time there was a huge difference in her behaviour as she became more and more used to the routine.

Each bath after that became easier and now she actually loves the water! She will jump in the pool and swim in the beach with us. It’s so refreshing to have a cavoodle not be afraid of the water!

That’s why getting your pup used to water from week one is so important for bath time and also for their safety. 

Another important part of the grooming process is getting your cavoodle used to being lathered in shampoo and conditioner, brushed and trimmed on all parts of their body or face. During this process in the early days of bringing your cavoodle home, be sure to touch, grab, pull and hold all their paws, fur, face, tail, ears and any other limbs. This ensures your pup gets used to being held and touched in all areas so that when they do go to a professional groomer or even the vet that they don’t mind being handled by a human. 

Benefits of this include:

• They will react less during the process and flinch less - means it will be safer for your pup and avoid any accidental cuts from the scissors/shaver. 
• It will reduce any anxiety they may have and it can also protect the human handler from unwanted biting if your cavoodle feels threatened - this is especially essential to know if you are bringing up your cavoodle pup with young kids who don’t know better than to accidentally pull the pup’s tail or pull their fur a bit harder than usual. 

We have a friend who’s dog is 15 years old (not a cavoodle) and one thing they didn’t do when she was a pup was play with her back two hind legs and now she refuses to let humans grab her hind paws which has made the process of bath time harder than it needs to be! She also is very unpredictable around young children because of this, so very important to know before bringing your cavoodle home. 

Cavoodles have different Ph balances to humans

Cavoodle skin and our human skin have very different pH balances. If you don’t know what a pH balance is, it basically means how acidic or alkaline something is. 

More acidic solutions, have a lower pH. More alkaline solutions, have a higher pH. Substances that aren't acidic or alkaline (that is, neutral solutions) usually have a pH of 7. Acids have a pH that is less than 7. Alkalis have a pH that is greater than 7.

Human skin has a normal Ph balance of 5.5-5.6, which is on the acidic side. Cavoodles, on the other hand, have a neutral Ph balance of 6.2-7.4. 

Cavoodle skin also has a thin layer called the acid mantle, which protects the top layer of the skin from contaminants such as viruses and bacteria. By using human shampoo on your cavoodle it can disrupt the acid mantle, leaving your dog vulnerable to parasites, viruses, and bacteria. It also makes their skin feel dry and flaky, which can lead to repeated scratching and abrasions. 

Therefore shampoos with the wrong pH balance or harsh chemicals can irritate a cavoodle’s skin, stripping away protective good oils from their coat. That's why choosing a good shampoo for your cavoodles is crucial!