Anyone know anything about/have personal experience of a Cavachon dog?

[Earlybird]

They are a mix of Cavalier King Charles and Bichon Frise - a 'designer dog' along the lines of a labradoodle or golden doodle. Similarly, they are supposed to be good pets for allergy sufferers, and shed minimally if at all (which I find a bit hard to believe as they are long-haired and fluffy).

DD and I went to see one the other day, and the owner raved about him for over an hour.

Any thoughts/knowledge/experience?

[Cats49]

Yes, we have a 9 month old cavachon girl. She has been an ideal puppy since we got her. She does not seem to shed, just loses hair like we would. You have to groom them fairly regularly but I also get her clipped once every couple of months (as it is warm at the moment). She is brilliant with children, adults and loves other dogs. She is also a very laid back puppy but I don't know if that is typical of cavachons, or just her. She loves to sleep but loves her walks as well. Perfect choice of dog I would say, but I'm biased!
This is my first post - can you post pictures on this site?

[Vallhala]

There is absolutely NO guarantee that a pup of any crossbreed of this type will shed minimally or non-shedding - essentially they are just mutts. If that's your reason for taking an interest in this crossbreed, please consider this and if necessary seek out an alternative dog, whether a pedigree or an older rescue dog which definitely doesn't moult.

Apart from that, I've no experience of them myself, but they are crosses of two nice little breeds which may have the benefit of not having any of the problems associated with the pedigree parents - or they may have all the bad charactaristics/health issues of both.

Just be cautious. Check the breeder out THOROUGHLY if you intend to buy. How many dogs does he/she have in total, how many pups, how old is mum, when was she last bred from, can you see both parents, are they kept in the family home, how many litters have the breeders got there, are they registered with the council (Google for regs on when this is necessary), how clean is the environment... again, Google for a full list of things to ask/look out for.

And, (and now I'm going from killjoy to bloody rude, but rather that than yet another dog abandoned to rescue), reassure yourselves that you are willing to put in the work that goes with a pup, the toilet training/chewing/general training, that you won't want to rehome him if a/another baby comes along, that if you have children you know that you can and will ensure that they don't hassle/pull around the dog, that you have insurance, holiday care, annual vet fees and who is going to walk him in winter all covered.

Sorry to be a misery, but I deal with the ex puppy farm dogs and the ones that families don't want any more.

[Vallhala]

Cats49, if you go to "My Mumsnet" at the top of the page, then log in again, you'll see a choice of things, one of which is "my pictures".

Follow that and you can load pics and choose whether to make the pics available to the public or keep them private too. They'll have to be public if you want us all to see them of course.

And YES PLEASE, I want to see a photo of your pup! :)

[Cats49]

I think I have managed to load a picture on my page. Let me know if you can see it!

[Vallhala]

Oh Cats! She is seriously cute!

:)

[Cats49]

Thanks Vallhala! I meant to add in response to Early birds original post that we did put a lot of work in socialising her with other dogs, even before her vaccinations (with friends vaccinated dogs) and we took her to puppy training classes as well. We still go to training classes and as a result she is a very well trained dog. Let me know if you do get a cavachon - I haven't met any Cavachon owners yet.

[ImBrian]

Ive met a couple when ive been taking my dog to the groomers and they've all been lovely, my dogs a bichon x schnauzer. Now he doesn't moult but because neither of his parent breeds do. But cavs do moult so u might end up with a moulting dog anyway. My dogs coat is slightly looser curled then the bichon coat and its a pain in the bum to look after, he needs a really good combing every other day and unless you give them a hair cut at home ( i do ) a trip to the groomers every couple of months. So its worth taking all the grooming into consideration.

[Earlybird]

Thanks for comments so far.

I have never had a dog, so am doing lots of research (dog-loving friends say I am over-thinking it), including asking for thoughts/opinions/experiences on Mumsnet.

Valhalla - thanks for your thoughtful comments.

The dog we saw was acquired from a breeder quite a long way away - but owner says all experiences were good, and she would recommend.

We had previously been thinking of a Lakeland Terrier (have researched, talked to a dog trainer, have driven 6 hours to visit reputable breeder/see a litter, etc), but a friend told us we should look at the Cavachons too. Bizarrely, the cav owner had terriers previously and says cavs are much easier to train, better personality (not so dominant around other dogs).

DD is 9.6 so we are past the 'little child not knowing how to behave around a puppy' phase, and I won't be having another child. I also work from home, so am not gone for many hours every day.

Cats49 - what a precious pet! Thanks for sharing the photo.

[Vallhala]

"DD is 9.6 so we are past the 'little child not knowing how to behave around a puppy' phase, and I won't be having another child. I also work from home, so am not gone for many hours every day."

I wish I found them people you, hammering on the doors of rescue! :)

[TooManyPuppies]

There is absolutely NO guarantee that a pup of any crossbreed of this type will shed minimally or non-shedding - essentially they are just mutts.

Agree. All cross-breeds are bred by backyard breeders or puppy farms. They are not a recognised breed and therefore can not be bred by a registered breeder. I do not support BYB or puppy farms in any way and will judge those who do.

And this is NOT saying that all pure breeders are registered or ethical, it takes research to weed out the good from the bad. But there is no such thing as a registered breeder of a mutt. They breed whatever dogs they have, slap a fancy name on it and then a hefty price tag with hundreds of guarantees about what the dog will be like and gullible people flock to hand over the cash. I can see why so many people do it for a quick buck, but these are living creatures lives. I do not support it at all and don't believe anyone who does really cares about the dogs at all.

It's one thing I am really passionate about. But buyers of these mutts are also super defensive of it too, they did after all spend a ridiculous amount on them so it's understandable but it is what it is and some of them don't like to hear the truth.

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

This is a ZOMBIE thread (2010)

[NicoAndTheNiners]

Thread is 9yo!

[Nesssie]

Aware this is a zombie thread but All cross-breeds are bred by backyard breeders or puppy farms. They are not a recognised breed and therefore can not be bred by a registered breeder is absolute bollocks. Yes they are not a KC recognised breed and so the breeders won't be KC assured, but you can have registered breeders of any breed/crossbreed.

Not sure what MNs obsession with all crossbreeds coming from puppy farms is all about tbh. Its simply not true and not helpful.