Cavapoo Training: Methods & How to Tackle Common Undesirable Behaviors

Cavapoos are one of the most popular smaller Doods in the US. They make great family companions thanks to their calm and sweet demeanor, paired with their high levels of intelligence. But, the key to a well-rounded and well-behaved adult is timely and consistent Cavapoo training. 

To make your life as a new Cavapoo owner a bit easier, we’ve created this in-depth guide to discuss the different methods of Cavapoo training, the most important things you should keep in mind, and how you can tackle the most common undesirable behaviors. Let’s dive in! 

Best Age To Start Training Your Cavapoo Puppy

What many people fail to realize when adopting a puppy is that all dogs require consistent training routines that help them flourish and become their best, most confident selves. 

So when should you start training your Cavapoo puppy? The key to successful Cavapoo training is starting as early as possible. For this reason, we always recommend that new dog owners start training their pup as soon as they bring them home.

Luckily, many ethical breeders start introducing their puppies to crate training, potty training, leash walking, and basic manners even while in the breeder’s care. All you have to do is to stay consistent and continue with the process.

Not only will this teach your puppy good manners, it will also help develop their confidence and help them adjust to their forever home with you and your family. 

On the other hand, don’t be surprised if your Cavapoo’s training routine takes some time. At a very young age, they’re known to have quite short attention spans. However, the older they grow, the easier it will get. As long as you stick to the routine! 

Establish A Proper Routine

Setting a daily routine will certainly help you establish healthy boundaries and a structured schedule. Set specific mealtimes, potty breaks, naps, playtime, and bedtime ahead of time so you know exactly how to guide your puppy throughout the day. 

One of the best ways to do it is by scheduling your puppy’s mealtimes around your own breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And be sure that everyone in the family follows the same routine when they handle the pup. 

From then on, it’s easier to set bathroom breaks and nap times, as puppies usually have to go potty after feeding, and take naps after playtime.

Socialize, Socialize, Socialize!

Outgoing and affectionate by nature, Cavapoos thrive on human interaction and your attention. In addition to spending time with the family, be sure to introduce your new puppy to people of all ages, other dogs, and why not, even cats. 

Of course, before you take your pup to a dog park, they should be fully vaccinated and have the green light from your veterinarian. 

You can follow our sample Cavapoo training schedule that can help you establish a routine for your puppy:

4 Obedience Training Methods For Your Cavapoo

So, what is the best way to train a Cavapoo puppy? How to train a Cavapoo? Although there isn’t a one size fits all approach, there are quite a few tried and tested methods that will surely be useful in your Cavapoo training routine. 

Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement is key to successful Cavapoo training. First of all, puppies are still technically babies and punishing them won’t bring any good results. Instead, it will damage your puppy’s mental health and the relationship between you two.

The whole idea of positive reinforcement is to reward your puppy for good behaviors or for completing tasks. You’ll want to keep a positive and enthusiastic attitude, which will influence your puppy to continue behaving in a certain manner. You can reward your pup with food, toys, and praise to encourage good behavior. 

With the positive reinforcement training method, bad and unwanted behaviors aren’t punished, but simply ignored. This will further help your pup behave well, as this will always be followed with your attention and praise. 

On the other hand, some pups still get a bit mischievous from time to time. In these cases, you can remove a favorite treat or toy as an acceptable form of punishment. 

Clicker Training

Clicker training is a popular choice amongst professional dog trainers and breeders. It’s a form of positive reinforcement, as your puppy will start to look forward to the clicking sound each time they successfully perform a task or show good behavior. 

Initially, you have to train your pup to associate the clicking sound with future reward. When you first start, encourage your puppy to complete a task they’re already familiar with the help of the clicker, and then feed them a treat as a reward. Over time, your puppy will learn to associate the two and the clicking sound often becomes a reward on its own.

Crate Training

Crate training is one of the most popular Cavapoo training methods that both breeders and dog owners have found extremely useful. It’s also a helpful aid in Cavapoo potty training. Naturally, you should never place your puppy in a crate as a form of punishment. 

The main goal of crate training is to give your new puppy a safe haven where they can relax and go on their own if they need some time to recharge. In addition to that, crate training has shown to curb unwanted and destructive behaviors. 

Mirror Training

Last of the Cavapoo training methods is the mirror training method. It combines the ideas of positive reinforcement and clicker training. Meanwhile, the goal is to teach your puppy to follow your lead and mimic your actions. 

Cavapoos are eager to please their humans so this method may work great in your household. With the help of reward training and clicker training, you will teach your puppy to mirror what you’re doing. For instance, if you sit, your puppy sits, and so forth.

Dogs are pack animals and they love to follow their leader. With this training method, it’s crucial that you develop a strong bond with your dog so that they’ll naturally want to follow your lead. And as your behavior has a huge impact on your puppy, it’s especially important that you don’t send any confusing or conflicting signals. 

The Training Items You Absolutely Need For Your Doodle

As you’ll be consistently training your Cavapoo, you’ll also be needing a variety of items for the results you’re set to achieve. Firstly, you’ll be needing training dog treats and chew toys to reward your puppy for good behavior.

Secondly, you’ll also need a good collar and a leash for outside training. Of course, don’t forget all the usual things like food and water bowls, a dog bed, and even poop bags. And finally, you might also want to invest in a dog crate, as it’s a great way for Cavapoo potty training and also for providing your puppy a safe place to relax.  

8 Common Issues With Cavapoo Training & How To Tackle Them

Even though Cavapoos are well-known for their high levels of intelligence and trainability, it’s completely normal for some puppies to exhibit unwanted behaviors. The most common issues with Cavapoo training include:

Counter Surfing & Stealing Food

Eyeing all those tasty and forbidden treats on the kitchen counter and dining table can definitely trigger unwanted behaviors in many dogs. One of the simplest things you can do is to keep your kitchen counters clean when you aren’t preparing your meals. 

Of course, you’ll also want to teach your puppy good manners and how to obey commands such as ‘sit’ or ‘leave it’. Combine this with positive reinforcement methods and your puppy will soon learn what are the behaviors that are acceptable in your household. 

Jumping

Although Cavapoos can’t really do any harm when jumping on people, it’s usually not considered as an acceptable behavior in dogs. The key here is to properly socialize your puppy so they know how to behave when meeting people. 

You can also teach your puppy to sit to be greeted. This will teach them that they’ll only get attention once they sit. Meanwhile, don’t reward bad behavior with any type of attention, as this will only teach them to continue behaving this way. 

Barking

Cavapoos are generally not very vocal and they don’t tend to bark excessively. However, some pups do get overly excited when they hear someone knocking on the door. 

To combat this, you need to figure out how you’d like your dog to behave when someone is coming over. One helpful way is to teach your dog to sit still in a designated area when someone’s at the door. If your puppy behaves well, don’t forget to reward their good behavior. 

Additionally, excessive barking can sometimes also hint that your pup is struggling with separation anxiety, a common issue in Cavapoos. In this guide, we give you some great tips on how to help a dog with separation anxiety. 

Leash Pulling

An especially common occurrence in younger puppies, leash pulling can make your outside walkies rather tricky, especially around other dogs and people. 

If your puppy is persistent on pulling the leash, immediately stop walking. Once your puppy stops pulling the leash, you can start walking again. Doing this over and over again will teach your puppy how to walk in an appropriate manner. Of course, make sure you have your dog treats at hand!

For more helpful tips and tricks, be sure to check out our article on How To Leash Train A Dog. 

Digging

Digging comes naturally for many dogs, but it oftentimes indicates that your puppy is bored and lacks physical and mental stimulation. Make sure your puppy gets enough exercise each day, and don’t forget those stimulating activities like puzzle games and interactive toys.

A slightly gross tactic would be to place dog poop in their favorite digging spots – that usually does the trick. But if your dog is super into digging, you might have to resort to giving them a designated digging spot so they won’t demolish your whole garden.

Biting & Mouthing

Biting and mouthing are especially common in young puppies who experience teething. As their gums are itchy and painful, it’s a great way for them to relieve the discomfort. However, if you don’t tackle this behavior, it can soon become a full-blown problem that you won’t be able to get rid of. 

To combat excessive and inappropriate biting, provide your puppy plenty of chew toys to redirect their attention on something more appropriate. We also recommend you check out our guide on How To Stop A Puppy From Biting with helpful methods and recommended puppy chew toys. 

Eating Socks & Non-Food items

If you know a little bit about dogs, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they love to eat and chew on anything and everything that’s lying around the house. 

One of the most common problems is the tendency to chew on socks and other non-food items. Of course, this can lead to some serious health complications that require immediate medical attention.

Similarly to counter surfing, you’ll want to keep your socks and other interesting non-food items out of your dog’s way. And instead, provide them enough chew toys that will help distract them. 

In addition to that, you can also purchase a dog-safe anti-chew spray that you can use on the items that your pup shouldn’t chew on. 

Potty Training

What many new dog owners want to know is – how to potty train a Cavapoo puppy? This might seem like a daunting task at first, but it usually tends to go well for most puppies. 

Fortunately, many breeders already begin potty training their pups before adoption. Your responsibility, of course, would be to continue it at home. As we mentioned earlier, crate training can also help with potty training, so that’s something worth remembering. 

Firstly, you’ll want to teach your puppy their designated bathroom place where they can relieve themselves. Secondly, you’ll also want to learn your puppy’s behavior to understand when they have to go. 

Keep in mind that it’s completely natural that accidents happen. It does take a few months for a puppy to be fully house trained so don’t punish them for any accidents. 

To learn more about Cavapoo potty training, take a look at our ultimate guide on How To Potty Train A Puppy. 

Need Some Extra Help With Cavapoo Training?

If you still feel like you need some additional help with your Cavapoo’s training, you can also hire a professional dog trainer, take your puppy to dog training classes, or try an online at-home training program.

We absolutely love the Online Puppy School by Baxter & Bella that covers all aspects of obedience training and teaches you all the skills you need. It has a lot of helpful resources from the most experienced professionals. And as an added bonus, you can follow this program at your own pace from the comfort of your own home.  

Cavapoo Training: FAQ

Are Cavapoos Easy To Train?

Cavapoos are, in fact, fairly easy to train. Cavapoos are intelligent and they’re eager to please, making the process that much easier for you. However, it’s your responsibility to stay consistent with the training.

How Do You Train A Cavapoo Puppy?

Cavapoo puppy training should start as soon as you bring them home. Establish a good routine, set specific mealtimes, potty breaks, time for exercise and playing with toys, nap times, and bedtime that you follow each and every day. 

You can also opt for various forms of Cavapoo training methods, such as positive reinforcement, clicker training, mirror training, or crate training. All of them are tried, tested, and proven to be super helpful when establishing good behaviors. 

How Do You Discipline A Cavapoo?

If your puppy has been behaving not-so-well, you should never punish or scold them, nor should you raise your voice. Instead, ignore their bad behavior and never praise it with treats, toys, or rewards. Stay firm and consistent with your training, use positive reinforcement, and your puppy will soon pick up good behaviors and move away from unwanted ones. 

Cavapoo Training: Final Thoughts

Cavapoos are amazing companions with their loving temperament and intelligent nature. But as with any dog, the key to raising a well-behaved and well-rounded adult is early socialization and training. As long as you stay consistent and firm with your training methods, you should have the most well-behaved little Dood by your side.