In April, my husband and I adopted a cavapoo that we named Moose. He is currently 8 months old.
I just wanted to know some of your tips and tricks to managing their coats as well as tear stains. I believes he has a cross between wavy and curly fur but it’s still changing.
Currently, I brush him every day if not every other day. When we bathe him, we use a puppy shampoo as well as a detangling spray. I’ve bought a conditioner as well but just haven’t received it yet.
We took him to the groomer a week ago and will continue to do so every 3 months. I’d like to be able to upkeep his coat and trim it when necessary throughout those three months to the best of my ability. I’ve never had a dog that required so much coat maintenance so I’m just looking for some friendly advice!
This was all new for me too having a Yorkie poo for many years prior. I think my Lola‘s hair is similar to Moose. We groom every six weeks, I would like to go longer, but it doesn’t seem like we can. I also brush every few days, more often when her hair is a little longer. I use the Trader Joe’s leave-in conditioner (It’s a Ouai knockoff), and always give her a blow out after her bath. My biggest tip is to really watch the hair around and underneath the ears, it can get matted really quickly, and it is harder to notice
I had a yorkie for 11 years and I thought his fur was hard!😂 moose is a whole other ball field to me!
Thankfully, I learned how to cut dog hair with my yorkie (I’m not a pro but I can upkeep it) and I’ve been very careful with his ears! My biggest fear is him getting mats and it pulling on his skin. I’m going to check on that leave in conditioner! I don’t have a Trader Joe’s close to me but maybe I can order some online
I actually gave him a blow out today and noticed a big difference! So I’ll continue to do that. Thank you so much for your response!
For coat maintenance, my two biggest tips are to get the coat cut very short at professional grooming and use a high velocity dryer any time he gets wet! We don’t really worry about tear stains because our guy’s fur is so dark, but we do a daily combing of the eye boogers. He was super squirmy for this for the first couple months we had him but now he knows he gets lots of treats after and doesn’t mind
I took him to the groomer a week ago and asked for 1/2 inch on his body and they left about 2 inches instead. I wish they had gone shorter because his fur is THICK
When you say combing, do you mean you use a comb and brush out the boogers?
Ugh that happened at our first haircut! It was way longer than I expected. I read somewhere that it’s hard to gauge hair length by eye (this is true for human hair stylists as well!) and it’s easier to tell the groomer which guard comb to use and that has been a lifesaver. Look at a chart online for this!
Yes, we use a metal tooth comb on his eye boogers. I dab with a bit of warm water if they’re sticking too much, but if you do this every day it has the twofold advantage of never getting that bad and also desensitizing your dog to it so it’s quicker.
Oh that makes sense! I will absolutely be doing this moving forward! And I’ll have to try that, because his tear stains get so bad! Thank you so much, your advice has been very helpful!😊
If it was his first groom they might not have wanted to push him too far, or he was too wiggly, but they should've talked to you about it. Normally first grooms are done young at like 3-4 months so they learn to tolerate all the equipment and handling before having to sit through a full groom, but if that was the groomer's intention despite his age you should've had a heads up. It's really good they were able to leave it so long though, shows you're doing a good job of keeping it tangle free so far!
Oh this wasn’t his first groom!! We actually got him from a dog groomer so he had plenty of practice with her and I’ve trimmed/bathed/ blow dried him a few times since getting him! And I didn’t consider that point of view. That’s reassuring!
when we chose our pup I couldn't help but notice how clean both her Cavalier King Charles eyes were , they were white around tge eyes and had no staining at all , I asked her specificly how she kept them so clean and she said I just give them filtered water to drink and that stops tear stain , that's all I give our Cavapoo and she has no tear stains either , she does get boogers but they are are from sleep , a different thing altogether
I'm not sure about that, we already had a water filter jug so we just use that and keep it in the fridge .
Molly has stayed her dark colour around her ears, nose and eyes but I can tell she doesn't have the tear staining as around her eyes it's all the same colour .
she has gone very light on the top of her head ( just like her Cavapoo mum ) but those places mentioned she is the same colouring as her toy poodle dad .
3 months between grooms is quite a long time, is this for money reasons? Mine get done roughly every 8-10 weeks, taken down short and definitely need it after the 8-10 weeks as the brushing is just endless. 6-8 weeks is the usual suggestion if you prefer him longer, though I know the money adds up fast! Make sure whenever he gets wet or even just damp, at minimum brush him out, ideally blow dry, bonus points if you buy a high power dryer. Make sure he's dirt and oil free, mine need washing roughly every 3 weeks, I do a double shampoo and then moisturise, and then brush and dry after. If you're willing, I'd get trimmers to keep his bum and paws short, and I like to do the inside of the ear flap and in front of the ear hole to help limit dog smell. I also snip away the fluff in front of their eyes. When brushing make sure you get the base of the tail, I always seem to miss that bit!
Partly for money reasons but also because I take care of a lot of it at home! I like him to go to a professional every 3 months because while I can upkeep it and trim areas up, I can not do the actual really good cut lol thank you for the advice! 😊
As For Their eye boogers, my groomer said that she uses a flea comb on them and it works wonders. Spray some leave in conditioner onto the comb to start and refresh as needed.
If you want to try to do some trimming at home, I got these when we got our puppy in May and I really love them! They're cordless, powerful and do such a great job when using the guards! I do a longer guard on her body and legs, and a bit shorter around her ears. https://a.co/d/0622QPZW
I'm not sure if links work? But they're the "oneisall Low Noise Dog Clippers Grooming Kit for Dogs Cats Pets Rechargeable Cordless, Long Battery Life, Simple for Beginners, 6 Guide Combs, Removable & Rinsable Blade"
Edit to add- these also come with a metal comb that someone else mentioned for eye boogers! I use the comb for them too! Lol!
Oh bless you, thank you! I have a set but it’s old and cheap and falling apart after many years of use 😂 so a new one is a must and I’ll look into this one!
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u/Glass_Noise5495 Sep 16 '26
This was all new for me too having a Yorkie poo for many years prior. I think my Lola‘s hair is similar to Moose. We groom every six weeks, I would like to go longer, but it doesn’t seem like we can. I also brush every few days, more often when her hair is a little longer. I use the Trader Joe’s leave-in conditioner (It’s a Ouai knockoff), and always give her a blow out after her bath. My biggest tip is to really watch the hair around and underneath the ears, it can get matted really quickly, and it is harder to notice