Cavoodle - Archie

Hair Growth

2008-10-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

If you've got your cavoodle and was wondering what the dogs hair is going to be like, beware, depending on the mix you get, you might see attribtues you wouldn't associate with a cavoodle.

For instance long hair and moulting, with Archie we have seen these attributes, as can be seen from the attached image. This was taken when Archie was 6 months old, even though he looks as old as Gandolf from lord of the rings.

We've noticed also, that during the summer months that Archie started to shed more. Compare with other dogs I've had it was'nt as bad as them, but because of the long, white hair it look like santa claus has made a surprise visit during the summer months.
With this in mind (cos I'm not a santa fan) we purchases some dog clippers. I know that getting your dogs hair cut can cost around £30 and clippers cost about the same so being the penny pinching man that I am, I thought I'd do it myself.

Now again beware, clipping your dog is not for the faint hearted, neither myself or the dog was prepared for the task.

From my experience, when clipping the dog here are some of my tips;

1. Start with a clean dog
2. Start cutting with the longer gaurd first.
3. Be patient
4. Periodically reward your dog with treats
5. Keep the hair on the back a little longer and the under carriage a little more shorter. Having the under carriage hair a little short helps with the cleanliness of the dog as hes a boy dog.
6. If you intend to cut your dogs hair do it regularly, don't wait for the hair to be as long as I did, as indicated in the image above. It becomes easier when the hair is shorter and the dog becomes more accustomed to it.
7. Don't worry if you make a mistake, the hair will grow back, plus the dog will be non the wiser, just don't tell him and show him the back with a mirror.

The finished result:

Sorry for no recent posts

2008-06-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry for no recent posts, just moved house and I'm working on other web site that is a web site for listing UK Trout Fisheries, have a look if you like at www.trout-fisheries.com
Any way I'll be putting new stuff on shortly, I recently trimmed Archie's coat and I'll explain the pain we went through when we did it.

Archie is on FaceBook, or rather dog book.

2008-01-03T04:34:00.000-08:00

Arhie is now on facebook as one of our pets, log on / register and Pet Him now hehe

Cavapoos, Cavoodles For Sale

2007-12-31T01:25:00.000-08:00

Jandaz now have Cavoodles for Sale, visit the site at www.jandaz.co.uk

CornWall - PortCothan

2007-09-13T01:45:00.000-07:00

Just been on a weeks camping holiday to Cornwall, we went to a small part called Portcothan just above Newquay. (England)
If you like small beaches, good coastal walks, then this is the place to go. Great Pub, great little shop on the beach selling everything you could possible want.

Ok, what was it like to camp with the dog then? Well we took his blanket with us, and placed it in the room where he was going to sleep, in Ethan’s room (my son).
Every night, when it was time for bed, he knew that he slept in Ethan’s room, it was really easy, no bother at all. Archie loved it, he loved the fresh air, the sea everything, and because Cornwall is so dog friendly, he meet lots of new doggy friends.

Everytime we were in the car, he’d have his head out the window, sniffing the air like all dogs do.

Yeah, well while in Newquay, my wife noticed a pet shop, and came out with a new purchase, a dog cap. Why, Why, well the Archie didn't seeem to mind!

Rare and Illusive Ghost poo

2007-09-11T03:28:00.000-07:00

I'm the pride owner of a white poo, very rare, well not really ! Throughout my younger days, (most of them were spent in the '80s and early '90s) the ghostly figure a pale stool used to be prevalent, these days it pretty rare to find them, mostly because fellow dog owners pick up their dog dirt after them and because dog food these days have changed.

Apparently, White poo is white because the of calcium left behind as the water evaporates, and the 'organic' components of the poop are consumed (in various ways) leaving the inorganic stuff behind. Archie left me this rare and precious deposit after enjoying a large bone for a numbers of days. I just thought I share this birth with you all. Send in your pictures of white poo and I'll start a white poo gallery he he he - only joking :) or am I????

ps: What do you think of poo bags? Are they a good think or a bad thing? I've seen a number of them tossed in the street by dog owners, only to stay present for ages. If they hadn't of bagged the 'tommy-tit' in the first place then the stool would just wash away after a period of time ... or would it?.

Can you get bio-degradable dog poo bags? I'd hate to think that (for some bizare reason) someone might be digging around a 1000/million years later upon an ex waste deposal site and dig up this intriguing black small sack, open it up to find a fresh, steamy stool, or even a white chalky one, imagine the disappointment or joy?

Send in your Cavoodles

2007-09-07T00:49:00.000-07:00

The Cavoodle Gallery has started, send in your cavoodle photos to james.farrer@talk21.com and lets create a large resource of cavoodle images.

Dirty Dog

2007-09-06T00:20:00.001-07:00

This sort of damage only took seconds to accomplish. It occurred while my wife was taking Archie for a walk on the beach as a little treat. Now Archie is an affectionate dog, so much so, when he sees other animals, dogs, birds, mammals of any kind he will run and meet them, and try to start playing. He'll do this and never return when he's called, resulting is us walking/running after him and placing him back on the lead again. Not sure if anyone else has this same problem.

This is exactly what happened on the beach this day, he was let off the lead, and immediately spotted the seagulls, and the chase began, through the mud of the beach.

This is the finish result, after my wife chased after him and returned him to the lead again. Everything the dog touched became dirty, and in his excited state that was pretty much everything, you know how it it!!

Grooming your Cavoodle

2007-08-08T04:30:00.000-07:00

Grooming your Cavoodle depends on the type of mix your dog is.

Predominately Cavaliers mixes (like Archie on the left) should get brushed and bathed, and do not get trimmed.
They will need a good brushing every other day to prevent matting, including between nails and ears.

If your dog is predominately poodle, (like butterscott on the right) then they will need clipping as well as bathing and brushing.

They should be bathed once a month and not any sooner than that otherwise it will dry out their skin causing them to itch.

Be sure to use Shampoo made for dogs as humans have a difference PH balance. But I’ve noticed that a lot of dog owners use Baby Shampoo, if it’s soft enough for babies then it won’t harm your dog. Plus I’ve also read that if you get lavender scented Baby Shampoo, it helps to stop your dog getting fleas, as fleas don’t like lavender. Correct me if I’m wrong!

Johnsons Baby Shampoo - lavender

When bathing the dog, work up a good lather and use a dog brush to get the dog clean to the skin. After bathing, dry them out using a towel and hair dryer, then watch them go wild when they realise that it's all over.

Claiming in technorati

2007-08-06T05:27:00.001-07:00

Technorati Profile

Meet Butterscotch

2007-08-02T01:50:00.000-07:00

Meet Butterscotch, butterscotch is a 6 month old Australian cavoodle, and is now one of Archie's best mates. (not that he realises it), Butterscotch will be added to the cavoodle gallery when I get around to creating it, which will be soon, so please send in your photo's of your cavoodles.

A word from Butterscotch's owners : "He is a cheeky,affectionate pup and so far he is exactly what we were hoping for, a dog that combines the best qualities of both his parent's breeds. His mum is a cavalier king charles spaniel and his dad is a poodle. Butterscotch, or Buddy for short, was named by the owners children, because of his colouring, and not because their parents love Baron von Scheuters, Butterscotch Schnapps(that's just a coincidence). Buddy does have some unique habits, we think it's funny when he opens the laundry cupboard and makes off the smelliestpiece of dirty laundry that he can find, he carries this into his bed and makes a nest with it. He also comes up and head butts our knees when he wants to be picked up and cuddled (he's just a big fuzzy baby!)"

Cavoodle Gallery

2007-07-12T02:47:00.001-07:00

Send me your pictures of your cavoodle!! - I'm working on an additional page to include photos of our precious cavoodles. Send me your pictures and some information, such as name, location age, strange behavour etc, etc, and I'll include your photo in the Cavoodle Gallery.

Please only send Cavoodle Pictures Please, I'd like to keep the additional page dedicated to cavoodles only.

Your dog can have it's own web page and be googleable. ! (eg, find your doggy through the google search engine)

email: James.Farrer@talk21.com

Submissive Urination

2007-06-27T05:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, I noticed a couple of times that Archie sometimes pee's a little when I come home from work. I've seen this behavior in spaniels, so it sort of make sense that Archie's manifesting this same behaviour with being crossed with a Spaniel breed. So I've done a little research and found out that it's a common problem in younger dogs and sensitive dogs. It's called 'Submissive Urination' and basically it's a signal to show that the dog is being submissive (as the name implies).

So, how do you minimise this happening again. There are a number of things I'm going to try for this situation for when I come home from work;

Only pet Archie under the chin, which is less dominating that patting on the head.
Don't give Archie attention until he calms down

Crouch to the dogs level for petting

Minimise Eye contact.

All these actions are less dominant, and will hopefully minimise the dogs excitement levels and the yellow fluid loss.

She's at it again ????

2007-06-25T00:40:00.001-07:00

Yeah with the words, "it was reduced from £20 to £10", she showed me the new top for Archie. It's a "Military" top, with belt and lapels and the RAF emblem. He's is now about 5 months old.

He's happy to go outside to go to the toilet, using a dog flap to enter and exit the building. The only problem we have is with toilet training when it's raining, he hates it. You can see that his face has developed more. There is more fur around his mussel and his eye brows and eye lashes are really long. Not sure if they will get longer.

With regards to the rain toilet training and now I've noticed a digging habit, which I'l like to break, any advice would be recommended.

My wife bought him a 'pigs ear', they look gross, because they are actual pigs ears, hey what did I expect, well I did sort of expected a manufactered replica. But he loves them to bits .

arrrhhh the missus is at it again!!!

2007-06-07T08:15:00.000-07:00

Yeah, She just can't control herself. The missus noticed that when the dog has a bath he always shivers afterwards either out of fear or cold. I can now confirm that is was out of being cold. So what does she do, she buys him a dressing gown.
What is she like, she just can't help herself. I mean what does he look like.

Star Wars Dog Customes

2007-05-11T01:32:00.000-07:00

If your cavapoodle is a Star Wars freak, like mine is. He's always watching the DVDs over and over again, running around the house with his light saber. I wouldn't mind but I'm a trekkie (not).
Well you might want to consider buying your cavoodle one of these customes. I know the missus is seriously thinking about it, (for the dog, not for herself, although a wouldn't mind her buying herself a Princess Leai's Outfit from the scene on Jabba Yacht in ROTJ, habba habba)

Anyway, it up to you (buying the the right dog outfit, not about the missus).
I think the Yoda's custume would work pretty well... Enjoy..

Princess Leia Pet Costume

Yoda Pet Costume

Darth Vader Pet Costume

Slave Leia Pet Costume

Get the puppy chipped or get a Dog Tag

2007-05-08T01:53:00.000-07:00

3rd May 2007, The Dog Escaped. - I'd like to think that Archie dug himself a tunnel with a spoon, under the electric fence past the security guards during the dead of night, but that wasn’t the case. Archie just slipped out while my wife didn’t notice. 5 minutes later, we realised and the search was on. We spent 3 hours that evening looking for a puppy in a rural area full of large back gardens, fields and lots of places to hide. We couldn’t find the dog and thought the dog has been stolen.

Because Archie was young and with the pace of life, we hadn’t thought to chip him just yet and hadn’t even put a name tag on his collar, hence, when we lost him we thought it was hopeless.

We thought someone had taken Archie, and that is what actually happened. A kindly lady had noticed Archie’s near miss with the traffic, and had taken Archie to the local vet to be scanned for a chip with no result. She took Archie to her home for safety, and that is why we could not find him in the first place and why no one else had see him either. With no dog tag to identify the owner, she was considering keeping Archie herself, if it wasn’t for the fact that she had two dogs already.

It was only when she started walking the country lanes in an attempt to locate the owners (us), did I notice her.

My very distraught wife and me (to say distraught is an under statement) had given up at this time and we were about to create some posters and notices to stick in the local shops as a last resort.

Well, I was just staring out the living room windows, considering what to say to my little boy when I next saw him, when I noticed this lady walking with usual purpose, which is rare where I live. I caught her attention and she asked if I had lost a dog. Well the rest is history. So my advise you all you new dog owners is, GET THE DOG CHIPPED AND GET A DOG TAG. All the stress and anxiety could have been reduced if only we had done this earlier. Archie has now got a dog tag and he will be booked in to be chipped soon.

New Doggy T-Shirt

2007-05-02T04:22:00.000-07:00

We don't celebrate birthdays, or christmas and stuff, so when it comes to our anniversary we make a big deal of it, and we give presents then. Well Archie wasn't to be excluded from this and he got a new shirt to play out in and play football and stuff.

Doggie Tips

2007-04-27T04:52:00.000-07:00

Here's some advice and tips on looking after your cavoodle, and training, some of these are really good and obvious.

Always Praise good behaviour - as with everything, if your dog does what you desire, always reward and praise the dog.
Be attentive to your puppy -After eating, drinking, playing and after a nap, this will likely stimulate the dog to go to the toilet. When you find your dog sniffing and circling, walk the dog outside. Doing this will help you catch the dog, going to the toilet outside and you will be there to praise the dog afterwards.
Element the odour - Your puppy will want to go again where he's previously been, so try to remove the scent/odour from the spot where the previous mistake was made.
When the puppy makes a mistake - If the puppy does make a mistake, and you catch the pup in the act, then shout "No" and take the dog outside, if the pup continues the activity outside then praise the good behaviour. If you find a mistake after the event then don't attempt to scold the puppy or rub his noise in it, as he won't remember what he had done and this will only frighten the puppy.
Dinnertime - Feed your puppy around 5-6 each day, as this will give the dog more time to go before bed.
Control the time the dog is fed - if you control the times you feed the dog you are more likely to be able to control when the dog goes to the toilet.
Leaving the dog -if you are away from the puppy for over 4 hours then leave the dog in a room that you feel more comfortable for the dog to toilet in, eg: kitchen, because the floors are usually easier to clean, and leave paper down. Training Mats are pretty good initially as the dog is attracted to the smell and the puppy is more likely to go were the mat is placed, rather than all over the room.
Jumping - When you arrive home from work the puppy, while excited to see you will jump up. To discourage this, try not to give the dog too much attention as this will only encourage the behaviour you are trying to reduce. To reduce this gently turn away from, brush the dog off, this will cause the dog to return to the floor, having all feet placed on the floor. When all feet are place on the ground you can give your dog praise. Try not to overly excite the dog further because this may result in the jumping up again. Try to keep calm and talk to the dog in a low voice. Only when the initial excitement has subsided can you play with the puppy and give the dog the attention and love that it requires.
Teaching your dog to sit - This requires a quite location. I tried this doing this with my nine year old son in the room, and it was hopeless because puppies are just attracted to kids and get distracted. When you have a quite location, then you will have the puppy’s attention. I started by getting the puppies attention even more by giving him a treat. Then I encouraged the dog to sit down, pressing the backside gently down while saying the command. Then I gave the dog praise and a treat. After a while, Archie eventually started sitting down without treats by himself. -cool

If you've got any further hints and tips to help me or others let me know I'd realy appreciate it.

Dog Toys

2007-04-25T00:30:00.000-07:00

When buying toys for your pets it can sometimes be a waste of money. Spending your hard earned cash on toys that your pet does'nt like and never uses. Ok, so these are Archies favourite toys, and thoses I recon your dog will get the most use out of.

Ball on a Rope. These are great, you can play fetch with the toy and play tug. I've found that when you throw the ball, Archie will go and fetch it and he'l bring it back to me, only because he wants to play tugg. I've not sure if all puppies are like that but he loves pulling and tugging on things. I find that he also likes playing for ages by himself, waggling the toy with his head, I think you can see this on previous posts. It's also a great toy to take on walks in the open space.

Cotton Rope Bone. Basically this is a bone made out of cotton, again he like it because he can chew it and again waggle it from side to side.

Cat Toy. This is the surprise toy. We also have a cat and this cat is lovely and petite, but when it comes to toys she's really fusy. Anyway we got one of these toys, it's basically a little fluffy toy like a spider (a fluffy ball with legs) with an elasticated string attached with a plastic ring on the end. Well the cat loves it, I think it only cheap to buy as well. It's good because you can hang it from the door handle and the cat will play with it without your intervention.

Anyway, Archies discovered this toy as well and he loves it. While it's attached to the door, he pull the toy, it stretches and then pings off when he lets go and it bounces all over the place, then the fun is trying to catch it again. Archie will play with this for hours, he gets more use out of this than the cat does now. It's great because it you don't have to get involved and enjoy the entertainment watchin him do his thing. Great little inexpensive toy.

13 Weeks Old

2007-04-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

So we've had Archie for about a month and he's just had his final injection.

On the left are pictures of Archie about 7/8 Weeks old, and on the right is him after 13 weeks.

So even though he's had his final injection he still can't to out on walks yet for another week. Arrrrrhh !

Stair Master

2007-04-18T00:45:00.000-07:00

OK, the missus and the boy has taught the little fellow how to navigate up the stairs. This was the cats haven. The cat would climb the stairs and just stare at Archie and taunt him. Now he has mastered the stairs, he climbs up at every opportunity. The cat has found a new way to taunt him though, she now sits at the bottom of the stairs while he's still up there and taunts him, knowing that Archie can't climb down yet.

He's going for his second injection on friday 20th April 07, so hopefully he'l loose some of his energy on a good walk each day. Potty training, he's still inconistent with his wee/poos. He only does them in the kitchen but there is no real progress yet. He knows to do them outside yet still does the odd one/two in the kitchen even though the kitchen doors been open. Any sugguestion regarding this would be helpful.

Archie playing in the yard

2007-04-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

Everyday, we go home for lunch to check on the him. We have a play with one of those balls on a rope toy thingies. He loves the fact that he can fetch it and then have a tugg on the rope bit. I noticed that Archie only really eats when he feels like it. Not the recommended three times a day.

We took him to a car boot stall that we had. Didn't allow him to run around but just to get used to people and the sounds and stuff. He loves people and loves the attention he was getting. We can't wait to be able to take him for walks, another week or two for his last injection then he can discover more.

Still not doing too well on the pottie training, but we live in hope.

Obi-wan-Cavoodle

2007-04-02T02:39:00.000-07:00

Yeah ok, when he did come round after a bad hang over, he started doing his StarWars impressions again. "Feel the Force - Luke", it got alittle boring after a while.

Taking Archie to the Local

2007-04-02T02:31:00.000-07:00

Took Archie to the pub. The pub is located near the canal so i did abit of fishing, enjoying the nice weather. I've realised though that the dog can't handle the ale.