Guides · Puppy days
Bringing Your Cavapoo Puppy Home: The First Week
The first week sets the tone for everything. Get it calm, consistent and predictable, and your Cavapoo puppy settles fast. Here's a realistic plan — no overwhelm.
Before they arrive: the checklist
Have everything ready so the first days are about settling, not shopping. The essentials: a crate and a soft bed, food (ideally the same brand the breeder used, to avoid tummy upset), bowls, a collar and harness, a lead, puppy pads, poo bags, a couple of toys, and a grooming brush to get them used to handling early.
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Crate with divider
The single most useful puppy purchase — a den for sleep, the foundation of toilet training, and safe alone-time. Size it for the adult dog and use the divider while they're small.
Enrichment chew toy
A stuffable rubber chew you can fill and freeze soothes teething gums and gives a settling activity in the first anxious days.
Puppy-proof your home
Get down to puppy height and look around. Tuck away cables, move houseplants and anything chewable, secure bins, and block off stairs and rooms you want off-limits with a baby gate. A curious Cavapoo puppy will investigate everything with its mouth — the safest home is one where there's simply nothing dangerous to find.
Day one
Keep it quiet. Resist the urge to invite everyone round — one big overwhelming day is the opposite of what a nervous puppy needs. Let them explore a small area at their own pace, show them the toilet spot in the garden straight away and after every nap and meal, and start as you mean to go on with house rules (if the sofa's off-limits, it's off-limits from day one). Lots of calm reassurance, low expectations.
Surviving the first nights
The first few nights are usually the hardest part — your puppy has just left its mother and littermates. The kindest and most effective approach is to have the crate next to your bed so they can hear and smell you; whimpering usually settles within a few nights. Take them out for a wee if they wake in the small hours, keep it boring and dark (no play), and pop them back. It passes quickly if you stay consistent.
Toilet training and routine
Start toilet training immediately: take them out first thing, after every meal, after naps, after play, and before bed — then reward the instant they go in the right spot. Accidents will happen; clean them calmly with an enzymatic cleaner and never punish. Alongside it, build a gentle daily rhythm of meals, toilet trips, short play, naps and quiet time. Cavapoos thrive on predictability, and a routine now prevents the separation anxiety this breed is prone to.
Vet, food and first socialisation
Book a first vet check and get the vaccination schedule started. Keep feeding the breeder's food at first and change brands gradually over a week if you want to switch (our feeding guide covers how much). Before full vaccination you can still socialise safely — carry your puppy to see the world, and invite calm, vaccinated dogs and friendly people to visit. Early positive experiences now pay off for the whole of their life.