03/13/2024 – The Cavapoo is an adorable, bundle of joy, so it’s no surprise that people are looking to add a one to their home. If you are one of them, you might be wondering about price of a Cavapoo.
After all, that is an important first step in buying a dog. Not only should you know how much it costs to buy a Cavapoo, you should also know how much it costs to take to care of one.
But, finding the answer to how much a Cavapoo costs in 2023 is not that easy. Breeder’s pricing is hard to find and the Cavapoo’s price can vary based on the breeder, gender, colors and location.
To find the answer to how much a Cavapoo costs we looked at over 100 Cavapoo breeders and their pricing throughout the USA.
Join us to find out:
- The average cost of a Cavapoo
- What affects the price of a Cavapoo
- Types of breeders
- Cavapoo’s price by state
- Why Cavapoos are so expensive?
- How you can get a free or discounted Cavapoo
- The cost to care for a Cavapoo
Quick Facts About the Cavapoo
| Trait | Overview |
| Breeding | Cross between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Poodle |
| Sizes | Comes in miniature and toy sizes |
| Purpose | Companion Dog |
What does a Cavapoo puppy Cost?
We looked at over 100 Cavapoo breeders across the USA and found puppies priced as low as $900 and as high as $7,500. But the average price of a Cavapoo puppy fell between $2,000 and $3,000. However, Cavapoo puppies with health tested parents cost more and were between $3,500 and $4,500.
As you can see there is a wide price range when it comes to the cost of a Cavapoo. While it might be tempting to buy a puppy on the lower end of the price range, it may not be the bargain you hope it is. Puppies on the lower end of cost tend to be poorly bred by unknowing or neglectful breeders and often come with health problems including allergies.
What Affects the Price of a Cavapoo?
While some breeders will charge the same price for all of their Cavapoo puppies, others choose to charge a premium on certain characteristics that are considered more desirable. In the next segment will review the items we found that breeders charge more for.
1. Gender
One of the decisions you need to make when getting a puppy is whether you want a male or a female puppy. I have lived with both. While they are different, I can’t say one is better than the other. For most people, it’s just a matter of preference.
But when we looked at the various breeders’ wait lists you can see that more people requested a female Cavapoo puppy rather than a male. We also noticed that when there were unpicked puppies in a litter they were most often males.
Because of this some breeders will charge a premium for female puppies. Or charge a discount for males depending on how you look at it.
We found that the price difference between a female and male Cavapoo to be between $300 to $500.
Need a name for your new cavapoo puppy? Checkout our post on 399+ Best Cavapoo Dog Names: Our Top Picks
2. Size
The Cavapoo comes in two sizes; the mini Cavapoo and the toy Cavapoo. Out of the breeders we looked at 76% bred the mini Cavapoo, while only 29% bred the Toy Cavapoo (some bred both.) This means there are less toy Cavapoos to choose from, allowing breeder to charge a premium for the smaller size.
One breeder we reviewed charged $1,100 more for a Toy Cavapoo when compared to a Mini Cavapoo. Though, part of the extra cost could be attributed to the color differences between the puppies. The more expensive toy Cavapoo was also tri-colored.
Cavapoo Size Chart
| Size | Height | Weight |
| Miniature | 12 to 16 inches | 15 to 25 pounds |
| Toy | Under 12 inches | Under 15 pounds |
3. Color
The Cavapoo comes in an assortment of colors, but certain colors are more popular. This allows breeders to request a premium for the popular color combinations everyone wants.
Cavapoo colors
Cavapoos can be found in all the colors the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel comes in and also all the colors the poodle comes in.
The Cavalier King Charles Spaniels official colors are:
- Blenheim – is a white dog with chestnut markings around the eyes and on the ears. They will also have large chestnut markings on the back and sides.
- Tricolor – is a mainly white dog with black around the eyes and all of the ears. They will also have tan markings over the eyes, on the checks, inside the ears and on the underside of the tail.
- Ruby – the whole body is colored a rich red.
- Black and Tan – black with tan markings over eyes, on cheeks, inside ears, on chest, legs, and on underside of tail.
But Cavaliers also come in all black, black and white, chocolate tri-color, chocolate & tan and chocolate ruby.
Poodles can be black, white, apricot, red, chocolate, and gray. They also come in a combination of colors.
What is the most expensive Cavapoo color?
The most expensive color pattern is Merle. Merle coats are common in certain breeds like the Australian Shepherd, but the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel does not carry the gene for it.
Poodles can be found with the Merle gene, but it is rare. Some people believe it was introduced to the poodle lineage through another breed. But some breeders of Merle poodles claim it to be naturally occurring. Either way it is rare to see in a Cavapoo.
In our survey we found that a Merle coated Cavapoo can cost twice as must as Ruby colored Cavapoo from the same breeder. Other colors that came with a premium was Tricolor, and Ruby.
4. Generation: F1 Cavapoo vs F1B Cavapoo
If you are new to the world of Cavapoos you may not know that they come in different generations. Cavapoo generations are just a simple way to tell buyers the estimated percent of poodle vs Cavalier King Charles Spaniel that is in each puppy.
Let me explain:
F1 Cavapoo– Is a first generation Cavapoo. This means it’s the first time a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is mated to a Poodle – Pups are 50% Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and 50% Poodle.
An F1 doodle is considered to be the healthiest cross, since there is less chance of inheriting breed specific health issues. Of course, this only works for health conditions that do not affect both breeds. While they are considered to be healthier, they are also more likely to shed more. Therefore, making them less likely to be hypoallergenic.
F1b Cavapoo – Is a second generation Cavapoo. The b stands for “back” as in “cross-back to one of the parent breeds”. With a F1b Cavapoo, an F1 Cavapoo is mated to either a poodle or Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. When a poodle is used for the cross-back, the genetic make-up is thought to be 25% Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and 75% Poodle.
While there are no guarantees, the puppy should be more poodle than Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. The F1b Cavapoo is less likely to shed as compared to an F1.
F2 Cavapoo– Is a later generation Cavapoo. In this case, two Cavapoo are bred together. This is the most unpredictable of all the generations after the F1 Generation. This breeding can result in a wide range of traits since you will not know which traits might be passed down.
Multigen Cavapoo – A multi-generation cavapoo is where the breeder has been paring later generation Cavapoos. A multigen Cavapoo should be more consistent in their look and shedding.
How does this affect the cost of a Cavapoo?
Because it takes more time to breed a later generation Cavapoo, they often cost more when compared to an F1 Cavapoo. In our research we found that the price of a F1B Cavapoo can be $300 to $500 more than an F1 Cavapoo.
5. Health Testing
When looking for a Cavapoo you should search for a breeder that does genetic health testing on their breeding dogs. Genetic health testing informs the breeder if a dog is carrying genes for specific unwanted health conditions that can be passed down to the offspring.
Puppies with health tested parents are more desirable and therefore can get a higher price. But don’t assume that just because you are paying more that the proper testing has been completed. There were plenty of high priced Cavapoos that did not have health tested parents in our sample.
Only 30% of the breeders we looked at indicated that they had their breeding dogs health tested before breeding them.
6. Breeding Rights
Typically, when you purchase a dog from a breeder you are buying a dog for companion purposes only. This means you agree that you will not breed the dog.
Most puppy contracts state that you must spay or neuter your dog within a specific amount of time.
Breeding right puppies are expensive. They can easily cost two to three time the cost of a companion dog. The actual cost will depend on the quality of the dog.
7. Age
While researching this topic we found many older Cavapoo puppies still looking for a home. Older puppies will generally be discounted, unless they were held back to be sold as a trained puppy.
Depending on the age of the puppy, you may be able to find an older puppy for $500 to $1,000 less than a puppy that is under 8 weeks old.
8. Quality of Breeder
There are three types of breeders that you can buy a Cavapoo from. They are:
- Backyard breeder
- Commercial breeder
- Experienced small-scale breeder
1. Backyard Breeder
A backyard breeder is one that does not have any experience breeding dogs. They are generally people that decided to breed their family pet to make a little money. You may run across a few on Facebook or Craigslist.
The easiest way to determine if someone is a backyard breeder is by simply asking them questions. Particularly about the breed and their breeding process. They will not be able to answer the questions.
They also don’t conduct health testing, provide a contract or a health guarantee. While backyard breeders tend to charge a low price, it is best not to buy from them.
2. High Volume Commercial breeders
High volume commercial breeders are commonly referred to as puppy mills. They received this name due to the high volume of puppies they breed every year. Puppy mill puppies can be sold relatively cheap because the breeding dogs and their puppies are not cared for.
Puppy mill puppies are more likely to have long term health issues due to the lack of health testing. Since they come from a place with too many dogs to care for, they are not socialized and are harder to train.
In the long run a puppy mill puppy may cost you more in health care and training cost than a well-bred dog from an experienced breeder.
Puppy mill puppies are sold through pet stores or on-line puppy brokers. They can also be sold through the internet by the puppy mill disguising themselves as a reputable breeder.
4. Experienced small-scale breeder
A quality breeder is one that takes pride in the dogs they produce. They strive to make the breed healthier by carefully selecting the best mating pairs possible. They do this by having all their breeding dog’s health tested and they use guardian homes which allow breeding dogs to live with a family.
How does the type of breeder affect the price of a Cavapoo?
When it come to the cost of Cavapoo, an experienced breeder that does genetic health testing on their breeding dogs may charge about around 1.5 or 2 times the cost a Cavapoo, then a high-volume commercial breeder (aka puppy mills.) or backyard breeder. This is to cover the costs of testing and caring for the dogs.
What is the price of a Cavapoo in each state
Which state you get your Cavapoo from will greatly affect the cost of the puppy. In addition to the cost being different by state so are the state sales taxes which need to be paid when you buy a puppy.
As you can see from the chart shown below, the average cost of a Cavapoo is the highest on the east coast.
Please note this is an average of the prices we collected by state. You may be able to find a Cavapoo for more or less than the average listed here.
We were not able to find breeders in all fifty states, so you may not see the state you are looking for.
Why are Cavapoos so expensive?
You may be wondering why such a small dog is so expensive. Cavapoo can fetch a higher price for a couple of reasons. First there are few quality breeders from who you can buy from. Second the demand for these dogs are still fairly high, which pushes up the costs.
How to get a free or discounted Cavapoo
There are two ways to get a discounted Cavapoo. The first is to look for a cavapoo to adopt. The other way is to look for a breeder that uses guardian homes. Some guardian home programs may even give you a puppy for free.
Guardian homes are more popular with mini Goldendoodle, mini Labradoodle and mini Bernedoodle breeders, but we did come across a few Cavapoo breeders that used guardian homes or foster homes as some called it.
Guardian Homes
A Guardian Home is when a person agrees to raise and take care of the dog as a pet, but allows the breeder to maintain full breeding rights for the dog.
This process is beneficial to breeders because they don’t have to keep a large number of breeding dogs at their home. It also allows breeding dogs to live a normal, happy life with a family that loves and cares for them.
Although the terms of a Guardian Home Program will vary by breeder the basic idea of the program is generally the same. Just make sure to review the term of any guardian home contract, as it can differ from what is stated below.
General Guardian Home Program Overview:
- You must live within a predetermined distance from the breeder.
- The breeder retains the breeding rights of the dog for the length of the contract.
- Your puppy is picked from the litter by the breeder. You generally get the best pick of the litter.
- You are responsible for routine care and veterinary services for the dog as determined by the breeder.
- You may need to take the dog for health testing that is related to breeding
- You may be required to feed a certain type of food or keep their hair short.
- Based on the contract, your dog will be required to stay at the breeder’s home different times of the year. This could be when your dog is in heat and when they give birth, but there may be other times too.
- Dogs are bred for a specified number of times and years before they are released from the program.
- You cannot spay or neuter your dog until after the contract ends.
What does it cost to care for a Cavapoo?
Like with any dog, there are ongoing annual expenses that are required to care for a Cavadoodle. These include but are not limited to:
- High quality food and treats – $400 to $600 annually depending on the type of food that you feed them.
- Grooming costs – $450 to $700 annually for professional grooming every 6 to 8 weeks
- Veterinarian Costs – $300 to 450 for annual check-ups and vaccines. First year is the most expensive due to puppy vaccines, but elder dog care can also be expensive.
- Toys – $100 to $200
- Day Care/Dog Walking – If you are not home during the day you may need to send your dog to doggy day camp. Doggy Day Care runs between $25 and $35 dollars a day.
First Year Costs
The first year of having a dog is often the most expensive since you need to buy supplies for them. Here are a few things that you will need to get for your puppy in the first year.
- Puppy supplies – $300 to $1,000
- Leash,
- Collar or harness
- Dog beds, (we have one upstairs and another one downstairs)
- Crate
- Coat/sweater for when it gets cold
- Training Classes – Can run between $200 to $500 per session
- Socialization classes – $25 to $45 – These allow you to safely socialize your puppy under trained supervision.
There are even more items that you may need to pay for over the cost of ownership, these include: going on vacations with your dog in tow (it generally costs extra to bring a dog), or boarding cost (when you can’t take them), at home dog baths, in door dog houses, etc.
Bringing home your Cavapoo puppy
Once you decide on a breeder, you should start thinking about what you need for when you bring your puppy home. Puppies require many things, like a leash and collar, food bowls and toys as we just mentioned. But one of the things you might not think about is where your puppy will go to the bathroom. Having an established place to train your puppy to go will make potty training easier. To learn more, check out our posts on Potty Training a Puppy: Made Easy and Outdoor Dog Potty Area Guide.