Do Cavaliers shed, and are they hypoallergenic?

Do Cavalier dogs shed?

They do, though a Cavalier is a light shedder for most of the year. Cavaliers shed a little all the time and most of all in spring and fall.

A Cavalier has a silky coat of medium length with no curl, though a slight wave is fine. The feathering on the ears, chest, legs and tail should be long, and the feathering on the feet is a trademark of the breed. In practice that means a little more brushing for a few weeks each spring and fall, and a light, steady shed the rest of the year.

How do you groom a Cavalier?

A thorough brushing and combing once a week covers most of it. The ears want a little more, with a quick comb every few days and every day while the coat is shedding, and the nails and the hair between the foot pads get a trim once a month.

There's no haircut to book, either. A Cavalier is meant to be left natural, with nothing trimmed except the hair under the feet, and it needs only regular brushing and a bath. Go easy on the baths, because too much bathing dries out the skin and coat, so give no more than one a week, and many owners find every two months is plenty. Brush out any knots before the coat gets wet.

Are Cavaliers hypoallergenic?

No, and no other breed is either. Every dog breed carries some allergen, and the length of a coat doesn't change how allergic a dog makes you. Fur can pick up other allergens as well, such as pollen and mold.

When researchers sampled dogs' coats and the dust and air in their homes, breeds sold as hypoallergenic, Poodles among them, carried more of the main dog allergen on their coats, the air in the homes showed no difference, and the differences between breeds were small next to the differences between dogs of the same breed. They found no evidence for calling any breed hypoallergenic.

So the useful test is time with real dogs. If a family member has allergies, arrange a few hours around grown Cavaliers first, and have them check with their doctor before you reserve.

How big does a Cavalier get?

A grown Cavalier weighs 13 to 18 pounds and stands 12 to 13 inches tall at the shoulder. Those are ideals, and some variation is fine.

Our Cavalier mamas weigh 16 to 26 lbs, and the Cavalier puppies on our site now are expected to grow to 19 to 22 lbs. Every puppy's page carries its own estimate, which we base on that puppy's parents, and our health guarantee page is plain about the limits of any size estimate.

Expect the growing to be mostly over by the first birthday, since a small breed reaches adult size at 6 to 12 months old. Cavaliers have a long puppyhood, though, and are still puppies at nine to twelve months, so expect a Cavalier to look grown a while before it acts grown.

How long do Cavaliers live?

Usually 12 to 15 years. A large study of more than half a million dogs found a typical lifespan of 11.8 years for the Cavalier, which means half the Cavaliers in it lived beyond that age.

The heart deserves the closest watch. Heart valve disease is the main health concern in Cavaliers. A weak valve on the left side of the heart lets some blood flow back the wrong way, and Cavaliers tend to develop the problem younger than most dogs because they inherit a tendency toward it. The first sign is usually a heart murmur, yet a dog with a murmur can still live out a full lifespan, depending on how quickly the disease moves, and in most cases a Cavalier won't need heart medicine until late in life.

A Cavalier used for breeding should have its heart checked by a veterinary cardiologist every year, with an ultrasound of the heart whenever that exam raises a question. Every Cavalier should have its heart checked at the yearly vet visit too, so keep that appointment for your own dog. We are working toward health testing all of our mamas and papas, and the certificates we have are posted on each parent's page. So far the ones for our Cavalier parents cover eye, heart and kneecap exams, and our Cavalier puppies each link to both of their parents.

What is a Cavalier's temperament like?

Gentle and friendly, and happiest close to its people. A Cavalier should be happy and friendly, never aggressive, nervous or shy, sporty yet gentle and affectionate. Cavaliers are very affectionate with family, and very good with young children and other dogs.

That's what the breed was made for. The Cavalier was only ever bred as a small, gentle companion, a lap dog with enough sporting spaniel in it to run behind a horse for a day out.

The flip side is that a Cavalier wants company. Puppies don't thrive when they're left alone all day without people or another animal, and where nobody is home during the day, a second dog or a cat helps. With young children around, keep an eye on any dog, and remember that a small Cavalier puppy needs protecting too.

Do Cavaliers bark a lot, and are they smart?

A moderate amount. A Cavalier will announce someone new and then greet the stranger as a friend it hasn't met yet, so it's no guard dog. For all their sweet faces, Cavaliers shed and now and then forget their manners and bark, because they're dogs first.

Cavaliers are smart and easy to train, and they do well in obedience, rally and agility. A puppy class helps. What it won't fully fix is a Cavalier that has spotted a butterfly, since you can't always count on one to come when called mid-chase, so keep a leash on or a fence around.

Our Cavalier price and colors guide covers cost, colors and health checks, our guide to picking a puppy covers the choice itself, and the Cavalier puppies we have now are listed with both of their parents.