We all love Cavapoos, and there’s nothing like the excitement of waiting to pick them up for the first time to bring them home.
If you’re currently in this excruciatingly long wait period, you might be imagining and wondering what your dog will look like.
There is plenty online about a Cavapoo’s coat, size, and personality – but what about their eyes? A Cavapoo’s eyes are almost always brown. It is very rare to see a Cavapoo with any other color eyes, as both parent breeds also have brown eyes.
Today we’re looking into everything you need to know about a Cavapoo’s eyes.
Cavapoo Eye Color
Cavapoos most commonly have brown eyes, and the same can be said for the majority of dog breeds.
Brown is the most common eye color in dogs, although others can have pale blue, golden, hazel, or speckled eyes. Some can even have two different colored eyes!
What Influences A Cavapoo’s Eye Color?
The Cavapoo will inherit its eye color from its parents. Cavalier King Charles Spaniels all have brown eyes, while Poodles can have either brown or hazel eyes.
So, while a Cavapoo can either have brown or amber eyes thanks to their parent breeds, brown eyes are the dominant color and therefore almost always seen in Cavapoos.
Amber eyes will only occur when the dog’s eumelanin is diluted or modified by a recessive gene in the D or B series.
In other words, it’s very uncommon for the amber gene to overpower the brown one.
What Is The Rarest Eye Color For Cavapoos?
The rarest eye color for Cavapoos is blue. It is incredibly rare for Cavapoos to have blue eyes as neither parent has the blue eye gene.
Even if this were to be snuck into the gene pool somehow, brown eyes are still dominant and therefore would overpower the blue eye gene.
Speckled eyes and two different eye colors are also incredibly rare.
Again, this is due to the fact that neither the Poodle nor the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel features the genes to make this happen.
Do Cavapoo Eyes Color Change With Age?
Newborn puppies can have an eye color different from their adult eye color. This is due to the fact that all dogs are born blind with their eyes sealed shut.
They’ll remain shut for a few weeks, and when they finally open, their eyes will likely be blue.
Note that albino dogs might have white, red, or pink eyes.
The same can be said for Cavapoos. Your young puppy might have blue eyes, but these will change as the dog matures.
The color-changing process can take weeks, so they won’t suddenly change from blue to brown eyes overnight.
Their eyes will begin to change around four weeks old, and a telltale sign is that you’ll begin to see flecks of brown within the blue.
But by the time they’re around four months old, their eyes should have changed to their final color.
Cavapoos’ eyes should not change color after they have reached adolescence, at around eight months old.
If you do see a sudden change in appearance, such as lighter eyes, cloudy eyes, or spots obstructing the eyes, contact your veterinarian immediately as this might be a sign of illness.
Why Do Cavapoo Eyes Glow In The Dark?
Most dogs have eyes that glow in the dark. You might notice this at nighttime or when there is very little light around you.
It can be a little unsettling to look at when two beady glowing eyes are staring at you through the darkness!
However, don’t worry. This is completely normal for both cats and dogs, so Cavapoos are no exception.
They have another layer of tissue within their eyes that humans don’t have, called Tapetum Lucidum.
This tissue is found behind the retina and reflects light that enters the eye back through the retina. This hits the photoreceptors a second time to allow them to see better.
Dogs and cats have worse eyesight than humans, so they need the extra help.
The fact that this tissue is reflecting light simply means that we can see this light being reflected whenever we look at the Cavapoo in low lighting.
Their eyes aren’t glowing in the dark at all – they’re working correctly to allow the dog to see well.
Cavapoo Eye Shapes
The most common eye shape for Cavapoos is almond.
Their eyes are large to resemble that of a teddy bear, which is just one of the features that the Cavapoo shares with the beloved stuffed animal. This highlights why the Cavapoo is called the teddy bear dog.
Both Poodles and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels have almond-shaped eyes, too, so it’s no surprise that Cavapoos will inherit this same shape.
However, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel can also have round eyes that bulge out. It is very rare that Cavapoos will inherit these eyes – the almond-shaped eyes overpower this gene, too.
Are Cavapoos Colorblind?
No, Cavapoos are not colorblind. However, they see through a different color spectrum than humans – and the same can be said about every dog.
This means that they can’t tell the difference between reds and greens.
This makes it more difficult to determine the colors purple, pink, and orange. So, while Cavapoos are not colorblind, they don’t see vibrant colors like humans.
They can distinguish different shades and tones, but their ‘red’ might not be the same as what we know to be red.
Summary
The most common eye color for Cavapoos is brown. They get this from both parent breeds, although Poodles can sometimes have amber eyes.
Brown eyes are the dominant gene, making it very uncommon for Cavapoos to have any other colored eye than brown.
The rarest color for a Cavapoo’s eyes is blue. However, they might have blue eyes when they are newborn puppies (like most dogs).
These will often change color by the time they’re four months old.
Thanks for reading!