Cavalier King Charles Spaniel: An Owner’s Guide. Nick Mays

a dog’s life and you might not be as sprightly then as you are now.

       Cavalier puppies look so cute and appealing, but you should only buy one for the right reasons after giving due consideration to your lifestyle, work and family commitments.

       Cavalier puppies need a well-balanced diet if they are to grow and thrive, as well as plenty of interesting toys to play with.

      Of course, taking a dog for a walk is great exercise and there are proven health benefits to pet ownership, including lower stress levels and better mental agility. However, you should consider whether an older Cavalier – maybe a rehomed dog from a rescue centre – might suit you better than a boisterous puppy.

       Do you travel?

      Do you go away for long weekends, short breaks, holidays or business trips? You also have to be mindful of what to do with your dog when you go away.

      Nowadays, there are many ‘dog friendly’ hotels, B & Bs and rented holiday accommodation which welcome families with dogs, but these are very popular and get booked up quickly. if you are planning to take your dog abroad, you will have to sign up to the PETS Travel Scheme whereby dogs can accompany their owners, as long as they have all the necessary vaccinations and blood tests beforehand, and the correct paperwork (the so-called ‘pet passport’). Again, this needs to be planned well in advance – you cannot simply take your dog to the ferry terminal or airport and say ‘He’s with us’. If he is not going on holiday with you, he needs to be boarded at suitable commercial boarding kennels, or you will need the services of a dog-sitter, who is CRB checked, whether this is a friend or someone offering a professional dog sitting service.

       Acquiring your puppy

      Having decided that you want to get a puppy and your work, lifestyle, home and family commitments make dog ownership possible, where do you start looking? Some people head for the high street, but buying a puppy from a pet shop or a commercial dealer should be avoided at all costs – and not just financial ones. That is not to say that all pet shops are bad – although nowadays there aren’t many that sell puppies – nor that all commercial breeders are puppy farmers who exist only to mass produce ‘cash crop’ breeds, which includes the Cavalier along with other popular family breeds such as Labradors, Golden Retrievers and Staffordshire Bull Terriers.

       Advertisements

      There is no shortage of advertisements for puppies of any breed in your local newspapers, advertising papers and magazines, and there may be cards in a local newsagent’s window, advertising puppies for sale. There are thousands of online advertisements, too, but, generally, it is best to avoid these. Some breeders do advertise single breeds for sale and may be perfectly reputable, but avoid any breeder or establishment that offers multiple breeds for sale, as this may be a puppy farm, where ‘cash crop’ breeds are bred intensively. Puppies from such places often tend to be sickly and ill socialized.

      Also, avoid dealing with anyone who says they will meet you at a motorway service station to deliver a puppy to you. Needless to say, avoid dealing with ‘the man in the pub’ who offers you a pedigree puppy. At best, it is most likely stolen; at worst, it will have been bred by a ‘backstreet breeder’ (a small-scale puppy farmer, in effect) and may have serious welfare problems. You will not get a good pedigree Cavalier puppy cheaply. By buying from puppy farms, ‘men in pubs’ and backstreet breeders, you are simply encouraging the overproduction of unsocialized dogs with serious welfare problems.

      Note: Sometimes local dog training clubs or veterinary surgeries will have details of a reputable breeder who has a litter of puppies and may be able to put you in touch with them.

       Breeders

      The best place to buy your Cavalier puppy will be from a reputable breeder, who is an enthusiast and has a great deal of experience with the breed and will probably exhibit Cavaliers frequently at dog shows. However, even amongst specialist breeders there will be the good and the not so good, so you need to do some research before making a decision on which dog to buy from whom. Begin by checking out the advertisements in the weekly specialist canine newspapers – Our Dogs and Dog World in the UK.

      The Kennel Club is another good starting point as they will direct you to local Cavalier Clubs in your area as well as nationally. Log on to the Kennel Club website for more details. The breed clubs can supply you with a list of breeders, but don’t feel that you have to ‘go local’ to get the puppy you’re after – be prepared to put yourself out and travel if you want the best.

       Quiz the breeder

      The next step is to check through the list of likely breeders and then telephone or e-mail them to get more information.

       When buying a puppy, always make sure that you see the mother as well as the pups, preferably in the breeder’s own home.

      Ask them which colours they breed and whether they have any puppies available. Many breeders only have a litter or two a year, so you may have to be prepared to wait for a puppy from a particular breeder. Find out at what age their puppies are sold – some good breeders will not let a puppy leave their home under 12 weeks of age, whereas others may sell them as young as seven or eight weeks. Ask about the puppy’s diet and what their adult Cavaliers eat.

      Crucially, it’s not just a matter of how much a puppy will cost you and when he will be available but also how healthy he and his parents are. It’s a sad fact that many dog breeds suffer from a range of hereditary conditions, although since the introduction of the Kennel Club’s hereditary diseases genetic screening process some years ago, some of the ‘typical’ inherited diseases have been greatly reduced in many breeds. Cavaliers have been known to suffer from heart problems and should be bred only from parents that are health tested annually. Only by buying a pup from such parents will you be able to feel reasonably secure that he is healthy.

      Ask the breeder whether they health test their dogs and can produce the necessary veterinary paperwork to back this up. If they prevaricate or don’t want to proceed on this basis, go elsewhere to another breeder. For more information on which hereditary conditions affect Cavaliers, turn to page 100.

       Puppies need to play together and interact. It is all a vital part of their early socialization process and learning about the world.

       When you go the breeder’s house to view a litter of Cavalier puppy and choose the right one for you, make sure that you inspect their eyes, ears and teeth very carefully. If the puppies don’t appear healthy, walk away.

       Be prepared to be quizzed

      A good breeder will ask you plenty of questions, too, so be prepared, don’t be affronted and answer them honestly. A responsible breeder will want to make sure that you are a suitable potential owner and will ask questions about where you live, who shares your home, your working hours, other pets, previous dog ownership experience and why you want to own a Cavalier