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Original poster

Cavalier King Charles Spaniels ... am I mad?

15 replies

puppup · 31/07/2009 12:13

Hello,

am in hiding as family members post on here and want to keep this to myself for now!

We were looking around locally for a kitten, we have an older cat and wanted to get a friend for him,

however I stumbled upon some KCS pups, very local, seem reasonably priced, home reared and I rang

They are available to view tuesday.

Would I be mad to get a pup?

I have 3 young children so am already submerged in chaos

DH says it is up to me.

Walking, room, bills etc are not a problem Im just thinking of the teething stage with the kids etc ...

Part of me things 'get her and he'll get through it' sort of thing but Im trying to be sensible.

Is there anything I should consider, any books to read?

I really do want her and feel I can 'handle' it but feel like I need to be 100% to bring her into our lives,

it breaks my heart when i see the '2 yr old dog needs new home' adverts!

OP posts:

flowerybeanbag · 31/07/2009 12:19

Puppies are very hard work. But I defy you to look at the pictures on my profile and not get one...

Original poster

puppup · 31/07/2009 12:22

you are NOT helping

Sooo cute!

Do they train easily?

What temprament?
Ive always wanted a KCS as my dads friend was rehoming one called 'Charlie' when we were young and we begged and cried to take her and he said no

I want a Charlie!

OP posts:

flowerybeanbag · 31/07/2009 12:25

Ours is a lovely temperament, very docile and loving, and extremely tolerant of boisterous toddlers. We got him a year before we had DS and tbh I'm glad I was able to devote 100% time to him for a while as he was trained pretty quickly as a result.

He's great with kids, in fact the breed was recommended to us by our vet as a good option.

Original poster

puppup · 31/07/2009 12:27

Thanks,

thats hepful,

will have another chat with DH i think.

OP posts:

MmeLindt · 31/07/2009 12:28

Sneaky, Flowery. Very sneaky.

OP, now have a look at my profile, she is Cavalier King Charles x Maltese Terrier.

She is lovely, has a fantastic temperament, is great with DC.

She trained very easily, within about 5 or 6 weeks she was toilet trained and rarely has accidents (unless she is left too long). I do have to watch her on green carpets in shops as she thinks they are grass and wees on them

How old are your DC?

truthisinthewine · 31/07/2009 12:28

I want one of these soooooooooooooooooo much. I currently have DD's 1 and 3 and would like another DC in the next two years.

I have done a LOT of research and am convinced these are the right dogs for our family, just cannot justify the expense at the moment.

Flowery...without wanting to sound like a complete stalker, I think from reading other posts of yours you live quite near me, did you get your dog from a breeder? if so would you recommend them and where are they?

Original poster

puppup · 31/07/2009 12:30

I have 1 in school fulltime (6), one in nursery part time (3)

and a 9 month old.

OP posts:

truthisinthewine · 31/07/2009 12:30

That sounded a bit wierd me saying how old my children are...I meant to add I wanted to wait until all babies are born and at least at toddler age before I got a pup.

Original poster

puppup · 31/07/2009 12:31

The 3 yr old starts nursery septeember so i will have mornings for training and long walks without all of them tagging along.

OP posts:

MmeLindt · 31/07/2009 12:34

The one thing that was hard was the first couple of weeks of getting up at night to let her out into the garden. If I were to have another dog then I would prefer to plan it so that it was summer. There were times when I was standing in the garden, in the SNOW telling the dog to do a wee in the dead of night.

I was glad that the DC were at least sleeping through the night as the odd time that they woke and came through, she decided she wanted out.

She trained so well that I can now tell her to do a wee and she does.

The first couple of weeks were a bit difficult at times, wee and poo everywhere.

yappybluedog · 31/07/2009 12:36

we had a KCS as kids and it was the loopiest thing ever

spugs · 31/07/2009 12:39

Please be careful, cavalliers have major health problems!

They think that up to a 3rd of them have a problem where there brains are too big for their heads (Syringomyelia) as well as major heart problems.

here is a web site with more info.

Unless this is a proper breeder who carrys out full health tests and does not breed from dogs with syringoyelia i would stay well clear. It could cause you a lot of heart ache as well as money.

Sorry to put such a downer on the whole thing. Personally as much as i love cavs i wouldnt have one. Obviously theres always the case of the person who got one cheap and its never been ill a day in its life but the odds wouldnt be stacked in your favour (unless from a fab breeder).

There are lots of breeds which are healthier and also good for families.

On the 3 kids aspect if you know what your getting into and your prepared to put in the work you'll be fine. I have 3 dds 8,3 &1 and have a 5mth old pup. In 30 minutes I'm leaving to pick up our second dog an 8 week old papillon. Not that im saying get 2 as its double trouble . So you would be fine.

Good luck with whatever you decide

muggglewump · 31/07/2009 12:40

Our family got one when I was 17. We already had an English Setter and both were lovely dogs, so gentle and friendly. When the Setter died they got anothe CKC (I'd left home by that point), and he's 10 now and a great dog. Very quiet, but my Dad's old now, 84, and the dog's his constant companion.

flowerybeanbag · 31/07/2009 12:41

truthisinthewine it wasn't actually a local breeder we got him from, she was in Sussex.

But we were monitoring the epupz website and this litter came up - we emailed the breeder straightaway and I think within about 2 days all but one of the pups was reserved. We reserved ours, went down to see him a few days later, he climbed in my handbag and it was love!

worriedamy · 31/07/2009 12:48

as a family we have had 7 ckcs in total, and although there have been a couple that have been a bit loopy (!) they have all been really good temperament wise, and will generally sit feelin sorry for themselves as they sit having their ears/eyes etc pulled by a toddler, and love playing and being chased by enthusiastic children! The best dogs ever!

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