getting a puppy - questions

boltonangel

hi

I didn't say i was going to breed, I was just saying I may.

I'm sorry I asked now. The main reason I am considering a King Charles is for a family pet and that is what I thought I had put across in my original post.

But I am sure that everyone has to start breeding dogs somehow - not that I am going to jump into doing so!!

UKTigerlily

I think a Cav is a fantastic choice, my friend has one & she's fantastic with her kids, remember though that it may grow up to hate kids which is a risk of having a Pup not an adult. Would you consider using the breed rescue for Cavs? There are all ages coming up, though idk how long you'd be waiting. Try Dogpages too, they often have them.

I really hope you reconsider breeding, there're enough Dogs in rescues & would you be able to guarantee taking any of the pups back at any point in their lifetimes, pups who may have medical &/or behavioural problems? (Plus the huge costs & risks to the !!!!!)

Just a couple of things i've thought of, they may not be relevant though, are 1) Is your garden private or shared with the pub owners/customers? If it's not private remember the pup won't be able to use it until about 13 weeks old after it's vaccinations.
2) Can you guarantee to be in hourly to take it out to the garden? Some may need half hourly.
3) I'm not sure if normal insurers cover dogs used or connected to business in anyway, might be worth confirming they're happy to (I realise the pub isn't yours, but they might not see it that way?)
4) Can you cope with the 18 month old possibly crawling where the Pup is going to the toilet? Pup will possibly have accidents for a while

Other than that it's just the normal, good food, health care (Both preventative & for illness/injury), good exercise & insurance & lots of love!

This time last year I posted here thinking of getting a CKCS as it came up as best suited to me also, I ended up with a rescue adult SBT, so i'd say keep an open mind! Definitely worth considering an older Dog & other breeds, mine's totally house trained, never barks, loves people & kids, is fine to be left for 4 hours or so & is amazing!

Hope you find the dog/pup for you!

Kimberley

Please please please get her spayed instead of letting her have a litter. You could lose her and the pups in many ways. You get plenty of these dogs from rescue centres, we have two already

CFC

Boltonangel, if you buy a dog and want to breed from it, and can spare the time and cover any vet bills, go ahead.

The folk who think you shouldn't are those who feel that all dogs should come from rehoming centres.

In years gone past, when !!!!!es got pregnant people just called it 'the natural course of events.' Dogs were not routinely spayed until the 1960's.

boltonangel

Hi

thanks again.

As a full time mum I am in the house almost all day every day so dedicating time to a new pup shouldn't be a problem.

I did consider an adult cav, but could not find where to get one in my area. I also worried that we would not pass a home inspection. Which before people jump in does not mean our home is unsuitable but that rescue centres tend to want you to have a house with a garden rather than a flat.

UKTigerlily

I'm in a flat & haven't found any yet to worry about that, the RSPCA had no issue with it neither did the rescue I went for, so don't worry on that count! I take it your OH is ok with helping too, like walks & training (Just cause the kidsmay not like going out in wind & rain & so on at all hours for long walks when it's old enough for a few hours a day & it might be a problem to take them to training classes too & concentrate & see to them at the same time, so someone to be home with the kids is essential!)

Agree with Kimberley about breeding, I worked with Dogs once & the Owner of the business let her two mate, the female needed a section, rejected the pups, two then died (Hand rearing is NOT easy!) & being out of hours it cost a fortune.

My own female has a mammary tumour & had one out in April also, quite likely because she'd not been spayed by her previous owners, it's a lot of upset worrying about surgery & if they'll be ok or have cancer. Then of course they risk pyometra which can kill very fast, plus they may become snappy when in season which isn't nice round kids, I know you may not breed but beg you not to, just love your dog as a pet & the gift it will be & don't risk her life & health for pups x

Fire_Fox

boltonangel wrote: »

I did consider an adult cav, but could not find where to get one in my area. I also worried that we would not pass a home inspection. Which before people jump in does not mean our home is unsuitable but that rescue centres tend to want you to have a house with a garden rather than a flat.

A good rescue will consider you if you have the right sort of flat (yours sounds much better than my parents, for example!) and the right sort of lifestyle. I am getting a rescue cat for my flat in a week or so - the local RSPCA were very snooty about indoor cats, whereas Cats Protection have paired me with Noah who has a medical condition so he can't go outside. CP liked my setup so much they have given me one of their favourites, a cat that others have been turned down for.

esmf73

Sounds like you've thought about this - although do think about the ages of your children when you think about breeding. Personally having a 3yr old, I can't imagine having a female with pups! We've got a 14 week old puppy who is havoc - but we knew this before we got her - having already had 2 pups raised to adulthood, and whilst we were in Cyprus having raised 25 plus dogs.

One thing that you have to think about in case you have to hand rear the pups is that it is only tough as you have to be up every 2-3 hrs to feed them and help them go to the toilet. I did it with 2 day old pups that had been abandoned (they all died) and with 1 week old pups (who were all rehomed successfully). It's just a killer when they die. As in it hits you really badly.

And before people start having a go - I was fostering the various dogs for an animal rescue. If you haven't been out to Cyprus (or somewhere like it) then you'll have no idea how cruel they can be to their animals. Some owners don't appear to neuter, yet let their dogs roam, and then throw the pups out.

I've looked after dogs who had cancer - and the owner abandoned them rather than paying for them to be put down, wandering strays and dogs who have been abused. The pups were just a lucky break, I felt priviledged to help them.

Kimberley

CFC wrote: »

Boltonangel, if you buy a dog and want to breed from it, and can spare the time and cover any vet bills, go ahead.

The folk who think you shouldn't are those who feel that all dogs should come from rehoming centres.

In years gone past, when !!!!!es got pregnant people just called it 'the natural course of events.' Dogs were not routinely spayed until the 1960's.

No it's not. I am against breeding by BYB or those who let their cats/dogs and have babies as their first litter without thinking. I'm all for pedigree dogs being bred if they come from registered breeders. Rescue centres get pups and dogs in from those who care less about the dogs and pups and just get "rid" when they can't be bothered with them anymore.

giantmutantbroccoli

CFC wrote: »

Boltonangel, if you buy a dog and want to breed from it, and can spare the time and cover any vet bills, go ahead.

The folk who think you shouldn't are those who feel that all dogs should come from rehoming centres.

In years gone past, when !!!!!es got pregnant people just called it 'the natural course of events.' Dogs were not routinely spayed until the 1960's.

???
I'm not saying the OP should go to a rescue centre, am I? I'm actually speaking from experience - the experience of having an unexpected litter of pups to deal with, and discovering just how much time, work and dealing-with-idiots is involved - and we only had four pups, all black labs with a decent pedigree.
Time and vet bills aside, you still need the space to house them all - they would need a small room to themselves, somewhere quiet and out of the way. You need to be aware of the risks, as the fact is you could lose the mother, which would be heartbreaking! And you need to be able to deal with the people who will want to buy the pups, and most importantly to spot the scammers. This was the bit where we struggled.
Three of our pups went to good homes straight off, but one was involved in someone's dodgy money-making scheme. That pup was visited by a large family - three kids, mum and dad - who assured us they'd had dogs before, lived in the countryside (their address checked out), had plenty of spare time etc etc. 8 months later we get a letter from some woman we'd never met saying she'd bought the pup off this family, where it was being kept in a tiny dog crate, barely big enough for it to move around in, and wasn't allowed out at all. The family had sold the mistreated pup for nearly double what they'd paid for it, and it was in terrible condition - they turned a dominant, bouncy pup into a shivering, whimpering wreck with skin and digestive problems..
Thankfully the person who bought the pup is doing a great job of looking after it now, and it's looking really well - doing well in field trials, and generally enjoying being a semi-working dog as well as a pet. Although I wonder, really, why the woman bought the pup off these people, after seeing it had been mistreated, because surely that only encourages them...
I'm sure you can udnerstand how heartbreaking it was, to discover one of our pups had been through such a !!!! time and we didn't even know. That family were the ones we were most sure of!

I personally am not against breeding when done by people who know what they're doing - rescue dogs often come with their own problems, and if nobody bred dogs there'd be no improvement in temperament, or health or any of the other things that're bred for.

BTW I have no idea what the relevance of pre-1960's history is to dog breeding. Back in the days before DNA was discovered (pre 1952!), many dog breeders thought that the mother didn't contribute anything to the pup - they thought all inheritable characteristics came from the male!

OP, you come across as a pretty sensible person, I am not having a go in any way, and I hope you didn't take that from my post - that wasn't my intention. If I were you, I'd save the decision on whether you want to breed for after you've had your pup for a bit, as then you'll have an idea of the level of care involved for when the pups are weaned. If you do decide to breed, jsut make sure you get as much information as you can on the actual processes involved. Books are good for this sort of thing, especially older books which get into the actual mechanicals. There's one called "the mating and whelping of dogs" by R. Portman-Graham, publish in 1975 which we found articularly useful.
I'd also recommend doing a home visit on prospective buyers if possible, so as to avoid the horrible situation we found ourselves in.
In any case, this whole conversation isn't going to be relevant for 2 years. I hope you have fun with your new pup when you find her!