Our First Cavalier King Charles Puppy

happyhols08

Hi,

We are a family living near York who are looking for our first Cavalier King Charles puppy (a Ruby or Blenheim ideally).

Could anyone possibly advise us if they are aware of any assured/registered suppliers who have puppies newly born ? We want to pick up our puppy on/after 23 August 2013 at approx 8 weeks of age and are prepared to travel for 3-4 hours to get a pedigree puppy that has been fully health checked.

Also any advice you could give to a first puppy owner would be greatly appreciated.

starlight29

Hi try the pets at home app its great will show all breeders with pedigree pups near you and further afield its how I found my springer spaniel puppy we get him next week
Good luck

Wine_of_the_World

I think the kennel club has a list of registered breeders but you must make sure you actually see ALL the health certificates for both the mother AND father - lots of breeders claim to 'health test' but in fact may only test for one of the common health conditions. Really good info here:

http://cavaliercampaign.com/buying-a-cavalier-puppy/

And here

http://www.companioncavalierclub.co.uk/cavalier-puppy/ 8 weeks also sounds very young - I would have thought 10/12 weeks would be when a good breeder will let them go?

Im not sure whether either site will know of good breeders in your area - but perhaps worth a shot?

Griizelda

Alternatively, you could try Champdogs:-
http://www.champdogs.co.uk/breeds/cavalier-king-charles-spaniel

Before the advert goes "live" (and it's a paid for advert, rather than free), Champdogs check the pedigree of both parents and it's Champdogs that list the pedigree information (rather than the breeder).

Most puppies seem to leave the breeder at around 8 weeks, mainly, I think, due to the socialisation aspect and introducing as many new experiences as possible before the age of 12-16 weeks.

Abbymoo

We found ours via the KC listings. Please don't be tempted to get one from non health tested parents just because they're cheaper. A cav. from fully tested parents isn't cheap I know, but it's worth it for the relative peace of mind. Ours is a great wee dude, had him a month tomorrow, but boy is he tiring! He's SO smart though, learnt to sit in 2 minutes! I miss sleep so much, but he's totally worth it. SO much energy, I hope you know what you're letting yourself in for One thing though, when emailing/phoning around I wouldn't call a breeder a 'supplier', they might take offence. Good luck, cav's are the best!

JencParker

happyhols08 wrote: »

Hi,

We are a family living near York who are looking for our first Cavalier King Charles puppy (a Ruby or Blenheim ideally).

Could anyone possibly advise us if they are aware of any assured/registered suppliers who have puppies newly born ? We want to pick up our puppy on/after 23 August 2013 at approx 8 weeks of age and are prepared to travel for 3-4 hours to get a pedigree puppy that has been fully health checked.

Also any advice you could give to a first puppy owner would be greatly appreciated.

Agree with others - look at the KC register and Champdogs. But also, be aware that you will really need to do your homework and ask the breeder lots of questions - there really is no assured/registered supplier of puppies - and as has been said - any good breeder would be horrified at being called a 'supplier'

With regard to the puppy being fully health checked, so breeders will get the puppies vet checked others will recommend you get them checked with your own vet (personally I do the latter as it ensures they visit the vet within days of taking puppy home and unless there is reason to, I do not want to take a young, unvaccinated puppy into a vet's waiting room where there may be sick dogs).

What is really important is that the PARENTS are health tested. Health TESTED, not health checked - a lot of people confuse the two. A health check from the vet is not enough. Any breeder who has done these tests will have certificates to show you (I give puppy buyers copies of both parents health test results). I'm not sure what health tests cavs require - BVA eye test, heart test and MRI scan for Syringomyelia from memory, but check with the Breed Club. They usually also hold a puppy register.

Kinski

There are some good breeders in the KC but there's also some terrible ones, the KC have in the past and as far as I'm aware they still will register litters from puppy farmers, find a breed club or a forum on line as most of them know who's a good and who's a bad breeder, with a bit of luck they'll be able to steer you in the right direction. Your only problem might be that you'll need to wait a bit longer than you want but that's something that can happen if you want to go to a good breeder.

spacey2012

A high pedigree standard will be £600-£800
A home breeder / accident birth around £300

I have had both, the one we paid £650 for had to be put down due to fits at 2 years old , despite a telephone book quantity and list of paper work and health checks as long as your arm.
The one we got of a normal couple in a council house is very healthy and knocking the years out, the vet says he thinks it will out live him and cost £200

One thing he did say is puppy farmers are very very good at getting all the correct paper work in order as that is what they do and it doubles the price, but in reality they care not in the dogs they breed and you have no way of knowing they are the real parents on the paper work and they will breed from brothers, sisters and cousins.
My advice is dont put to much emphasis on these breeder papers if you want a family pet.
Someone with a pair as pets is more likely to have a healthy litter than a greedy puppy farmer who inbreeds.

Abbymoo

OP, try this link http://www.companioncavalierclub.co.uk/cavalier-puppy/ it gives good advice, better, probably, than you'll get off many random people on the internet,plus phone numbers of breed club coordinators. Good luck finding your new addition

Fosterdog

One thing to be wary of is a breeder that has new born pups and still has some available, most decent breeders plan ahead and have a waiting list before the breeding even takes place. The only time they should have pups still needing homes are if they had an unusually large litter or possibly a litter of all/mostly boys or all/mostly girls meaning some of their waiting list will drop off if they want a particular gender.

Avoid any breeder in west wales, it has the highest number of puppy farms of any area in the UK so not worth the risk.

senileturtle

Please consider a rescue. Even a breed such as the one you seek will pop up now and then in a rescue centre.

http://www.pets4homes.co.uk/adoption/dogs/cavalier-king-charles-spaniel/

http://www.dogsblog.com/category/cavalier-king-charles-spaniel/

And of course, try your local rescues, and dogs trust website, as well as wood green, battersea, RSPCA and other major ones.

For every home taken up by a purposely bred animal, a potential home is taken away from a rescue animal who just needs a forever home with plenty of love and commitment.