Cavileir King Charles Spaniel

posiepurrs

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My husband has wanted one of these dogs for over a year. I have been trying to find one for him since. He found a pup this past weekend so I emailed the breeder. We hit it off. I ended up calling her and we talked for over an hour, not just about the puppy, but breeding in general and cats too! She does all the health testing I wanted and said that she even has the pups 12 year grandmother on site. We are going this Sunday to see him and I know he will be coming home with us. It will be an all day road trip since she lives over 4 hours away. We have to be CRAZY but from her description he is just what my husband wants - a lap dog. Our Sheltie will not even get on the furniture, much less sit on your lap.
 

MeganLLB

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Cavaliers are absolutely lap dogs. That is what they were bred to do. They sat on the laps of royalty to attract fleas away from the humans and saved their lives from deadly diseases. It is in their genes to want to sit on a lap at ALL TIMES. Seriously, Bosco is my shadow. He follows me everywhere. He is not happy unless he is two inches away from my leg or touching me.

That said, because they are so attached to people, it's important that you train them well as pups. Get them used to you leaving so you don't increase the potential for developing separation anxiety. And it's good to get them involved in other interests besides their people. They make great therapy dogs, some like doing agility, or learning obedience. I'm leaning how to do rally with Bosco and we are training for therapy work.

I think (though I may be biased) that this is the best breed ever. And that's great that you got a pup whose parents are health tested. That's the most important thing with this breed.

Let me see pics when you get him!!! :hearthrob::hearthrob::hearthrob::hearthrob::bluepaw::bluepaw::bluepaw:
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MeganLLB

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I found this video and thought it was cute. It pretty much sums it up. They are like cute little fluffy stalkers, lol.

 

Willowy

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They are absolutely the cutest and nicest little dogs! What scares me off is the health problems like syringomyelia and mitral valve diease. You have to find a breeder who really knows what they're doing.
 

MeganLLB

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They are absolutely the cutest and nicest little dogs! What scares me off is the health problems like syringomyelia and mitral valve diease. You have to find a breeder who really knows what they're doing.
You could say the same about nearly every pure bred dog though. You have to go to a good breeder who knows what they are doing and do all the necessary health tests. And almost all pure breeds have some kind of genetic predisposition to some diseases. Like labs are known for getting cancer and hip dysplasia. But CKCS hardly ever get hip dysplasia and very rarely do they die of cancer.

The biggest concern is MVD but that can be treated with medication and many dogs live long happy lives even with a heart murmur.
 

1 bruce 1

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You could say the same about nearly every pure bred dog though. You have to go to a good breeder who knows what they are doing and do all the necessary health tests. And almost all pure breeds have some kind of genetic predisposition to some diseases. Like labs are known for getting cancer and hip dysplasia. But CKCS hardly ever get hip dysplasia and very rarely do they die of cancer.

The biggest concern is MVD but that can be treated with medication and many dogs live long happy lives even with a heart murmur.
MVD sucks, but it's treatable and the life can be greatly extended. Syringo, not so much. If the breeder has the puppies 12 year old gramma on site, that's great!
The best part is that the OP and the breeder hit it off and talked for an hour on dogs, cats, and other stuff. Having a breeder that knows their breed is great but it's no walk in the park if you can't stand them on a personal level. If it's someone you ENJOY chatting with, all the better! Match made in heaven.

We spoke with a breeder a few years ago, highly recommended and respected and we'd met some of their adult pups and really liked them. Gave the breeder a call, and they had sold their last puppy from their last litter 4 weeks ago and decided they'd been in the breeding game for almost 50 years and were done breeding. ARRRRRGH!!!!!
 

Willowy

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MVD sucks, but it's treatable and the life can be greatly extended. Syringo, not so much.
Yeah, that's the one that scares me off. I can deal with a heart defect, but an invisible, very painful neurological disease that affects 70% of the breed. . .that's scary. It'll probably be years before I get a small dog, hopefully they can make some advances in reducing the instance of syringomyelia by then.
 

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Yeah, that's the one that scares me off. I can deal with a heart defect, but an invisible, very painful neurological disease that affects 70% of the breed. . .that's scary. It'll probably be years before I get a small dog, hopefully they can make some advances in reducing the instance of syringomyelia by then.
70%? Wow =(
 

MeganLLB

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70%? Wow =(
I don't think that's accurate. I belong to many CKCS groups, FB pages, forums, etc. And I rarely hear of dogs having that compared to MVD. MVD is most common, along with dry eyes, curly coat, and episodic falling (which is 100% preventable with DNA testing the parents) 70% just can't be accurate, maybe for MVD, but not syringomyelia. I don't know where you are getting that statistic.
 

MeganLLB

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I just looked up that 70% statistic. That was tested on a group of 500 dogs that were all asymptomatic.
This study: Prevalence of asymptomatic syringomyelia in Cavalier King Charles spaniels. - PubMed - NCBI
Although apparently they aren't all symptomatic, so that's comforting.
Yes I just looked that up right now. So there may be many dogs with SM, but you wouldn't know it because they don't show symptoms. Or many of the symptoms are just normal dog behaviors, so you may not realize until the disease progresses, if it does progress.
 

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I just looked up that 70% statistic. That was tested on a group of 500 dogs that were all asymptomatic.

Yes I just looked that up right now. So there may be many dogs with SM, but you wouldn't know it because they don't show symptoms. Or many of the symptoms are just normal dog behaviors, so you may not realize until the disease progresses, if it does progress.
What is frightening to most owners (of dogs, cats, anything) is that those "normal" things are usually the very first sign that something isn't right. With kidney disease it's drinking more, with heart disease it's less activity, etc. Both things could be easily ignored ("he's thirsty", "she's getting older", etc.)
I recently learned that vets are seeing more nordic breeds come in with collapsed lungs. What?
I've had many friends with dogs that die from DM. Anymore I can't even look at my dogs or cats without a tiny nagging "what's going to get you some day" thought and I kind of miss the bliss of being in the dark and assuming a dog or cat that dies suddenly, young, had a "heart attack" and a dog or cat that dies in their late years "die of old age". =(
 
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posiepurrs

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My husband and I discussed all the health issues quite a bit. As a Persian breeder, I am focused on health, but we both feel this is the right choice for us, even with the possible problems. Every animal (pedigreed or not) has some sort of potential health problems - after all, they don't die of good health! Yes, we are opening the door to future heart ache, but that happens each and every time we lose a pet because they are never with us long enough! We just have to treasure them and do what is best for them during their life span as long or short as it is. I am in no way minimizing the problems this breed has, we are just prepared to face them head on if we have to, but I hope we don't. I searched for a long time to find a breeder I was comfortable with and who did testing. We leave in about an hour to pick him up.
 

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I almost decided to ignore the health issues and go with a Cavalier King Charles spaniel when I was looking for a toy breed but in the decided I couldn’t. I chose Havanese and we now have 2. They so far, at 5 yrs and 2.75 yrs, have been healthy and are such delightful little dogs.
My DH has always wanted an English Bulldog but I told him that once an animal can no longer reproduce itself maybe that should be a clue that that breed needs to die out.
The extremely long backs and short legs in dashunds, the extreme slope in German Shepherds, the extremely short faces which cause breathing issues, and the inability of some breeds to conceive and give birth without human intervention ought to make people realize that things have gone too far. Health issues in many breeds haven’t gotten to the point that heart issues have in the Cavaliers where it isn’t a question of if but when.
 

MeganLLB

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posiepurrs posiepurrs Please post pictures when you can! After having one cavalier, I have decided that is the only breed of dog I ever want to have. I only want to ever have Cavaliers. They are simply the best! You've probably brought him home by now... btw what are you naming him? Cavs are the cutest puppies. Their faces are just too much.
Here's a picture of Bosco the first day I brought him home. I also fostered for a short time an ex-breeder named Stella. She is happy in her new furever home now.
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My husband and I discussed all the health issues quite a bit. As a Persian breeder, I am focused on health, but we both feel this is the right choice for us, even with the possible problems. Every animal (pedigreed or not) has some sort of potential health problems - after all, they don't die of good health! Yes, we are opening the door to future heart ache, but that happens each and every time we lose a pet because they are never with us long enough! We just have to treasure them and do what is best for them during their life span as long or short as it is. I am in no way minimizing the problems this breed has, we are just prepared to face them head on if we have to, but I hope we don't. I searched for a long time to find a breeder I was comfortable with and who did testing. We leave in about an hour to pick him up.
We need pictures!!! =D
I agree. Every living thing is going to die some day. Finding ways to stack the odds in our favor is good for us, and more importantly good for them!!! Even my mutt cat pack has had a few that die young from something really weird.
 
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