2 Questions

Someone mentioned the different colour cavaliers tend to have different temperaments, specifically the ruby ones tend to be hyper, is that true?

Also, How easy is it to travel with dogs? Once you get the pet passport and all that. Say traveling from Ireland to France? Do many airlines take dogs?

Hi Gerry,
I don't know anything about temperament vs colour of cavaliers, but Brittany ferries which operate from Cork to Roscoff have kennels and you can transport your dog to France with you, they have an exercise area where you can take them to walk during the 14 hr crossing.
If you go the route of mobile home caravans, many sites allow dogs in their accommodation.
You need a pet passport and before travelling and need a veterinary certificate and vaccinations in Ireland before travelling and a vet cert in France before travelling back and proof of worming.
I would have loved to have taken my cavalier with me but she was in heat and confined to a crate in my parents yard to avoid attentions from a large labrador who didn't realise he'd been neutered.That's another story!!!
Sins

I honestly don't think coloring has anything at all to do with tempermant. Some people will say that their little red-heads are fireballs...but I think it's just a projection. My two tris are as different as can be. They do have the usual Cavalier traits but each has a very different personality.

I would have to say that color doesn't play a roll in their personalities. Having said that: my most difficult cavalier is the ONLY tricolor I have.

My blenheim us good as gold but we have renamed our tri from Alfie to ASBO. Anything naughty he can do he will. He even opens food cupboards and steals. Still cant help but love him.

Funnily enough I was thinking of asking the first question also. I recently met a man who was selling a ruby boy he had ran on for showing. He wanted an "experienced home who knew what hard work ruby's can be". From experience my girlies in spirit (1 blenhein 2 tri's) were (are) gentle, even natured pleasures. I currently have a blenheim lunatic... :lpy:

Lucky, my ruby, is the most loving of my 5. Yes he can be a hot head at times but not often.
Grace, our blenheim, is the most annoying and I want it now. She is our most difficult.
Princess Puddles, black&tan, is truly a princess very sweet but wants to be waited on.
Willow, tri, is the most vocal and notices anything different going on. He is sweet tempered.
Cooper, solid black, is very quiet and very polite. He tries to stay out of everyones way.
In his opinion he is after all a person not a dog.

rubies are naughty? I beg to differ.. I have a black and tan :yikes :yikes

She's as naughty as they come! :lol::lol:

By contrast, my blenheim, Kosmo is good natured and well-behaved.. icon_nwunsure

I think the naughty ones are more fun They keep you on your toes - that's for sure!!

i think people judge colour as personality .............

the 2 rubies i have owned over the years were very laid back almost too laid back but its not the colour its just how they were

my tri is a bright as a button but my dads tri sleeps all day ...


so i think its personality not colour

I don't think color has anything to do with personality. As an example, my ruby (Pippin) is my best behaved cavalier. He is a dream dog. He is a real gentleman. Is is perfect off-leash. I didn't know until my 2nd cavalier, that this breed isn't known for being good off-leash. I just wish my Pippin was more outgoing. He is shy with strangers. His motto is: Better safe, than Sorry!

There is a phrase I hear every now and then by other show people: "Naughty Ruby". However, I think it's just a fun thing to say if you have a ruby that misbehaves. I really don't think there is any difference in temperament between the colors. Currently, the "naughtiest" dog we have is a blenheim. I sometimes think "Naughty Ruby" comes from the misconception that red-headed humans are more feisty than people with other color hair and it was just extended to red-haired dogs.

Bruce H said:

There is a phrase I hear every now and then by other show people: "Naughty Ruby". However, I think it's just a fun thing to say if you have a ruby that misbehaves. I really don't think there is any difference in temperament between the colors. Currently, the "naughtiest" dog we have is a blenheim. I sometimes think "Naughty Ruby" comes from the misconception that red-headed humans are more feisty than people with other color hair and it was just extended to red-haired dogs.

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I can't say i've noticed a lot of difference in the cav colours characters

But we were told before we got our first ruby Charlie that they were um... firey. & he is , the second ruby was even worse

The third ruby is from french lines & very laid back & sweet. When I took him to a show someone asked me if he was a typical ruby & I answered "no , he's nice" ,lol

However I have a tri girl who is "fiesty" & she is decended from the same ruby dog as the first two so its probably more to do with which dogs they are decended from not their actual colour .

Marley is a tri-colour and I don't call him mad maniac marley for nothing hehe

My B&T is another of the aristocratic type who believes your job is to await her every command. Having said that, she's always been angelic off the lead. My ruby is much flightier- which I was warned about "Rubies can never be trusted off lead!"- part of the 'naughty ruby' mentality, I'd imagine. However while she's more mischievous than Holly (Holly wouldn't have dreamed of chewing the knobs on the dresser) she's more pliant and biddable in other ways. I think it's just personality!

I've met a lot of cavaliers now via rescue and board members and never have found colour relates to dog personality at all -- it is all individuals, as with people . Two of the most mellow dogs I know are rubies. :lol: I think it is simply the old 'fiery redhead' thing which a lot of human redheads just hate as a stereotype anyway.

Regarding travel: yes you can travel but you need to start 7 months in ADVANCE to take a dog to France/Europe/US (anywhere except the UK) and the full pet passport scheme must be complied with or you risk having your dog go into six month quarantine at your expense when you try to return to Ireland (you can leave w/o a pet passport but your dog(s) cannot come back in unless they are carrying one). The reason it takes seven months is that you need to get a rabies shot (not generally ever given in Ireland except for the pet passport scheme), then blood test a month later thru a formal process, then wait SIX months before the dog can travel.

Also you need to be sure to check with an informed vet as to what additional vaccines/preventatives your dog may need to travel in France, Italy etc. They can be exposed to heartworm and other conditions that are endemic in warmer climates or particular regions.There have been some very sad stories of people losing their dogs to a condition unknown in Ireland/UK because their dog didn;t get the vaccines needed in advance of travel.

Very few airlines will carry dogs out of Ireland now -- check with the airline. Aer Lingus and Ryanair do NOT carry dogs to any European destination. BMI still did as do some of the European airlines and Aer Arann. In most cases dogs will have to be properly crated and carried in the hold. On the ferries, they either need to remain crated in the car or will be put into special kennels on board. You can't have the dog up on deck with you.

More info on pet passports and so forth. Many vets know all the details as well. Be sure you dog has a good collar, tags and microchip before travel too:

http://www.irishanimals.ie/quarantine/index.html

rubies

I have 2 b/tans a blenheim and a ruby .
I can say that my ruby is the most obedient loyal and can be trusted 99.9% of the time. She has a fantastic recall too.All this is pretty amazing as she is an ex puppy farm breeding bitch and I have only had since feb 07.

My blenheim boy is the crazy dog here but still with a good recall.

we have just returned from tenerife, and there were LOADS of dogs on holiday with their owners, i never knew you could do this, Harry would have loved it!!

off to read up on the rules for the UK

I don't think thye color has anything to do with temperment. It all has to do with the mom and sire of the litter. My little blenheim is as spunky as they come! He, in fact, just ate some kleenex last night while I was busy around the house, and then wondered why he had a tummyache. He can be just as naughty as a ruby or a tri, I think!