Greetings and Salutations. (Very Long)

I am new here, I thought I would introduce myself a bit before I inundate you folks with questions and such.

I am a stay at home father of two, looking for a Ruby Cavalier King Charles Spaniel as a life companion for our family.

I am not sure I am on the right board as this seems to be mostly europeans and I am in Alaska, but maybe you folks can still point me in the right direction

I have a bit of experience with the cavalier, I dogsat a cute little blenhiem for a coworker of my wife for about 8 months and feel in love with the breed.

A bit of my pet history, I have terrible luck, but I feel it is important when looking for a breeder to be honest and explain why I am being so careful with the breeder I choose to go with. The first dog I remember was an AKC Keeshound from a good solid breeder, she lived 14 years and I ended up having to talk my mother into putting her down after her quality of life deteriorated to the point where it was more kind to have her pass. After that we got passed a half wolf from my cousin who only lived about 6 years before cancer hit him pretty hard.

In my adult life my wife and I have made two attempts at having a pet, the first was a Beagle from a back yard breeder who was a wonderful dog. At about 3 years old she developed siezures that somehow changed her personality much more towards the viscous side... we had to part company around the time she was 4 because of the personality changes and safety. After that we got a kitten from yet another Back Yard, who was later claimed by the Purina Pet Food tragedy before he was 10 months old.

The only foray into pet adoption after all that drama was a pair of rescue kittens that absolutly hated my eldest daughter, they pooped on her toys and would attack her. They didnt last long in my house... it was a very odd situation.

We now have a pair of goldfish

With my experience with both a very good AKC dog, and then 3 more sub par animals, and two rescues I have decided that purchasing an dog from a well researched breeder who does genetic testing is the right decision. I do not feel that I can put my girls through the gamble of getting a dog that would end up sickly or possibly pass away so quickly.

As I stated I am looking for a lifetime companion for my family.

I am pretty divided between an Italian Greyhound, a Beagle or a Cavalier. Italian Greyhounds have terrible leg weakness, which even without small children is a major weakness in the breed, Beagles are durable and well bred, and Cavaliers are beautiful and eternally loving.

My wife is leaning very heavily in the Cavalier direction and I must admit I am as well.

Time frame wise I am looking at anywhere from 6 months to 2 years from now, I am in no hurry, and I want to do this right.

I have had mostly female dogs in my life other than the one half wolf that was a male so I would be looking solely at a female cavalier. Anatomically I think I would prefer a female as well, less questions from my daughters... at least for a while. I personally prefer the 'ruby' variety as far as aesthetics so that is really where my hunt is headed.

I am finding it very difficult to find a reputable breeder of Ruby Cavalier's on the West Coast of the USA (or Alaska). Most breeders I am emailed have either ignored my email, or left me suspect by throwing prices and puppy pictures but not ever asking me any questions about the environment that the dog would be coming into.

My search for a reputable breeder of Cavalier's has taken me here, again I realize this is mostly a european centered board but I have seen a few American's poking around.

I am not interested in a rescue, and I am only interested in a puppy of 8 to 12 weeks.

My wife and I have tossed the idea of a 'show dog' around a bit, but it is not a requirement. I have no back yard breeder aspirations.

There are many ruby's on puppyfind dot com, but my feeling is most of those dogs seem to be coming from backyard breeders or mills.

So here I am, just here looking for guidance and assistance in finding a quality Female Ruby Cavalier... Ill do more reading and Learning than Ill do posting.

Thanks for reading my long ramble, and thank you in advance for any replies.

~Merovingian

Hi and welcome! We have lots of Americans here as well as Canadians, Europeans, Australians... and more. A good mix.

You are definitely going about finding a breeder in the right way. Unfortunately, a lot of the online listings are just what you suspect -- puppy mills, brokers, and backyard breeders. I think a good place to start is the CKCSC website for a list of possible breeders. You definitely want a breeder who is either a member of the CKCSC or the ACKCSC (US cavalier breed clubs), or the cavalier breed club in Canada. It would be very difficult to buy a show quality dog -- breeders are very careful about placing such dogs because they must be kept intact (e.g. not neutered) to be shown, and that means they are always at risk of being bred by irresponsible people or of ending up in a puppy mill. So generally, breeders will only place show quality dogs with someone who has already shown an involvement in the clubs and who is clearly working to learn and prepare to show by putting in time and getting involved. If you or your wife are interested in showing, then you would want to get more information about the Alaskan club, attend shows, learn how to handle a dog in the ring, and seek a mentor amongst breeders who show. (This would also be a good way of making some breeder contacts for a puppy).

If you are offered a dog that the seller claims is show quality that is a red flag on its own because this just won't be done so easily for true show quality dogs -- generally, the brokers and the backyard breeders will sell young puppies they claim our show quality -- which is almost impossible to tell at a young age -- and they will try to charge more for such dogs, when actually they are typically not remotely show quality.

That aside, you do generally want to buy a dog from a good reputable show breeder -- most of the puppies from show breeders are not show quality but pet quality -- but a health focused show breeder will be doing the proper health testing and staying on top of developments on health issues, something a so-called "pet breeder", broker, or backyard breeder will not be doing. But show breeders too vary enormously in quality and commitment when it comes to health and this is where the buyer needs to put in their time doing research. There is a post about finding a puppy from a breeder in the library section which lists all the things to ask about and to look out for. So if you take that and also the lists of breeders from the breed clubs, you should be able to find somebody. It is much harder, however, to find whole color cavaliers so this may prove to be a special challenge.

On the other hand, I would think any health focused breeder would be very pleased to have pet buyers that are clearly looking for the best possible puppy that they can find from a health focused breeder, and you would come across that way. A good breeder would also value that you are taking your time and doing your homework.

I am going to send you a PM with the names of a couple of breeders that might have suggestions for you. I don't think either of them would have rubies, but they may be able to suggest a couple of good breeders to contact.

Keep in mind that any good cavalier breeder in the US would be unlikely to home a puppy before 10 weeks. The norm for the US is 10 to 12 weeks.