• If you're a past member of the board, but can't recall your password any more, you don't need to set up a new account (unless you wish to). As long as you recall your old login name, you can log in with that user name then select 'forgot password' and the board will email you at your registration email, to let you reset your password.

How's this for a BIG cavalier...!

Oh my goodness, he's huge! The poor little poppet.
Our Jessie is going to be a big boy too, at already 11kgs and 7 months old. It's hard to pick him up, so I can imagine how that poor girl feels. On my phone, can only see the photo, not the article. How old is he?

Would be interesting to see how many of the members here have Cavaliers within the breed standard and what they weigh at what age.
 
I was thinking if I let Gus and Pippin eat as much as they want to they would be that big!!
Click to expand...

Leo and Lily too, in my house. Leo has a few times managed to get into a bag of food and eaten enough to become a little inflated football... :rolleyes: -- was on the phone to the emergency vet the first time as I was worried he would get bloat. Lily was a street dog and will lunge at anything on the pavement still, even if it means she sometimes gets a mouth of some dog's poop... :grnyuk:
 
JessieAndMe-- I have three and all look very different:)


Gus weighs 8.9 kilo's and is around average size (maybe a tiny bit smaller than average)
DJ weighs 8.9 Kilo's and is tall and lanky compared to my other two and looks thinner but eats well.
Pippin weighs 7.8 and is very small with shortish legs
All are a good weight for their size according to the vet and look on the slim side:)

If I see the weight increasing for one reason or another, especially with Gus and pippin I decrease food. They are all so different to each other I am never surprised by variations in Cavaliers, except for the one in Karlin's link :)
 
Last edited:
Karlin said:
Lily was a street dog and will lunge at anything on the pavement still, even if it means she sometimes gets a mouth of some dog's poop... :grnyuk:
Click to expand...


Yuck! :)

I think Pippin is our most well looked after dog in every way and still he hoovers the ground on walks and picks up all sorts of stuff especially, old chewed up gum which I constantly have to fish out of his mouth when he is naughty and refuses to respond to 'drop it' ...
 
pippa said:
Yuck! :)

I think Pippin is our most well looked after dog in every way and still he hoovers the ground on walks and picks up all sorts of stuff especially, old chewed up gum which I constantly have to fish out of his mouth when he is naughty and refuses to respond to 'drop it' ...
Click to expand...

Our puppy is just the same. Luckily my eyes have got pretty sharp since the puppy arrived and I can usually notice things before he does. There are a bunch of squished and mouldy red berries on the way to the park which have fallen off a tree. I didn't even notice them at first until it was too late and (to my horror) one had gone down the hatch. Now we cross the road when we get to the berries to avoid the temptation.
cavtiny
 
JessieAndMe said:
Oh my goodness, he's huge! The poor little poppet.
Our Jessie is going to be a big boy too, at already 11kgs and 7 months old. It's hard to pick him up, so I can imagine how that poor girl feels. On my phone, can only see the photo, not the article. How old is he?

Would be interesting to see how many of the members here have Cavaliers within the breed standard and what they weigh at what age.
Click to expand...

JessieAndMe - the dog in the article is 7 and weighs 22kg.

My boy is also a big lad.
11kg and 2 in May.
But slim and healthy.
We haven't met many that are as tall as him. But not far off. A lot seem to be twice as wide though!! lol

M&O
 
Murphy is 11kg, but very slim, tall and long. He's my little sausage :D

Misty has climbed to 11kg too, but that's our fault she needs to lose 1kg :(
 
Quite a few of our dogs are around or over 10kgs it seems. :)

I met a couple with a 14 week old CKCS pup the other week and the husband asked me what breed Oliver was?? lol
They couldn't recognise him as a Cav due to his size! lol.
He preceded to say he wished they had a dog now if they can get that big!! lol. Poor chap.
The pup was gorgeous though. Wanted to steal her! ;);)
 
My girls are around 7.3 to 7.5 kg and would be considered quite small in the UK for the show ring. Tommy is 8.8kg at his right weight, he's a bit skinny at the moment. They all carry weight differently - Tommy carries it as a pad of fat at the very bottom of his ribs so still looks skinny whatever weight he is!

Previously my largest dog was Teddy who was 11.4kg at the right weight, Rupert was 10.4kg. These girls are the smallest we have had.


Generally although they are a toy Spaniel it's not considered a good idea to breed very small - teacup - Cavaliers, they have enough problems without miniaturising them.


The breed standards say 12-18lb or 13-18lb depending where you are in the World! The dogs in the show ring here would be unlikely to fit within that standard now, the bitches just about. This is fashion though and some years back there was a time when they were larger.


I have seen a few very large Cavaliers, the puppy farms do sometimes use Springer stud dogs to give larger litters, at 8 weeks spaniel puppies look fairly similar unless you know what you are looking at - these obviously grow larger than the average Cavalier.



It's tragic to see a Cavalier this large, being overweight is life shortening for a Cavalier due to their heart condition, possibly as much as 2-3 YEARS.

Arrows indicate waist line
This Cavalier is an ideal weight

original.jpg


this dog is still ok but should not be allowed to get any bigger

original.jpg




this dog is very overweight

original.jpg




Photos courtesy of Laura Lang, used with permission

It can sometimes be hard to see how much weight they are carrying if they have a very full coat, it is easier to see when the coat is wet, but you should be able to feel the ribs with just a very thin layer of fat on them, they can carry weight on their breast bone, around the neck and around their bottom - you shouldn't be able to pick up a large amount of fat in these areas.
 
My Jelly Bean is just about the same... He's exceptionally tall for a Cavalier, and lanky. I just did the conversion he's 11.3 kg (25 lbs) but not the least be overweight. I was really worried when he just kept growing as a pup, at least it seems as if he's finally done now at almost 2 years-old.
 
Bentley was born Nov 26, 2010. About 5 months ago he weighed 25 lbs and seems to still be growing - not so fat, just taller & longer. I had hoped he'd turn out to be about 18 lbs or 20 tops so that we can easily lift him to our laps. He loves his nappy time right after breakfast on one of our laps, and again in the evening. Such a baby! He either can't or won't jump, which is nice, because we don't really want him on the furniture. He has done plenty of damage to wood portions as it is. :(
 
My 4 year old child weights 27 pounds that what about 12.5 kg????? So this cavalier weights almost twice my 4 year old kid? Wow- my son is very small for his age tho but still.

Melissa
 
Going by the examples Nicki posted, Jessie is in between the first and second photo's of the Cavaliers there. He still has loose puppy skin,
so he still has a bit of growing to do as well.

Are the breed standards a little outdated perhaps, or do breeders try to specifically breed the smaller Cavaliers to ensure a smaller bred litter
that is more attractive to their target market, so to speak.

Our Jessie is already quite a bit bigger than both his parents, who are both slim and small framed, and also apparently his brother
and sisters as well. Of course weight or being overweight would be an environmental issue, but I wonder if growth is too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top