Nice to have you back!
Great that your friend's family are interested in a cavalier...
-- however, they may need to rethink schedules and expectations given that it is already the tail end of Sept... keep in mind that reputable breeders (and rescues) will be very unlikely to home a puppy or adult dog over Christmas (and of course, not as a surprise gift, but that doesn't sound like it is a concern here
). The reason is that the activity, noise, visitors, etc are just too stressful for young pups, or any new dog, and it is unfair to put them through the holidays and can even cause such a high level of stress as to cause illness, especially with a puppy. Instead, good breeders will home in January once the drama has subsided, and people can be creative in wrapping an appropriate indicator that a puppy is coming
.
Most good health focused breeders that follow breeding protocols and do proper health testing (MRIs, etc) are unfortunately, also unlikely to have puppies available at such short notice -- generally they would want to start their search a year or so in advance as they will typically have waiting lists for properly-bred cavaliers.
If your friend lost their previous dog to illness, they need to be sure they understand that cavaliers have a high level of genetic illness in the breed, and should read up on MVD and syringomyelia (SM) in particular. Of course the best approach is to select a health-focused breeder. In one huge study of cavaliers, the risk of two untested parents producing syringomyelia in their puppies is up around 70% -- I cannot stress how important it is to work with breeders who heath test (and for SM this means MRIs).
There are a number of links on the right hand of the main forum page that link to information on what your friends will need to look for as they seek a puppy -- which tests, what to ask the breeder etc.
www.cavalierhealth.org has comprehensive information on all of this.
Offhand I do not know anyone who is testing and breeding in the southern US but I am sure there are some breeders and perhaps some of our members who know that are will have some useful suggestions for starting a search.
But I do think your friend probably needs to think of the 'gift' being the promise of a cavalier in the next year or so, and focus on finding the right breeder and getting on a waiting list for 2015 -- the type of breeder likely to have puppies available on two months' notice, or willing to home puppies at Christmas, should be avoided to prevent future heartbreak.
