phaines
Member
Hi All!
I brought a darling cavalier pup into my home five months ago and he has already worked his way into my heart! Ollie (Olivander is his full name) is seven months old, weighs about twelve pounds, and has Blenheim coloring. He is the sweetest, most affectionate dog I have ever owned. While I had lots of dogs growing up, he is the first dog I have owned as an adult. He loves food (no surprise there), cuddles, and playing at the dog park. He has been pretty good about training and knows "sit", "down", "crate", "leave it", "spin" (a cute trick where he walks in a circle), and "come" fairly well. He is a little more iffy on "drop it", "roll over", and "stay". Potty training is mostly going well, although sometimes he will go pee outside and then come in and squat with no sniffing and no warning... that gets frustrating. Anyway, here are a few cute pictures of him. The first is of him as a 8 week old pup and the second is more recent:
So far Ollie has been a pretty healthy little guy. His heart looks good, no joint issues, no symptoms that would suggest SM. Unfortunately, he does have unilateral micropthalmia with cataracts
Basically, one of his eyes stopped growing in utero and is smaller than it should be. The other is normal sized. If you look closely you can definitely notice a slight asymmetry. Cataracts are common with micropthalmia and he has several in each eye. Fortunately, they are small and the vet says he doesn't think it likely that they will grow. Fingers crossed! He has enough vision to get around very well and even responds to hand signals. I only really notice that he has less than normal vision when I throw a ball because it takes him a little longer than other dogs to figure out where it landed.
Since this is my first dog as an adult, and also my first cavalier, I would love to get advice from more experienced cavalier owners! Right now, I have two main concerns with Ollie--
The first is that he hates being in his ex-pen. I work from home a lot and can't always keep a close eye on him when I'm trying to concentrate. Since he is not fully potty trained and hasn't quite figured out what is off limits for chewing, I figure it is safer to keep him in an ex-pen in the same room as me when I can't give him my undivided attention. It is big enough that he can run around a bit, he can see me, and I sometimes talk to him or toss him a treat. The problem is that he HATES the ex-pen! He barks and barks and BARKS. Loudly. I don't reinforce it, but it is hard to ignore for more than five or ten minutes and it drives me nuts. Since I live in an apartment, I always worry about disturbing my neighbors. If I let him run free, he stops barking but then I can't get anything done because I constantly have to monitor him. If I put him in his crate, he will also stop and then I can get work done, but I hate crating him for long periods of time. I have tried lots of different things--- More exercise, more training time each day, ignoring the barking, purchasing more interesting toys. Nothing keeps him from barking in the ex pen except dental bones, which he finishes off in less than 20 minutes.
Second, I was wondering if anyone had experience with taking a cavalier for a run? I am not a particularly active person, but I do try to get some exercise each day in the form of a run. I'm working up to running a 5K and am not particularly fast. A ten minute mile is an achievement for me. As summer comes to an end and it starts to get a bit cooler, I was thinking it might be nice to have him train with me. But I'm not really sure if he is old enough or if he should ever run with me. I know cavaliers have a harder time cooling off and breathing than other dogs because of their short snout. I am also aware of their tendency toward heart issues... would it ever be safe to take him on a slow run?
I brought a darling cavalier pup into my home five months ago and he has already worked his way into my heart! Ollie (Olivander is his full name) is seven months old, weighs about twelve pounds, and has Blenheim coloring. He is the sweetest, most affectionate dog I have ever owned. While I had lots of dogs growing up, he is the first dog I have owned as an adult. He loves food (no surprise there), cuddles, and playing at the dog park. He has been pretty good about training and knows "sit", "down", "crate", "leave it", "spin" (a cute trick where he walks in a circle), and "come" fairly well. He is a little more iffy on "drop it", "roll over", and "stay". Potty training is mostly going well, although sometimes he will go pee outside and then come in and squat with no sniffing and no warning... that gets frustrating. Anyway, here are a few cute pictures of him. The first is of him as a 8 week old pup and the second is more recent:
So far Ollie has been a pretty healthy little guy. His heart looks good, no joint issues, no symptoms that would suggest SM. Unfortunately, he does have unilateral micropthalmia with cataracts
Basically, one of his eyes stopped growing in utero and is smaller than it should be. The other is normal sized. If you look closely you can definitely notice a slight asymmetry. Cataracts are common with micropthalmia and he has several in each eye. Fortunately, they are small and the vet says he doesn't think it likely that they will grow. Fingers crossed! He has enough vision to get around very well and even responds to hand signals. I only really notice that he has less than normal vision when I throw a ball because it takes him a little longer than other dogs to figure out where it landed.Since this is my first dog as an adult, and also my first cavalier, I would love to get advice from more experienced cavalier owners! Right now, I have two main concerns with Ollie--
The first is that he hates being in his ex-pen. I work from home a lot and can't always keep a close eye on him when I'm trying to concentrate. Since he is not fully potty trained and hasn't quite figured out what is off limits for chewing, I figure it is safer to keep him in an ex-pen in the same room as me when I can't give him my undivided attention. It is big enough that he can run around a bit, he can see me, and I sometimes talk to him or toss him a treat. The problem is that he HATES the ex-pen! He barks and barks and BARKS. Loudly. I don't reinforce it, but it is hard to ignore for more than five or ten minutes and it drives me nuts. Since I live in an apartment, I always worry about disturbing my neighbors. If I let him run free, he stops barking but then I can't get anything done because I constantly have to monitor him. If I put him in his crate, he will also stop and then I can get work done, but I hate crating him for long periods of time. I have tried lots of different things--- More exercise, more training time each day, ignoring the barking, purchasing more interesting toys. Nothing keeps him from barking in the ex pen except dental bones, which he finishes off in less than 20 minutes.
Second, I was wondering if anyone had experience with taking a cavalier for a run? I am not a particularly active person, but I do try to get some exercise each day in the form of a run. I'm working up to running a 5K and am not particularly fast. A ten minute mile is an achievement for me. As summer comes to an end and it starts to get a bit cooler, I was thinking it might be nice to have him train with me. But I'm not really sure if he is old enough or if he should ever run with me. I know cavaliers have a harder time cooling off and breathing than other dogs because of their short snout. I am also aware of their tendency toward heart issues... would it ever be safe to take him on a slow run?