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Help Needed - Wanting to get two puppy cavaliers!!!!!

bunny87

Member
Hi, this is our first post!

We have always adored cavalier king charles spaniels and have been wanting to be the proud parents of them for many years now.... finally now is the time!:eek: however...... we really could do with a bit of basic advice from you pro's out there.....

We have decided to get 2 puppies.....! we have heard both sides of the argument regarding getting two puppies at the same time... what are your thoughts...? and what about the sex of the puppies? :confused:

also....!

  • Information about breeders, what to be aware of etc...?
  • health problems linked to king charles puppies and how to prevent these as much as possible?
Any advice or info would be great, im sure there will be more from us in the very near future.


we are now trying to get hold of reputable breeders in our area

thanks guys :grin:
 
Welcome! :D
health problems linked to king charles puppies
I think you mean Cavalier King Charles and not King Charles puppies? :) -- if you actually mean King Charles, a completely separate breed, then you will need to find people who own that separate breed as well, and know its particular issues (though many are shared with cavaliers given common ancestry as breeds).

For cavaliers -- there is very detailed amount of information on finding a breeder and the health tests to ask to see in the Library section. (y) There is also a huge amount of information on breed health issues in the health library section. :) The two leading and sadly common problems are mitral valve disease (which most will eventually have; half by age 5) and syringymyelia, SM, also very prevalent in the breed though many remain without symptoms, thankfully. There are many links in the Library sections to the kind of detailed information you need -- these are complex questions and it is best to research thoroughly, more than a short post can possibly answer. :)

Personally I would strongly advise against getting two puppies. One is hard enough. Most people I know who got two regretted it for this reason and because it took considerably longer to housetrain and also: neither puppy ever gets a proper amount of personal, individual attention or just as important, training. People tend to 'do both together' which can cause long term problems but also is the worst way to train. `most good trainers will not allow siblings in the same class as they are too focused on each other. And most owners won't take the time to do two separate training classes at the same time and will think they will be the exception to the rule of how hard two puppies really are or how they never get proper attention and training.

I am sure this will insult some people :lol: but in fairness to the dogs themselves, most of the proponents of the 'get two puppies' point of view that I have come across either in person or on forums have mediocrely behaved and trained dogs or post regularly about their behaviour/training problems, most of which any trainer will pinpoint as specifically related to the fact that people got two puppies together. There are rare cases where people do put the time in and also have the time (generally, the full day at home with considerable focus on their dogs) to give the separate but equal time each puppy needs for its entire first year in particular.

Most reputable breeders will also never agree to homing two puppies at the same time. So the very fact that they'd be willing to do so is often an immediate red flag on the breeder. The vast majority of breeders recommend giving your time and attention to a single puppy, and if you feel you want a second dog, then get a second puppy or an adult once the first one is around 18 months old or older. Minimum of 12 months but even then -- speaking from experience -- this is not really fair on the first dog whose time and training will not be finished and gets usurped.
 
I waited until Ruby was just before her 3rd birthday before bringing another dog home.
I went for the opposite sex and got a 9 month old boy (rescue)

Its so so hard finding time for both to have individual attention from me. Ruby is an obedience doggy and we do a fair amount of competitions so she needs alot of my time for that. And Charlie being a rescue really needs alot of 1-1 attention also.

They get 3 walks a day together, 2 from me and one from the walker. On my evening walk with them they each get 1-1 time with me to do training.
On my days off they have a seperate walk each with me. Its important for them to be able to cope on their own- I made sure from day one that Charlie didnt rely on Ruby for company and that he could cope on his own. Seperation anxiety is common when puppies grow up together- what happens when one has to go to the vets and the other is left at home? They wont know how to cope unless you teach them!

Its very tough.

On the other hand I also help out as an assistant trainer at my dog training school (where my two train once a week) and help out with the puppy classes.

I have seen first hand how difficult it is when siblings enter the class. We only run one puppy class a week and although it doesnt happen very often we have recently had a pair of Irish Wolfhound pups and a pair of Westie Pups also. Both sets have been one of each sex and they have no interest WHATSOEVER in their owners and all they want to do is play!!!
They also have no interest really in socialising with other dogs as they have each other and thats where the problems really start!!!


Like Karlin said- the most common inherited problems are SM and MVD. Out of my two dogs Ruby has SM, Luxating Patella in one hind leg and a low grade Murmor.
Charlie has a grade 6 murmor and Mitral Vavle Diaplasia (20 months old), Chiari Malformation that causes him a low amount of pain and a dodgy eye!

Finding a health consious breeder is the most important desision you have to make if you want to get a baby or two that wont break you heart!
I cannot stress enough how heart breaking it is to have to live with two poorly dogs!


Good Luck with your desions
 
A puppy needs a massive amount of care and attention and I'd agree one at a time with approx 12 months between each.
The trail of destruction with one puppy can be mindblowing,if you have a high octane high energy puppy,it'll take a lot of effort training it and giving it the time it deserves, two in that case would be double trouble...
My biggest worry would be giving the two pups adequate exercise,training both to walk on a leash would just be too challenging for me I'm afraid.
Sins
 
The other issue is cost of course -- not sure if you have investigated costs for puppies from reputable, health testing breeders in the UK, but you should be expecting to pay in the region of 800-900+ pounds per puppy or so. You could privately PM Margaret C or Nicki on the board to ask about health-testing breeders as they often would know of those who cardiologist test and MRI-scan. (y)
 
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