A new club for cavalier owners

[Brian M]

Hello Margaret

Thanks for your reply ,my only other comment now is "Can I join please " as
I would like to be in your gang .

[Margaret C]

Hello Margaret

Thanks for your reply ,my only other comment now is "Can I join please " as
I would like to be in your gang .

Who else but you could keep the rescue page up to date on the new club website?

I have a vision of what I would like the club and its website to provide, but others will have their own ideas & suggestions.

I feel that anybody buying a cavalier buys a wonderful little dog but, as we now know, one that can bring with it some rather specialised problems as well as a great deal of pleasure and love.

There is so much going on in the cavalier world & so much information out there, but how does a new puppy buyer, or a newly worried owner, find the answers they need for their particular question?

How do those keen to do something in partnership with their pet know where other cavalier owners are doing Rally Obedience, or mini agility or Good Citizen training.

How does a pet owner find out that one of the cavalier clubs is holding a rescue party, a health day, or a fund raising walk in their area?

Where can they find out about the best buys at the best prices?

I would like to think that the club could gradually build a website that will give cavalier owners basic information about a wide variety of subjects while providing links to more detailed sites.

We will not be looking to reinvent the wheel, nor start another chat forum, but just provide a more static version of the information sharing on this site, one where the details would not rapidly disappear behind a host of newer posts.

[MurphysMummy]

Margaret, what a fabulous idea. I am a cavalier pet owner whose cav has health issues. And being from a puppy farm he is hard to train etc. so he is my companion. And a companion/pet club would be lovely, fun days where we can meet and talk and share our beautiful cavaliers and discuss what helps them etc for their health. Owners who are willing to talk about their dogs health other than walk away and give me funny looks(my past experience at a cavalier meet!) I hope to join this and be apart of the fun days, and to inform and educate future cavalier owners.

[Margaret C]

Margaret, what a fabulous idea. I am a cavalier pet owner whose cav has health issues. And being from a puppy farm he is hard to train etc. so he is my companion. And a companion/pet club would be lovely, fun days where we can meet and talk and share our beautiful cavaliers and discuss what helps them etc for their health. Owners who are willing to talk about their dogs health other than walk away and give me funny looks(my past experience at a cavalier meet!) I hope to join this and be apart of the fun days, and to inform and educate future cavalier owners.

I'm glad you think it is a good idea. You and Murphy are now on the list as potential members.

Hopefully you will be able and willing to share your experiences with Murphy with others that take on a puppy farm dog and have health & training problems?

[Karlin]

This is a really great idea, and definitely one whose time has come. I think there will be a lot of interest, as many pet owners feel that the breed clubs have quite different interests and agendas and focus.

Sometimes rightly so, sometimes in a not-so-happy way. All you have to do is visit some of the discussion lists that are primarily oriented toward breeders (in many breeds, not just cavaliers) to see that non-breeder members of breed clubs often are not seen as particularly relevant or important, nor are their views taken very seriously (actually, more often they are dismissed as not having the right to contribute because they haven't bred litters and therefore don't “know enough” –from my own experience, they often know a heck of a lot more than some of the people that are supposed to be putting the breeds welfare in future as a priority!). U see that some of the usual UK breeder crowd have already questioned why anyone would want a companion dog club. Thus underlining exactly why there's a need for one.

At least one cavalier pet owner club has been formed in the US as well, for some of the same reasons that are motivating a UK club. I think that national kennel clubs can only consider this a positive move, because it broadens the reach for getting out important breed and general dog health and welfare information, and is all pro–dog.

As in an awful lot of areas of life, people/consumers feel they have an entitlement to care about issues and contribute to policy formation and that it shouldn't just be limited to the vested interests and especially the “producers” which in the case of a breed, would be the breeders. But also, even just in the sense of socializing and having fun and raising awareness, I think there's a good argument that pet owners have different interests and a different focus.

Let us know how it develops. Once the club is underway, perhaps it would be helpful for me to set up a forum here for discussions relating to the club.

[Karlin]

Oh thanks Jay, I see you have highlighted the US club already in this thread:

http://www.cavaliertalk.com/forums/s...011#post406011

That might interest some others based in your area, or inspire others in the US to create similar regional AKC-affiliated pet owner clubs!

[Spangly]

What a great idea Margaret ! I would be very happy to join and help in any way I could.

[honeybun]

[QUOTE=Karlin;406088] U see that some of the usual UK breeder crowd have already questioned why anyone would want a companion dog club.

Karlin. I am a Cavalier list fanatic and am on 11 Cavalier sites! I have never seen the formation of the companion dog club mentioned anywhere but here, or it's existance questioned anywhere? Where have you seen this? Sara

[Karlin]

I guess you aren't on all the sites. The grumblers have already begun. Basically asking why anyone would bother setting up another club when the kennel club already is full of breed clubs that people can join–which kind of misses the point. I am sure there will be a good response to Margaret's proposal, just as there was a very good response in California. Margaret has made a formal announcement here, but there was some awareness in some circles that this was happening before her post here, of course.

[Petstalk]

I would lov to Join and help in anyway I can x