Hello and welcome! I'll give you the most important piece of advice straightaway: there is only one breeder that I know of in Ireland that I could recommend for puppies, as I only know of one breeder who properly health tests her dogs. If you buy from a breeder who does not MRI and does not use a cardiologist to heart test her dogs, and who does not follow the health breeding protocols, then you are at quite a high risk of having earlier onset, serious health problems (and there are two very serious, costly and common health issues, MVD and syyringomyelia. MOST cavaliers will get both eventually. Many will not have serious problems with one, some won't have with either, but the chances are increased hugely if you select a good health testing breeder). If you would like to send me a private message (PM) I will give you a suggestion about who to talk to. I would not go near the majority of breeders in Ireland– most take little more effort than the average puppy farmer does in breeding and it is really important to get a good start to have the best chance of avoiding costly health conditions and heartache later on
There is a post in the Cavalier Library section that gives a list of suggested items to get if you are preparing to get a cavalier puppy.
Also, if you go to the training section, at the top I have pinned a list of training sites, and almost every one of those has very extensive information on puppies and the kind of equipment you will need. You will definitely need a good quality crate, ideally, a puppy pen, a collar, puppy harness, and lead, food dishes (and cat food dishes are more than large enough for 95% of Cavaliers for food! Although you will need a larger dish for fresh water). You will need a soft washable crate pad or old towel for the crate, and probably, a dog basket and some toys. I am sure others will offer suggestions as well. I'd recommend Dog Training Ireland for puppy socialisation classes and really fun training classes for all the family
. If you are on the south side of the city I can give you an alternative recommendation, but I would avoid a lot of the trainers around and I would in particular, completely avoid the training classes out at the IKC.
And I would definitely, immediately download both of these free books: Before You Get Your Puppy and After You Get Your Puppy. These 2 will give you tons of invaluable advice, answer all the questions that come up with puppies, will provide an endless source of instant guidance, and will steer you away from the harsh training methods that are so risky and cruel–yet sadly, commonly supported by some of the better-known TV dog trainers. You can download them both, free, here"
www.dogstardaily.com/free-downloads
But again, the most important thing is, as in every other aspect of life, but especially when you are going to spend so many years loving a brand new little life in your family, taking time to get things right at the very beginning is the best start to a happy future with your new dog. In the case of dogs, a good beginning is going to come with a health testing, health focused breeder, who will be there to provide advice for the life of your dog.
We have several guides to finding a good breeder in the righthand column of the homepage
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