Today I received an e-mail from a lady who wanted help in rehoming her 2 1/2 y/o Cavalier bitch.
To her credit, she had received dozens of replies to her ad in the freeads, but she was confused and couldn't tell who was telling the truth. She wanted the bitch to go to a good home. I had already advised her to be very careful who she rehomed to, as the bitch is not spayed.
I explained that almost all The Spaniel Trust's foster carers were fully committed and she offered to hold onto the bitch until I had a foster vacancy here.
So far, so good.
Then she went on to tell me the bitch had already had 2 litters and that one of the pups in the last litter had been grossly deformed and was born dead. Ok, no grave worries there I guess .
Then she dropped the bombshell ..............
The poor dog had only had her last litter TWO WEEKS AGO, and there were 9 puppies, one stillborn and the other 8 lived just a week, as they were tiny.
She told me it had been an 'accident' and I asked the breed of the father and she said Cavalier. I strongly suspect the father was actually a Bulldog breed.
Anyway, bombshell dropped. I knew there was nothing to do but to jump in the car, with OH as security, cos it was a dodgy area. So we went to get her and the owner legally surrendered her over to The Spaniel Trust.
The owner said the dog had 2 names: 'Lady' and 'Fliss'. The dog doesn't respond to either and I've renamed her Misty, because she looks so much like my 1st ever Cav, who was called Misty.
Misty is seeing the vet 1st thing Monday am for a thorough check-up and will be spayed when the vet thinks the time is right. She is not ready for rehoming yet (obviously!), but we will advise when she is.
Misty's fast asleep at my feet and the other Cavs are just getting on with life (in other words, they're all fast asleep too).
As Karlin says, please do NOT buy from a backyard breeder. It's not fair on the breeding bitches, and please don't ever feel sorry for a cute pup and take it home. You're just freeing up space for more puppies to be bred.
To her credit, she had received dozens of replies to her ad in the freeads, but she was confused and couldn't tell who was telling the truth. She wanted the bitch to go to a good home. I had already advised her to be very careful who she rehomed to, as the bitch is not spayed.
I explained that almost all The Spaniel Trust's foster carers were fully committed and she offered to hold onto the bitch until I had a foster vacancy here.
So far, so good.
Then she went on to tell me the bitch had already had 2 litters and that one of the pups in the last litter had been grossly deformed and was born dead. Ok, no grave worries there I guess .
Then she dropped the bombshell ..............
The poor dog had only had her last litter TWO WEEKS AGO, and there were 9 puppies, one stillborn and the other 8 lived just a week, as they were tiny.
She told me it had been an 'accident' and I asked the breed of the father and she said Cavalier. I strongly suspect the father was actually a Bulldog breed.
Anyway, bombshell dropped. I knew there was nothing to do but to jump in the car, with OH as security, cos it was a dodgy area. So we went to get her and the owner legally surrendered her over to The Spaniel Trust.
The owner said the dog had 2 names: 'Lady' and 'Fliss'. The dog doesn't respond to either and I've renamed her Misty, because she looks so much like my 1st ever Cav, who was called Misty.
Misty is seeing the vet 1st thing Monday am for a thorough check-up and will be spayed when the vet thinks the time is right. She is not ready for rehoming yet (obviously!), but we will advise when she is.
Misty's fast asleep at my feet and the other Cavs are just getting on with life (in other words, they're all fast asleep too).
As Karlin says, please do NOT buy from a backyard breeder. It's not fair on the breeding bitches, and please don't ever feel sorry for a cute pup and take it home. You're just freeing up space for more puppies to be bred.