LizT

Oh what's hand stripping? I think when people refer to "stripping " a Cavalier coat they are referring to stripping out the dead hair and undercoat and not the stripping of coat (done with a stripping knife or by hand) to shorten it and also remove dead hair as is done with say Schnauzers and terrier breeds. The more brushing and stripping you do ( I use a slicker brush on mine) the less hair you have moulting and consequently falling around the place (well that's the theory :) ) Cavalier King Charles Spaniels moult twice a year, six months in Spring and six months in Autumn! :laugh: Some breeders charge a little more for females than males as for some reason the female is often preferred, particularly for first time owners, however, unlike many other breeds the peronality and gentleness is equal in both sexes.

It's amazing how many people believe that clipping will ruin a coat PERMANENTLY. Sure it does no favours to the current coat but in the natural course of time all hair falls out and replaces itself from follicle. Any change of texture and colour would have occurred anyway during this process as the coat matures. Treat the coat correctly and in the natural course of time you will reap the benefits.

My couch potatoes. :)

Goodluck with that Are you waiting on a breeders list ? Does that mean that you have tried lol oh well I will have sheets on them just in case :-) Well I have contacted a breeder from the dogzonline list but yet to hear back from them. It's not that you can't teach it NOT to sit on the couch. You can. It's just that Cavalier KCS have a love of "perching" on high places and the couch or back of or armrests are a favourite. Also the bigger factor is the couch is where YOU are and Cavaliers are very much a people dog and want to be as close to you as they can be. Re grooming, bath when needed, just like any other dog and a few minutes brushing each day keeps a coat (and dog) healthy. They have a sensitive skin so make sure the shampoo is appropriate for a sensitive skin. (P.S. Picture on next page of my couch potatoes) :)

Sorry to hear that. Sometimes the hard decisions are for the best.

:) Congratulations Angelsun. Better out than in as the saying goes.

My hope is that if she is now very hungry she will be more likely to aproach people. One can but hope she is still out there and will make herself known soon.

This is done more often than you think. I know of many breeders who have left an option open for an undesexed bitch in a Pet home to come back and have a litter if the new owner wishes. Some even show dogs that live full time in family homes, in my opinion there isn't much difference between a well cared for house dog and a Show dog. At least I believe there shouldn't be. :)

My simple answer if I don't wish to get involved in an all out discussion over the wonderful merits of Designer Dogs is this: TRUE hybrid vigour only exists in Darwins "SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST", only through NATURAL SELECTION does the strongest, the best, the hardiest and healthiest survive to breed on.

An interesting occurance in my last litter was the young male, who did not have an umbilical hernia when he went to his new family at 8 weeks. When he reached 12 weeks of age I had a panicked call from his new mum telling me a purpish lump had come up overnight on his tummy and was it a hernia and she was worried he'd strained and hurt himself and opened his umbilical up. She took him over to the vet for a quick check and yes it was an umbilical hernia that had occured from his normal rumble tumble playing (that you expect from a young healthy puppy). Inall likelihood it was a tiny hernia that might have sealed but instead opened up at 12 weeks of age. It was repaired when he was desexed at 6 months of age.

Congratulations alpha bet. Sorrry about the pup you lost. Hang in there little struggling puppy.

Certainly looks like a useful piece of breeders equipment.

As a relatively new breeder I have pet homed any pup with umbilical hernias (they had them repaired at desexing) but over the years speaking to both experienced breeders and vets and it would appear they are "no big deal" provided they have hardened up and self sealed. Many top stud dogs and bitches have unrepaired umbilical hernias that have just become hard lumps. Personally if one pup has a hernia out of a litter and the rest of the litter is fine, sharing the same DNA it makes little sense, other than the physical risk, if any, to say that the pup without hernias has any better chance of producing further pups without hernias compared to breeding the dog with the hernia. Although that said, if I was to make the decision to breed a bitch that had a hernia, based on her having many better attributes, I personally, would have it repaired at six months, then breed the bitch at 2-3 years. That is my criteria for breeding heart clear anyway so their would also be ample time for the surgery to heal. In discussion, my vet recommends not breeding the bitch until at least six months after a repair job.

Also any advice they give you that reads like an advertisment for a product is just copy and paste from some other literature! Glad you trusted your instincts. Those little alarm bells are worth their weight in gold.

Sounds very positive and ceratinly things have improved tremendously. Well done. Next time you go out you might even be abe to smile more. :D

I had my Tri bitch Clover scanned today and I may make it into the April or go over to May! (due April 30th) Clover is my keeper from the first litter I bred in September 2010. This is her first mating and I once again find my self expecting a singleton. Crystal my Blenheim bitch (unrelated) had a singleton, Emmalee from her first mating (later having a litter of three at the repeat mating). At least this time I am experienced with the care of a singleton pup. Fingers crossed for an outcome as happy as Emmalees was. Got to say I'm pretty excited about the second generation factor too.

I had my Tri bitch Clover scanned today and I may make it into the April or go over to May! :laugh: (due April 30th) Clover is my keeper from the first litter I bred in September 2010. This is her first mating and I once again find my self expecting a singleton. Crystal my Blenheim bitch (unrelated) had a singleton, Emmalee from her first mating (later having a litter of three at the repeat mating). At least this time I am experienced with the care of a singleton pup. Fingers crossed for an outcome a happy as Emmalees was. :) Got to say I'm pretty excited about the second generation factor too! :)

When I think of a name for a dog I think about how I will sound standing at the door yelling out "insert name". Alot get passed over after failing that test! :laugh:

I've seen these on Fb, made of old woolly jumpers and skivvies etc. A very clever idea but they would last about two hours with my younger dogs.

Let's hope the other two are found today, if not safe somewhere already.

Poor dogs and people. Hope they will all be found safe and that Waggit isn't hurt bad.

Ear tagging is an age old method of immediate visible identification of livestock and/or wild animals being kept track of herd numbers etc. I don't believe these would ever be done for purely cosmetic self gratification.

Nope. Microchips only have the current owners, not who bred them and for working dogs that's important. We wish. Breeders in Victoria are campagning and do ask owners to leave them on as an additional contact should the pups they bred ever end up in a shelter or pound. Some are very happy to do this. Some don't even update their own details and the pups are still in the breeders name. Unfortunately microchips are only as good as a person contacting and updating it's details at this point. Many people move house and forget that the dog/cat microchip details need updating. There are also those few microchips that "travel" and are not found by the reader who may not be looking all over the dog for a 'Bleep', and assume it's unchipped. Horses are being microchipped too these days athough tattoos and branding are still the most permanent form of identification, although historically attempts have been made to change them.

Redangel. I think that covers it in a nutshell....it is being done for the owners vanity and does nothing to benefit the animal.

Yes Perse, freeze branding is terribly painful too. My daughter had warts frozen on her hands when she was 12 with dry ice...hours later she was in the worst kind of pain.