Sunnyflower

Thank you PF. I'm sure the little munchkin will. We wanted a big dog next so we should be happy with the new boy. Sunnyflower, thank you for posting this. So many of us were with you in spirit in these last weeks, and it was so kind of you to post this in his honour and memory. I'm another one who admires your decision, and the way you went about it. I'm sure that Oscar's story will help others in a similar situation. He sounds as though he was an absolutely lovely little man, and you will have wonderful memories of the time you had with him, even though it was way too short. Run free handsome man. Thank you Tassie and I felt a lot stronger on Saturday than I could have ever imagined myself feeling. I really hope Oscar's situation can help others and if that's the least we can do then I am very happy with that and proud of my little man for being so brave! Awww thank you HP. My attachment to Oscar was a very unhealthy one however I am an affectionate person and it's why I get attached to animals. They need me as much as I need them!

I think she is gorgeous! I remember growing up and GSD's looking like her. I was never really a fan of the breed but they are my fiancee's dream dog and whilst I say no now I will get him one, one day but he being a cat person even looks at a lot of the Shepherds these days and wants to know whats wrong with their backs! There are some amazing looking shepherds out there today but I personal feel the slope in their back is too extreme! That is my very untrained eye but my personal likes / dislikes. Beautiful girl Andisa!

Thank you Danielle. That just made me smile! I like the thought of my little man watching over me. He was always by my side regardless of where I went! He should have been called Shadow. I too hope you get this same chance with your beautiful Abbi.. Give her lots of cuddles from me and enjoy every moment with your little Princess. xxxx

Thank you Esky.. Don't have tears, have smiles! I got to have a beautiful little dog in my life that created no real issues for me. He brought nothing but joy. A couple of us have mentioned that we "saw" our pets after they went to God. Watch out the corner of your eye Sunnyflower.. he may still be there with you for a little while. I know it's not what you were thinking but I honestly think another Cavalier would be the best healing you could have.. perhaps another colour. Honestly PF, I do feel like I see things in the corner of my eye and he ALWAYS pushed doors open to get to me and the bathroom door has been ever so slightly making noises which make me think it's him or I think I see things quickly in the corner of my eye in the mirror of something black running into the kitchen! I could smell him for a couple of days too everywhere I went. That probably sounds crazy but I could! I do remember thinking to myself "Please come home with us Osc" as we walked out the back door of the vets. I would hate to think his little spirit is forever at the vets. We've decided on a Ridgie & we go to meet them on Sunday and providing we are happy we will bring him home. Not entirely what we thought we wanted but Marcus really wants this wound to heal before we welcome another Cav and I have to respect that! I will get another one again but maybe in a year or two. We found a Golden breeder we were both happy with but we both love the Ridgebacks & we decided we won't be getting a Vizsla or likely another dog for a while so we got something we felt suited both our needs. I finish work in 4 weeks so will have 6 - 8 weeks with pup prior to bubs arrival.

Thank you guys, it means a lot! I finally realise how lucky I was to get to actually say good bye! RIP beautiful boy... Remember to wait for me!

thank you guys! You have brought tears to my eyes for the first time in a couple of days, but they are happy tears that you guys cared enough to remember! I think I have become a little numb and don't really believe he is gone but on the other hand in the strangest way I am OK with what he had to do and I feel in my heart that he is happier. Despite it being incredibly hard I am at peace with the decision we made and know that he is no longer in pain or discomfort! We miss him more than words could ever describe but I feel truly blessed to have been graced with such a beautiful little dog. The morning of we took him out to our horse Cleo where he finally got to meet his new big sister, he got to chase a kangaroo (From one side of the car to the other ), he got to run around the paddocks off lead and the little rat finally had good recall, we bought him a McDonalds bacon & egg burger and we took him to the beach. I kept my nose firm against his until he drifted away. We buried him at the back of our block which is a lovely view of the lake and we put in his two favourite puppy toys, a nice yummy fresh marrow bone & a golf ball as he always stole Marcus's! Attached is a photo of the days leading up to our last together and it's the photo on my phone! He loved his car rides and he looks so happy. Thank you everyone for your help and support, I would likely still have him laying next to me right now in pain and me still choosing to ignore it. I need the little push to open my eyes for him and we are forever thankful.

That would mean people have to buy these pups for what I am gathering is a massive price. Unless they are offering for a rescue to take them on for free?

I have to agree with T on this one! I didn't do my research enough and was very 'trusting' of a so called registered breeder whom turns it was not, she considered herself one because her two 'breeding' dogs were papered. Moral to the story my 2 year 11 month old Cavalier was put to rest on Saturday due to a disease that could have happened to even the best of registered dogs however as his 'line' has no health history or testing we learnt a very hard lesson. I will never buy a dog from anyone until I have put my prospective breeder through the same amount of questions they are going to put me through. We are much happier to pay the larger puppy purchase price knowing full well the parents are health tested and the lines history is known then to buy a cheaper puppy and have huge vet bills. I don't want sympathy but I simply now have an experience that I can try and help stop other people from having! Cute puppy sure, but so is the one from the registered breeder who actually cares about the puppy you are purchasing off them, not just the money you are handing over!

what a stud!!! My fiancee is so desperate to own a shepherd one day, this would just melt his little heart!

I just stumbled across this thread by chance. WA I am not sure if you were referring to my little guy or not but my boy suffers from this and has a very severe case and is being put to rest this Saturday. We have been trying to medicate at the guidance of Georgina Child from SASH and my vet. This disease is becoming increasingly common however my vet personally has not ever had a case of this prior to Oscar. My only recommendation to anyone thinking of purchasing a Cavalier is to get it from a good breeder who either has a litter with dogs that they breeder knows the full health history of are preferably have MRI'd their breeding stock. NSW Cavalier Club do reduced priced MRI's for breeders (and anyone who owns a Cavalier pet puppy from a registered breeder) and the price of said MRI is actually cheaper then the price of one puppy so in my opinion if you are breeding these dogs you should ALWAYS be having this test done on your breeding stock. I know feel it is a breeders duty of care. The Cavalier Club MRI days are ran by Georgina Child & her team at one of Sydney's top hospitals and she does it for $770 + GST and the sad truth is a lot of time The Cavalier Club have to cancel their days because they cannot get enough people to come down and have it done to make it worth Georgina's while. The lady from the NSW Cav Club is so dedicated to trying to work out the line of this horrid disease she allows breeders from different states to fly their dogs solo down to Sydney, she picks them up from the airport and cares for them until the MRI is done and pops them back on a plane home. IMO There is no excuse. However my heart is bleeding because I have to put my heart dog to rest in a matter of days who is due to only turn 3 on the 5th July due to this disease. If you want the privilege to bring this beautiful little breed in to the world than I feel you owe it to the pups to always health test your dogs.

Very lovely to hear Mina. Goes to show the people running vet-n-pet are animal lovers and are in the business for all the right reasons! I hope you are holding up well.. x

Big thumbs up to Jan and wonderful work. She has also been an amazing support and help for me over the past few weeks with the hard decision to put my boy to rest! Tell me where I need to nominate and I am there.

Big Hugs PS... You do wonderfully sticking by her side the other Saturday. RIP beautiful girl... xx

Thank you guys - There isn't enough words to describe how thankful I am for the support. I am really struggling today, I desperately want to back out and do not want to lose my shadow! I don't remember the last time I had a shower or went to the toilet on my own, even when I think I am going to get to go by myself because he is asleep you see the door get pushed open and in he comes! Just these tiny little thoughts are breaking my walls down. How excited he gets when he sees me put my tights and runners on... How the hell does he know that means walk time!?! Food - It is the only thing that makes him happy now so guess what Oscar has been getting lots of..... FOOD!! The weirdest thing is I counted the amount of mince circles we have left in case I needed to buy more for him or biscuits and there is only enough left of both till Friday night... .. My Fiancee called out to me last night saying that we hadn't picked up any cat mince and then silence. I KNEW straight away he had counted Oscar's mince bags to see if we could use one for Cino. So I walked around the corner only to say "It's strange isn't it"..... "I got no words from him only for him to pull a face which said it all". I am breaking into a million pieces and trying to keep it together but I am thankful that my midwife appointment fell on this Friday which means I have the day off with him. I honestly believe he knows what's going on, that may just be me losing my mind but I truly do feel like he knows!

Thank you so much everyone for your hugs and thoughts, it means so much to us! Oscar is coming everywhere with us because I do not want to leave his side. I have some pretty cute photos we just took of him in the car, he is sporting some serious demon eyes , when I work out how to get them off my new phone I shall post them! Lots of treats and cuddles. He thinks it's all heaven and so far that is all I want him to feel! My best friend is coming down tomorrow and she said she is baking him something so lets wait to see what she is creating. I am positive he will love it!

Thank you for this MV. This is very informative and if we were to go down the Breeder Terms line this to me is completely fair and I would be more than happy to do something like this, however my concern was that the dog had to remain entire for his life and we had to pay for all relevant health testing yet we got nothing out of them potentially using the dog. This is great information and something we will keep in the back of our minds if it ever presents itself again.

There isnt a ny definitive answer as every breeder is different and is able to put any conditions or price on they wish.I would never consider buy a dog on breeders terms and I wouldnt touch this one with a barge pole. Thanks Steve. We asked to read the contract to see what it outlined than declined. It is just good information to know as we are just purely pet owners.

I have only done it once but yes I did charge full pet price but I would have paid for the health testing and they would have been paid a stud fee. Reduced if it was over my own dogs but full prcie for any others. Thank you Cowanbree. This we would have been fine with however we were responsible for all health testing and their was no stud fee for us at all and if we were to allow the dog to be breed with another pure breed dog then they requested the full stud fee from this. Not that we would ever offer a dog on stud because it is of zero interest to us.

I have a question I would love answered as it was presented to me yesterday. We are puppy inquiring at the moment and my dream breed was available in my local area and there is only one pup available being a male and ONLY available on breeders terms/Co-ownership as the father had passed and they are retaining the other male and want this boy as a backup just in case. I was offered their 'pet price' of $2,300 however it is breeders terms and co-ownership and we have to sign a contract and the dog must stay intact and we must pay for all the health testing needing to ensure the dog is healthy if they choose to breed with him. We are happy to do breeders terms & co-ownership however we felt it was a little unfair to be governed by them only to be sold the pup at their FULL pet price yet we have to stick to their very strict rules. I would think if you are offering this you would offer the pup at a reduced price as you are still getting the benefits from the dog yet the other pet puppies are being sold at the same price and they can choose the dogs path. If you offer a puppy on breeders terms/co-ownership do you still charge FULL pet price or do you offer it at an agreed pet price?

Fingers and toes crossed for their safe return!!

Double post.

Thank you Melzawelza . He has been getting spoilt and he is a bit smelly but he doesn't like baths that much and I feel like I should bath him but I'm not going to. He can forever be a stinky dog . I'm worried about our cat though. Osc has always been there and he frets without him!

Thank you DF.. x Thank you Bindi.. It is hard and we are discussing quite heavily of bringing another one in either in the next few weeks or around Christmas time and I want nothing more than to get the Cav I've been robbed of but Ia am scared that I am going to watch the new pup to closely and panic at the drop of the hat. One of the wonderful DOLers has put me in touch with a top breeder who's male is SM clear pup I am questioning myself if right now my heart is open to another Cav. Not forever, just for now!

Thank you Pers. You have been absolutely wonderful!

Thank you berners. Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs/Berners are my dream dog and I have actually been chatting with a local breeder who has a litter on the ground and she has one male pup available but ONLY on breeders terms. This is fine and we are completely happy with this however they are still charging full pet price of $2,300 yet we have to stick to the strict guidelines of their contract on the off chance they want to use him. We'd prefer to desex our dog but we were ok with not but we won't pay her full pet price when we are having restrictions put on us. We could go buy one for the same price and not have anyone telling us what we can and can't do. My personal opinion is if you want someone to have a dog on Breeder Terms than you should give them the pup at a reduced price because you are governed but their terms and it's co-ownership! One day - I absolutely love these dogs. Ker your baby is absolutely gorgeous! As much as I love the look of these dogs and the huskie types I just cannot see myself owning one. I would love to give it a big cuddle though.