tobiecav Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Hello All In a couple of weeks we will be the proud new family to a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel pup. He will be 8 weeks when he comes home. We are all very excited, after spending quite a bit of time researching dog breeds and deciding a Cav would be best for our family. I would love to hear of any insights and advice with regard to this breed, particularly what to expect and how to deal with it in the first few months. Our aim is to have a well trained, secure but unspoilt dog which is both comfortable inside and outside the house. Looking forward to any advice you can share with us Tobies family to be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bellatrix Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Welcome to DOL and congrats on your new pup Is this your first ever dog? If so, it will be a bit of a roller-coaster ride at first, but dont worry, we all get through it Are you planning on crate training this pup? have you got everything ready for his arrival? They are a beautiful breed and I dont think I will ever be without one, or two Do you have any photos yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvs Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Congratulations please drop by into the cavalier thread in the breed sub forums... HERE questions will be answered.. but be warned photos are a must. The only thing I can suggest is that you start out with the puppy what would be suitable when an Adult.... getting into a routine and then sticking to it until the puppy is familar with the routine and then you can vary it... Good Luck... Can you please PM the breeder of your puppy as I am curious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobiecav Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 No decent photos yet, sorry. He is lovely, an all over light "ruby" coloured. It will be our first dog pretty much, the last dog I had was when I was a kid over 20 years ago! My children are now 9 and 6, been waiting for them to get a bit older. I haven't made a decision about crate training, was hoping to get some opinions and other peoples experiences on this forum. Not at all organised other than having a secure backyard!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgie-boy Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Welcome! Great breed choice! You're in for some wonderful years ahead with your new pup. Does he have a name yet? Personally I didn't crate train but I know many people did and had great success. I was a sucker and had both of mine on my bed - now they are right bed hogs! Consistency will be your friend and not letting the cute little face win. Please come and join us in the Cav thread - feel free to ask as many questions as you like - none are silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Aimee~ Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Hi Tobie's family, Congratulations on your new puppy! I bet you're all counting down the weeks until he comes home I have a 17 month old cavalier Ruby and she is our first dog also, besides from the dogs we had growing up as kids. We didn't crate train, instead Ruby slept in a puppy pen in our ensuite when she first came home. Our ensuite is all open and looks directly onto our bed so Ruby could see us. We originally planned her sleeping in the laundry but as our laundry is on the other side of the house, I didn't think we'd be able to hear her when she cried. Plus I didn't want her to get lonely all by herself. Once she was toilet trained, she slept on our bed and has ever since! When your puppy first comes home, he'll probably be scared and lonely away from his mum and brothers and sisters. A good idea is to take a stuffed toy with you to the breeder's house when you go and pick him up and rub it on the other puppies and mum to get their scent. So when you bring Tobie home, he'll have the toy to snuggle up with and feel comforted by the familiar smell of his litter mates. Even better would be to take the toy to the breeder's house a few days before you pick him up and leave it there for a couple of days so all the puppies can snuggle up to it and play with it so the scent on the toy is stronger. For the first few nights when you bring Tobie home, he'll most likely cry and cry when you put him to bed. The best thing to do is ignore his cries until he falls asleep. He'll soon learn quickly what bed time means. When you take him out to the toilet during the night, don't talk to him or interact with him. Just take him out, let him do his business and then put him straight back to bed. If you talk and interact with him during toilet breaks he'll most likely want to play and it will be harder for him to go back to sleep. The first few nights are hard!! As all you want to do is go and pick him up when he cries. But be strong and it will be worth it!! Cavs are really easy to train! My cav Ruby goes to obedience and agility and is going really well. They are very food orientated so train well with lots of treats! Ruby can sit, stay, roll over, shake hands, has fantastic recall and comes straight back when called, waits for her dinner until I say she can have it, can jump over hurdles, through hoops & tunnels, go over A-frames etc. I also agree, make sure what you allow Tobie to do as a puppy, you'll let him do as an adult dog too. If you don't want him to sit at your feet during dinner or jump on the couch etc then don't let him as a puppy. It's harder to unteach an older dog not to do something than it is to teach a puppy not to do it from the start. I would also recommend taking your puppy to puppy preschool as soon as you can. We took Ruby to puppy preschool at the Vet from 8 weeks old. The classes ran once a week for 4 weeks and allowed your dog to socialise and play with other dogs. This is really important as it allows the puppies to learn the skills needed to become happy, social and well adjusted dogs as adults. We then started taking Ruby to obedience training with a private dog school from 16 weeks old. She now does obedience and agility classes and loves going! ;) I hope that helps a little bit! If you have any more questions about anything, feel free to ask! I remember what it was like bringing home our first puppy. Exciting but nerve-wacking at the same time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizT Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 (edited) Congratulations on your new family member. Cavs are a great family dogs and very versatile. ALL of your family will be smitten with this little guy in about...too late you already are!! I've had many dogs over the years but within a year of getting our first Cav we had two! Very addictive. Your children are a great age to have a Cav. You will get lots of useful and terrific advice on this forum. Read books, internet and forums like this. As has been said, do what you intend to have done when the dog is an adult (within reason of course! Puppies have different needs to adults) One bit of important advise is to not let your puppy run up and down stairs AND be ever so careful of him jumping off things when he starts to try and climb, say couches. beds or even the back steps, out of cars, etc. Cavalier LOVE to 'perch' on things, they are quite catlike in this I'm afraid. If you do not want him on furniture or beds you will need to be firm right from the start! He is a baby and could do some serious damage to himself jumping off things. That said puppies are robust so don't wrap him in cotton wool, he needs to romp and play too. Have fun and remember they are puppies for such a short time (remeber how quickly your children have grown up!) so if it gets a bit tiring remember...this to will pass. Edited November 20, 2009 by LizT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvsdogs Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 (edited) Congratulations on your new to be puppy. All good advice given. An excellent web site for everything puppy/dog is www.dogstardaily.com Here you will be able to download the book by Dr Ian Dunbar 'Before You Get Your Puppy'. It will take you through choosing a puppy to the 1st couple of weeks in his new home. There's also "After You Get Your Puppy", I'm not sure if you can still download that as well but you can certainly use the search engine to get answers to your questions. There are also videos to watch on lots of topics. I didn't use a crate until I got Tilba. I have had dogs most of my life. Needed to as we had a 6 hr drive home after picking her up. They are good when you need to take puppy somewhere in the car & for toilet training. I still use it in the car & it's somewhere to put Tilba while I instruct at my dog club. The most important thing you can do for a puppy is to socialise it from the day you bring him home. If you intend taking him places with you he'll need to get used to it from the beginning. As well he needs to meet lots of friendly vaccinated dogs & all types & ages of ppl. Good luck can't wait to see pics. Edited November 20, 2009 by luvsdogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretel Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 I just have to say I love your Christmas siggie Aimee Tobiecav Cavaliers are wonderful dogs (though I may be a little biased!). Just be sure you are buying from a reputable registered breeder. Unfortunately, due to their popularity, there are many people breeding Cavaliers who are in it for the money with no care about the health of the pups. Cavaliers do have a few inherited problems so it is important to buy carefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmiller Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 I support all the previous posts here. I've got a ruby CKCS and he is fantastic. He just likes relaxing around the house and following us from room to room for most of the day but does love to get out for a walk. He loves people so much and hardly ever barks. Not to say he hasn't been without problems. He's a fussy eater, pulls on walks, sensitive stomach and has had to have knee surgery to fix a luxating patella! I've recieved so much advice from this forum and found it such a great resource! We crate trained him, but it did take quite some time to get him toilet trained (maybe 6 months). During the day whilst at work and for sleeping at night we kept him inside the laundry and he seemed quite happy with his 3 or so square metres of floor space. Just recently, since he turned 1 we have allowed to access to most of the house during the day and night. From previous posts, I've noted that Cavies can be fussy eaters, so establish a feeding system whereby you only give him 15 minutes to eat a meal and then you remove it. Good luck and enjoy your ruby (the best colour in my opinion obviously!!!!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Aimee~ Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 I just have to say I love your Christmas siggie Aimee Thanks Gretel I have posted a whole bunch of Christmas photos in the photo thread if you want to see some more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvsdogs Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 I just have to say I love your Christmas siggie Aimee Thanks Gretel I have posted a whole bunch of Christmas photos in the photo thread if you want to see some more Me too, it inspired me to make a Christmas siggy, only basic, it's the best I could come up with. Off to see the rest of your Chrissy pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Aimee~ Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 Me too, it inspired me to make a Christmas siggy, only basic, it's the best I could come up with. Off to see the rest of your Chrissy pics. This is another christmas sig of Ruby. I'm going to swap between the two from now until christmas. Pity, we can't have two signatures at once! Sorry to Hijack your thread tobiecav, but I love showing off my gorgeous girl! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvsdogs Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 Me too, it inspired me to make a Christmas siggy, only basic, it's the best I could come up with. Off to see the rest of your Chrissy pics. This is another christmas sig of Ruby. I'm going to swap between the two from now until christmas. Pity, we can't have two signatures at once! Sorry to Hijack your thread tobiecav, but I love showing off my gorgeous girl! Both great but definitely prefer the original one,. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 Great breed choice of puppy for your family. Photos soon please You will find a mountain of advice on dogs/ training/ problems etc. Remember that people have varying methods & expectations from their dogs so sift through & see what seems the most sensible to you & your needs. Also a method may work well on one dog & not suit another dog. So common sense & observation. Some people for instance don't allow dogs on furniture & beds which does not bother me at all, as long as they are 6 months + & won't injure themselves. Small breeds require more supervision re jumping. My only advice is Train your children. They are not used to having a dog so you will have to educate them & make sure puppy is safe when they have friends over. Small puppies can't run with the crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlet Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 Just an idea you could discuss with your breeder. Can you supply your breeder with a T shirt with your smell on it or even a new piece of material-towel, blanket etc., that your pup and it's litter mates can use now. Something you can bring home with you that the pup can have with familar smells. It may help the pup to settle in the first few days after he leaves his mother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretel Posted November 22, 2009 Share Posted November 22, 2009 Just an idea you could discuss with your breeder.Can you supply your breeder with a T shirt with your smell on it or even a new piece of material-towel, blanket etc., that your pup and it's litter mates can use now. Something you can bring home with you that the pup can have with familar smells. It may help the pup to settle in the first few days after he leaves his mother. Many breeders do send the pup home with some familiar things. Mine go with a blanket and toy that smells of all the pups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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