Cavalier or toy poodle?

[marcs34]

I am having trouble deciding on what breed to get.  I am thinking either a toy poodle or cavalier king charles spaniel.  I have very specific needs.

 

I live in China and am from the states.  I will always live in an apartment with many people in and around it.  A dog that barks a lot or is not good with strangers and other dogs would not be good.  I will be traveling a lot with the dog, so it must be small enough to go in the cabin of an airplane.  Some flights may be 10 hours plus.  A dog that is too hard to potty train or behaves poorly would be bad.  I would like to train the dog to use potty pads of the floor on airport restrooms.  Is this realistic?  I would be able to spend a lot of time with the dog but would be gone for about 3 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the afternoon.

The poodle seems like a good choice because of intelligence and ease of training.  The cavalier seems a good choice because it is said to be quiet and good with people.  Any advice?  Anything else to consider?

[Dogsfevr]

I would consider flying with dogs may not be the same in the future especially in the Cabin .
No one can decide for you as both breeds have different quirks,exercise needs ,both are very trainable ,one needs more grooming expenses .

[persephone]

It sounds a very complicated life for a dog ...I suggest you visit people who have both breeds and see them in action , so you get to know what they are like. Also make sure you double check on accompanied flying permissions . 
You will need to do a LOT of training to get your dog used to all these things - being so confined, travel, great crowds of people, being quiet, the very restrictive toileting arrangements . YOU will need to understand dogs quite well to carry out this training . Ensure you do your homework thoroughly . 

[julesluvscavs]

Hi, i have owned Cavaliers for a long time, quite a few.  Always has been my fav breed, and always will be. We only have one now, which we adopted quite a few years ago. We don't think he is a pure bred one (all our past ones have been from registered breeders). Our previous precious girl- Miah (the tri in my profile pic) was everything to me. She only  lived to 7 years. We did buy  her from an Ethical breeder. She unfortunately developed some serious health condition in her short life that required lots of meds, vet bills and lots of 24/7 care. She ironically passed away from something different,  a ruptured spleen tumour which came out of nowhere. We had no choice but to give her her wings. This was about 10 weeks ago, so im still badly grieving.

I think its really important you always research any breed their genetic health issues that they can be predisposed to, regardless how fantastic a breeder is. Sometimes they cant stop the issues even if their dogs have all been healthy in their lines .  Our breeder stuck by us the whole time (and has been shocked and heartbroken by what happened), so i don't regret having our our girl come into our lives, theres were lots of good times too..
 There is never any guarantees with  anything in life.. but do your homework thoroughly first. Cavs do have a list of health issues and major ones at that.  Our Cavs have loved living inside but loved going for walks, they shed hair heaps (we never clipped ours) but they have all just been so loveable and perfect in our eyes 

I met a toy poodle the other day that seemed to take to me, was  extremely friendly. And seemed to be  like a Cavalier in nature, well this one was.  I have no idea of their health conditions etc 
It did make me think what it would be like to own one

There is a thread dedicated to all breeds of dogs on DOL called  Dog Breeds 101

All the best

ps Some Cavaliers can get very vocal  ;-) 


 

Edited June 18, 2020 by julesluvscavs

[Gretel]

I have a very highly strung and noisy Cavalier though others I’ve had have been quiet and sensible.

[sandgrubber]

19 hours ago, Gretel said:

I have a very highly strung and noisy Cavalier though others I’ve had have been quiet and sensible.

And I've met (cared for in kennels, actually) toy poodles with very serious temperament problems... including a 10 year old that regularly bit it's owner and anyone else who came close. I had to wear welding gloves to feed her.  I'm not saying to avoid toy poodles, just to do all the temperament screening you can, no matter what breed.  Unstable temperament is pretty common in small dogs, especially when bred indiscriminately. 

[Tassie]

On 18/06/2020 at 3:19 PM, julesluvscavs said:

Hi, i have owned Cavaliers for a long time, quite a few.  Always has been my fav breed, and always will be. We only have one now, which we adopted quite a few years ago. We don't think he is a pure bred one (all our past ones have been from registered breeders). Our previous precious girl- Miah (the tri in my profile pic) was everything to me. She only  lived to 7 years. We did buy  her from an Ethical breeder. She unfortunately developed some serious health condition in her short life that required lots of meds, vet bills and lots of 24/7 care. She ironically passed away from something different,  a ruptured spleen tumour which came out of nowhere. We had no choice but to give her her wings. This was about 10 weeks ago, so im still badly grieving.

I think its really important you always research any breed their genetic health issues that they can be predisposed to, regardless how fantastic a breeder is. Sometimes they cant stop the issues even if their dogs have all been healthy in their lines .  Our breeder stuck by us the whole time (and has been shocked and heartbroken by what happened), so i don't regret having our our girl come into our lives, theres were lots of good times too..
 There is never any guarantees with  anything in life.. but do your homework thoroughly first. Cavs do have a list of health issues and major ones at that.  Our Cavs have loved living inside but loved going for walks, they shed hair heaps (we never clipped ours) but they have all just been so loveable and perfect in our eyes 

I met a toy poodle the other day that seemed to take to me, was  extremely friendly. And seemed to be  like a Cavalier in nature, well this one was.  I have no idea of their health conditions etc 
It did make me think what it would be like to own one

There is a thread dedicated to all breeds of dogs on DOL called  Dog Breeds 101

All the best

ps Some Cavaliers can get very vocal  ;-) 


 

So very sorry that you lost your lovely Misha too young.  That sort of sudden loss really hurts, especially when it was unrelated to the other condition you'd been managing.  it's good to hear that her breeder stuck by you.   She would have been devastated for you too.  

[asal]

.Sadly, 7 seems to be the average for many cavaliers, remembering the first book i picked up titled "Cavalier King Charles as pets" in the first pages said "average lifespan 7 to 8 years".  My first thoughts on reading that, was, "ridiculous, toy breeds live far longer than the larger breeds?" Unfortunately its true for so many darling cavaliers.

 

oh and that book I spotted was now 20 years ago so their short lifespan for many was recognised by that author that long ago

Edited June 26, 2020 by asal