Tag Archives: puppy

These two pictures perfectly capture Tilly’s dual personality.  When our little Tilly is sweet….she is very sweet.  She cuddles and licks and loves to be smooched……..but……when our little Tilly is bad…..she is really bad!   She jumps and bites and races around like a possessed devil.   The good news is that the sweet times are more frequent than the devil child times.

People can spend a fortune on toys to entertain their puppies.  In reality, everything is a potential toy … as long as it doesn’t have sharp bits or is small enough to swallow.   Here is a video of Tilly enjoying herself with my garden kneeler.  It is twice her size but that doesn’t slow her down.

Friday night and Saturday Tilly was an absolute angel. Very quiet, sweet and gentle. She was just content to snuggle up in my lap and sleep. Then came Sunday morning. I’m guessing that little Miss Tilly is feeling more confident in her new surroundings. So confident that she is now letting her true personality shine through…..meet Tilly’s alter ego……the devil child!! This morning I was greeted with a sweet little face and lots of kisses but all that changed once she was ‘unloaded’ and ‘reloaded’ again. It was chilly in the house this morning and everyone else was still in bed so I decided to go back up stairs and snuggle up to Don to warm up. I thought I would let Tilly hang out on my side of the bed to keep me company. Big mistake! My sweet, cuddly puppy was replaced by a jumping, chewing, pulling and digging machine. She was especially interested in trying to detach my pony tail from my skull.

I want a refund…….or maybe a replacement 😉

I can’t believe that the big day is almost here.  Back in January it seemed like it was an eternity to wait.  Now we are running around buying ‘stuff’ to make sure our new little princess has everything that a puppy would need.   We are digging out the baby gate,  kennels and X-pens to get both our home and our cars puppy-ready.

On Friday we head up to Cold Lake to sign the papers and then Tilly will be an official member of our family.

OMG 3 more sleeps!!!!!!

Here are a few more pictures from our visit to the breeder:

Although both breeders were excellent, we have decided to go with the breeder from Alberta because she was the first one to get back to us.  In fact she responded to my email the day I sent it.  Talk about good customer service.

Cavies have on average 3-4 puppies per litter .  This breeder was incredibly lucky because her first bitch had 6 puppies on December 22nd and her second had 7 puppies on Christmas day.   They are all Ruby babies but a few of them do have the odd white spot.  She likes to pick the puppies for her clients based on the needs/wants of each client.  She knows the puppies best so she can help make the perfect match.

We mailed our deposit this morning hoping that it would get to her before all the female puppies were spoken for.   I am secretly hoping that we get a little girl with a white spot but truthfully I wouldn’t be disappointed with any puppy.  We received an email full of pictures today.  They are soooooo cute!

We have chosen our breed, now comes the big task of finding a breeder.  For me, finding the right breeder is almost as  important as finding the right breed.  A good breeder makes sure that they only breed the best of the best.  Their breeding stock has thorough health evaluations and their puppies are well socialized before they go to their new homes.  I want a breeder who wants to know as much as possible about the people who want to adopt their puppies.  Ideally adoptive families should have to sign contracts to make sure that if they no longer want the puppy, it must be returned to the breeder and not abandoned on the street or surrendered to a shelter.

I looked up breeders on the Dogs in Canada and CKC websites.  I also got in contact with people who have Cavies and asked about their breeders.  I contacted two breeders in Alberta and one in Saskatchewan.  I quickly eliminated one of the Alberta breeders.  She never asked one question about us or our lifestyle and she said she didn’t do any health testing of her breeding stock.  I was very impressed with both of the remaining breeders.  They clearly loved their dogs and asked me a lot of questions to make sure that they were satisfied that their puppy was  going to the right home.  These are the kind of breeders I want to support.  It is going to be hard to choose one breeder…..I wish we could get  a puppy from each one.   Regardless of which breeder we go with, I will definitely recommend both of them to anyone who is interested in adding a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel to their family.

Over the last 2 months I’ve googled,  spent hours on YouTube and done research at the  library.   The good news is that I think I have found the perfect breed for us.  The more I read about them, the more I am sure that we have made the right decision.  We have chosen the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (CKCS).  Its personality reminds me of a Golden Retriever.  Now I know that they are a different breed but they do share so many similarities that I know that we are going to be a perfect match.

This is how the Canadian Kennel Club descibes a Cavalier King Charles Spaniels:

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a much-admired Royal Spaniel. Descended from the Toy Spaniels of Europe, the breed was variously known as the “comforter” or “Spaniel Gentle” and first appeared in the courts of England with the reign of Queen Mary I. The breed, which appears in many of the great paintings of the Masters, received its name from King Charles II. It became virtually extinct in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, as short-nosed breeds took the fore. By 1923 the King Charles Spaniel (today’s English Toy) with its flat nose had replaced the old-type Toy Spaniel. In 1926 the incentive for the revitalization of the old-type Toy Spaniel was provided by Mr. Roswell Eldridge, an American who offered prizes of 25 pounds for the Best Dog and Best Bitch of this type at Crufts. The name Cavalier was added when the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club was founded in 1928 to further develop the breed. It was not until 1945 that The Kennel Club (England) granted separate registration from the King Charles. The popularity of these companion dogs has spread around the world and in 1957 the breed gained Canadian Kennel Club recognition.

General Appearance
An active, graceful, well-balanced dog, very gay, and free in action.

Temperament
Fearless and sporting in character yet at the same time gentle and affectionate.

Size
Height 30-33 cm (12-13 inches). Weight proportionate to height 5 – 8 kg (12-18 lbs.). Slight variations permissible. Feathering on ears, legs and tail should be long, and the feathering on the feet is a feature of the breed.

If you want to learn more about the CKCS here are a couple of great YouTube videos :