Finding It Hard To Find The "one" :cry:

[Bluefairy]

Hi,

I just wanted to wish you luck in getting the older dog or pup for your family.

Every dog I have ever had I got as a young pup....so I am used to all the toileting issues and training. But from my experience with other family members and myself....I would go with the younger pup....why?

A young pup comes into a family with no expectations, mostly not afraid, open and wanting to learn. They can be easily trained to your way (everyone does things differently and always will) of training and routine.

An older dog/pup comes into a family wi some expectations, can be fearful, and may take a while for the dog to open up. It may take them a little while longer to train them, or retrain them to your way. Some of these dogs may have habits you don't like, or may have never been trained....for instance to sit and wait until the command is given to release it so it can go to its bowl. It may be food aggressive, it may be obsessive about toys.....you really don't know what you will get. Though you may get the most pleasant dog in the world....but you just don't know.

A young pup comes into your family with a clean slate and its up to you and your children to make it one of the family. Its a great experience for the dog and the kids.

My children are older, the youngest is 13, but I wouldn't like to get an older dog. I like training and caring for a pup from the start....yes its time consuming, but you end up with a perfect member to your family....one that just blends well.

Good Luck

BF

[mumof3]

well some minor developments...

I have decided to look into a baby , and have searched the breeders page and found a breeder in my area who raises her pups with small children, I gave her a call and without any promises we have decided that when her next litter is due (2 weeks) she will call and arange for me to visit the pups when they are 6 weeks old to see how the kids react around them.

I did want a 6 mth plus dog, and something might just come up whilst i am waiting for these pups to be born, i am a little hesitant to get a newbie - although my DH thinks in the end it may be the best thing...a couple of months of juggling the kids with the dog or introducing an older pup that may have never been in contact with children.

Well wondering what peoples thoughts on this are.

I just wanna make sure in the end I do the right thing for my children and the dog.

Cindy

Personally, Cindy, I do think this is a great way to go. My advice would be, if you haven't had pups before, to thoroughly research things like toilet training, bite innhibition training and general manners and obedience training before the pup arrives. There is a post stuck to the top of one of the forums here about how, if you fail to train a dog, it will train itself, the wrong things, and I think it is very very true. I think the smaller pup will give the kids the upper hand for a little while while you bring things under control with the appropriate training. Hopefully by the time the pup reaches its peak activity level, some ground rules will be in place with both the kids and the dog.

Baby puppies are a charm, but like children they turn into teenagers which can be a challenging time. Best to bond with the baby first, get the relationship right before moving through the teenage wilderness - at least that's what I think.

Unless you can just get a real nice 3 or 4 year old adult dog with all the work done. That could be good.

S

[italmum]

Unless you can just get a real nice 3 or 4 year old adult dog with all the work done. That could be good.

S

could also be wishful thinking lol,..something may pop up we will see i am thinking that i was too picky to begin with..maybe if an older dog comes along i would look and see if the personality fitted with us

[Bilbo Baggins]

Have PM'D you.

[italmum]

Have PM'D you.

hey, you only have Ruby dogs though?

I am after a bleheim or tri-coloured thanks anyways

[Bilbo Baggins]

Have PM'D you.

hey, you only have Ruby dogs though?

I am after a bleheim or tri-coloured thanks anyways

I know of some other litters.

[GoldenGirl85]

Italmum Have you seen the black and tan Cavs? they are absolutely stunning

[italmum]

Italmum Have you seen the black and tan Cavs? they are absolutely stunning

Yes i have but dh doesnt like them grrr Atleast we agree on 2 colours lol

[OSoSwift]

I got a puppy with a 2yo and a 5month old.

I had already established a relationship with my breeder and had been in contact with her for around 10 months from memory. The breeder had a baby around a month older than mine so she was not quite so worried about the fact I had young children.

I had a puppy pen set up so that when I couldn't watch and supervise the puppy she went in there. The kids were told from day dot, when puppy is in there (or has put herself to bed) you do not disturb. Of course they needed reminding as kids do. It also helped that my baby was extremely placid with a great sleeping routine. The baby slept through the night and the puppy woke me up! I did think that was quite funny though.

Some days it was a bit full on, but over all it was great. I was worried about making sure I had the time required for a baby puppy before I commited to bring the puppy home. Having only had Dobermann and Rottweiler puppies before I was not exactly sure what a Whippet puppy would be like. I was pleasently suprised.

I know that you cannot know exactly what kids will do around puppies and dogs, but with strict rules and close supervision it can be done, and done well with all parties happy.

I now have two and I did get the second one as an almost 8 month old. It worked well due to the fact he had been raised in a family with young children and cats. A lot of work had been put into recalls and house manners. I knew the situation and life he had come from. I would not have taken an unknown history dog of the same age.

[Greytmate]

A young pup comes into a family with no expectations, mostly not afraid, open and wanting to learn. They can be easily trained to your way (everyone does things differently and always will) of training and routine....

A young pup comes into your family with a clean slate and its up to you and your children to make it one of the family. Its a great experience for the dog and the kids.

No pup has a clean slate, they are a product of their genetics. Not all pups can be easily trained to do all things, in the the first few months you know it is going to do plenty of things you may not want it to do. Some pups will grow into fearful dogs despite what training is done.

Many people buy a baby pup with the best intentions of training it, but end up not being quite the dog trainer they thought they could be.

An older dog/pup comes into a family wi some expectations, can be fearful, and may take a while for the dog to open up. It may take them a little while longer to train them, or retrain them to your way. Some of these dogs may have habits you don't like, or may have never been trained....for instance to sit and wait until the command is given to release it so it can go to its bowl. It may be food aggressive, it may be obsessive about toys.....you really don't know what you will get. Though you may get the most pleasant dog in the world....but you just don't know.

What you say may be true if acquiring a dog that is completely unknown. But if you buy an older pup or an adult that has a known history, you can end up with a dog that is more likely to be what you want than a pup that may not turn out to meet expectations. The OP is after an adult dog from a breeder. You cannot say that the dog is unknown, the breeder would know a lot about the pup and how it would get along with a family.

[julesluvscavs]

Hi Italimum (your username seems familiar?)

Our Cavs breeder is hesitant to sell to families with young children. Her reasoning being that young Cavs especially can be injured easily, even if it by accident. I have come very close myself at times tripping over our two !

Having said that at our Cavalier Club here in SA, I have seen many families with young children at our fun days. So there are breeders out there who will sell their pups to families with young children

I know some breeders can be very precious about their dogs, as they have put a lot of effort into them. (and fair enough too!) But it worries me that people will turn to BYB's and pet shops so they can get one instantly without all the right health testing etc having been done..

We don't have kids, but we were still judged on many other factors before the breeder choose us and said yes to us buying one her young show dogs (Joey)

Going to shows and meeting breeders (long as its not when they are about to go into the ring, or have just come out, is a good way to get to know them and visa versa) and going to your local Cavalier KCS club fun days, where it's more relaxed

All the best !

ps.. Both our Cavs weren't puppies when we got them. so they were already toilet trained, used to traveling etc ;)

Edited March 29, 2010 by JulesLuvsCavs

[julesluvscavs]

Have PM'D you.

hey, you only have Ruby dogs though?

I am after a bleheim or tri-coloured thanks anyways

We have 2 Blenheim s, but I have been told by so many Ruby Cavalier owners that they have a very sweet nature (all the colours do of course), but it's common knowledge in Cavalier world that Ruby's have their own very unique sweet personality..

[Jodi1981]

I can commiserate with you on the frustration, not nice is it

Last year (about November I think ) I started contacting breeders etc. but live in a state where there arn't really many Cavalier breeders and I think my timing was wrong (as in just before christmas) as I got hardly any reposnses to emails/messages left on voicemails etc. Even the Cavalier Club didn't get back to me, was very upsetting HOWEVER I have now met a lovely breeder who will hopefully be having a litter in June so fingers crossed there is a baby there for me (provided she doesn't have a litter of all boys LOL) so there is an end in sight ;)

Fingers Crossed your happy ending will happen soon too ;)

Jodi

[julesluvscavs]

I can commiserate with you on the frustration, not nice is it ;)

Last year (about November I think ) I started contacting breeders etc. but live in a state where there arn't really many Cavalier breeders and I think my timing was wrong (as in just before christmas) as I got hardly any reposnses to emails/messages left on voicemails etc. Even the Cavalier Club didn't get back to me, was very upsetting HOWEVER I have now met a lovely breeder who will hopefully be having a litter in June so fingers crossed there is a baby there for me (provided she doesn't have a litter of all boys LOL) so there is an end in sight :D

Fingers Crossed your happy ending will happen soon too :p

Jodi

Oh sorry to hear that you had such a hard time as well ;) , especially with the SA Cavalier Club not getting back to you !

Hopefully you will get your baby one soon, if all goes right in Junes. Goodluck Jodi !!

Please don't let that put you off joining the SA Cavalier Club tho later, their fun days are really good !

Edited March 29, 2010 by JulesLuvsCavs

[Jodi1981]

LOL, I was just talking to someone about maybe going to the Cavlier Capers Day coming up

[julesluvscavs]

LOL, I was just talking to someone about maybe going to the Cavlier Capers Day coming up

We have been gone to many of them, but they are bit far to drive down too now we have shifted to Goolwa..

Bellatrix (a lovely member on here) usually goes to them with her Cavs:)

[Jed]

The major problem with trying to source a pup and particularly an older pup is that most breeders receive about 5 enquiries for every pup. And there are not as many older pups available.

Mostly one of those enquiries is from someone who projects as the perfect home. Owned a Cav before, died of old age etc, blah blah, so it is very difficult for most puppy buyers, no matter how wonderful to compete with that.

But realistically, with 1 pup and 5 enquiries, it is difficult to get one.

Additionally, a lot of breeders will not sell to families with small children, because we all know a horror story about children and pups.

Mine is that the 5 year old threw the juvenile off the balcony, his leg was very badly broken, cost to repair was about $4000, so they had the vet bandage it instead. It never healed properly, the dog was given back to the breeder. Cost $6000 at the ortho specialist to fix it, and the dog had arthritis from 5 years. My second one is the kids playing football with the pup. The mother was a nurse, and should have known better. The pup had permanent brain damage.

But I think your problem also is simply that the breeders have a lot of enquiries, or do not feel the pup will be suitable with children.

I will sell to families although I want to see the children interact with my adult dogs and the pups first. We've had a few episodes of the children picking the pup up by the leg, but I am open to the next family, because Cavaliers are an excellent family dog. And quite a few of mine live with children.

And don't feel too bad - it's not you, it is simply the scarcity of pups, and older pups. Most of us have to wait. I waited over 18 months for a male pup.

The right one will come along, just when you least expect it.

[cavNrott]

We have 2 Blenheim s, but I have been told by so many Ruby Cavalier owners that they have a very sweet nature (all the colours do of course), but it's common knowledge in Cavalier world that Ruby's have their own very unique sweet personality..

I have a tri colour boy and a black and tan girl (both desexed). Can't wait to get a ruby. When I'm able to have one I will look for an older Cav.

My tri boy is confident, calm and obedient. I can't think of one thing he has ever done wrong. He was very easy to obedience train. I got him from a reg. breeder in Vic when he was 8 weeks old. He will be 6yo in May.

This boy is very popular with the kids in the street because he does very enthusiastic and impressive high fives for them.

My black and tan girl is a little monkey but being deaf doesn't help. She's also from a reg breeder. She's been with me since she was 16 weeks old. She's is not the most obedient dog but she's a real cuddle pot....so affectionate. She'll be 5yo in July.

They are both totally adorable. I've never had a small dog before these two. I've always had Rottweilers and GSD's. I still have an elderly Rottweiler and the Cavs get along well with her.

I can't imagine not having Cavaliers in my life now.

edited for shocking spelling.

Edited March 29, 2010 by cavNrott

[Red Ruby]

Good luck with your search

Yeah i am starting to think this is a problem with many mums of young kids

Don't agree with this though. When I was looking for my Cocker my girls were fairly young - oldest was 8, youngest was 18 months old when she came to us so they were quite a bit younger when I first started the search (took a looooooooooong time to get my girl ). I don't know the answer to why you aren't having much luck - it might just not be 'your time' There will be a pup/dog out there for you that IS the right one

i believe in fate...and i am really starting to think its not my time :D

My childrens ages are 4, 2 and 1...I tend to get the how do i cope now from ppl..and then it begs the question how will i cope with a dog aswell..You just do. and it wont make a difference to me , The dog will be spoilt rotten and have 5 people after its attention.

I have 5 young children and cope perfectly well with our puppy!!! I find the more children you have the more organised you are.

[italmum]

thanks for all your info, i have made a couple of enquires. so i will see how that works out.

If not if anyone would like to help us out, you can pvt me :D

I will be patient