Dog Community

king charles spaniels

Posted : 9/21/2006 6:32:56 PM

Anyone out there have experience with them. I am looking in to the breed and I think I want one for my next furkid....but would love to hear from you!

marynh

Posted : 9/21/2006 6:52:15 PM

I have a friend who has had 2....and my only advice is research the breeder to death.
She has bought 2 online (I'd like to slap her) the first one had to be PTS at the age of 6 months due to cancer. The 2nd one she bought through a puppy broker she found online (some people just don't get it). This one is now 2 years old and about to have knee surgery and when they first got him he seemed to be suffering from kennel cough which wouldn't clear up. Ended up being a bacterial infection in his lungs.
So research research research....but as far as the personalities of their pups went they adored (and still adore the living one) them.

Sharon Blair

Posted : 9/21/2006 7:02:04 PM

oh I won't be getting one that way. Not at all!!! NEever!!! There is a local couple who breed only for the pleasure that doesn't commercially adopt. Just local. They stay connected and are loving caring parents. Thanks for the warning....you can't be too careful.

Lindsay- Bernie's Mom

Posted : 9/21/2006 7:31:18 PM

They are a wonderful breed- but even if you find the BEST breeder, be prepared for health problems. Other than that, they are awesome pets.

rwbeagles

Posted : 9/21/2006 7:37:20 PM

People that breed for "pleasure" are IMO BYB's or backyard breeders.

Cavaliers need major health testing prior to breeding....make SURE these people are doing these tests and can SHOW you proof of such. Research the dogs themselves and their pedigrees and ask around.

Personally if someone if breeding this breed and not a member of the breed's club, showing them or doing agility or obedience with them, or holding to any kind of standard, nor trying to make improvements in their breed and breeding the same 2 or 3 dogs over and over, I'd go elsewhere.

Sharon Blair

Posted : 9/21/2006 7:48:19 PM

Wow. Never thought of those angles. I will make sure and start now to do my research on this particular breeder. I don't know if I would really call them breeders. but you are right. I need to check them out thoroughly. There is no better time to start then now. I was told that they had a litter in the spring and may not have another this year and if they did it would be around this time.

THANK YOU it is so great to hook up with other lovers/owners of our favorite people!!!

mudpuppy

Posted : 9/22/2006 8:31:38 AM

This is from www,yourpurebredpuppy.com:

The health epidemic. The biggest problem with Cavalier King Charles Spaniels today is health. This breed is in serious trouble.

Heart disease (specifically, mitral valve disease or MVD) is the number-one killer of Cavaliers. Up to HALF of all Cavaliers is likely to develop MVD by 5 years of age -- and virtually ALL Cavaliers by 10 years of age. No one should acquire a Cavalier today unless they're prepared to spend lots of money for heart monitoring and heart care.
A second serious health problem is syringomyelia, an inherited neurological disease. If a puppy is born without enough room in his skull to accommodate his brain, the back of the brain gets forced out of the skull and blocks the opening to the vertebral canal. This prevents cerebrospinal fluid from circulating freely; instead the fluid is forced into the spinal cord, causing a variety of neurological symptoms: abnormal skin sensations that cause excessive scratching around the neck or shoulder, sensitivity to touch around the neck or shoulder, yelping for no apparent reason, incoordination, and so on. (Not all symptoms are present in every dog.) Symptoms usually (but not always) appear between 6 months and 3 years old. There's no cure for this condition and current research suggests that 50% or more of the breed may be affected, though many are not yet showing symptoms.

The breed is lovely, too bad it's been so badly bred.

Sharon Blair

Posted : 9/22/2006 8:02:34 PM

wow I was feeling really beat down about this...then someone brought up Tibetan Spaniels?

H L B

Posted : 10/22/2007 2:39:59 PM

You are so right! We have 2 CKCS - Lucie and Bentley. We researched our breeders ( one found on the AKC website and the other from the CKCS Club website). We spoke by phone a number of times, looked at pictures of the puppies, and then traveled from VA to Maryland for Lucie and from VA to South Carolina for Bentley. Both came with healh certifications and pedigree information.

This summer, we took both of our beloved dogs to VA Tech to be examined by a Board Certified Cardiologist (no real reason to do this, just trying to be responsible Cav owners). We were sad to learn that both have heart murmurs. Bentley (only 1 year old) has the early signs of mitral valve disease, and Lucie has a stage 2 murmur.

At this point, we hope that the disease will progress very slowly in both of our dogs. We hope the have them to love for a very long time, but we are also realist.

We feel that we did our homework. You can never be too careful. They are a wonderful breed, but be prepared for their health issues.