Читать книгу Cavalier King Charles Spaniel: An Owner’s Guide - Nick Mays - Страница 17

Having decided that you want to get a puppy and your work, lifestyle, home and family commitments make dog ownership possible, where do you start looking? Some people head for the high street, but buying a puppy from a pet shop or a commercial dealer should be avoided at all costs – and not just financial ones. That is not to say that all pet shops are bad – although nowadays there aren’t many that sell puppies – nor that all commercial breeders are puppy farmers who exist only to mass produce ‘cash crop’ breeds, which includes the Cavalier along with other popular family breeds such as Labradors, Golden Retrievers and Staffordshire Bull Terriers.

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There is no shortage of advertisements for puppies of any breed in your local newspapers, advertising papers and magazines, and there may be cards in a local newsagent’s window, advertising puppies for sale. There are thousands of online advertisements, too, but, generally, it is best to avoid these. Some breeders do advertise single breeds for sale and may be perfectly reputable, but avoid any breeder or establishment that offers multiple breeds for sale, as this may be a puppy farm, where ‘cash crop’ breeds are bred intensively. Puppies from such places often tend to be sickly and ill socialized.

Also, avoid dealing with anyone who says they will meet you at a motorway service station to deliver a puppy to you. Needless to say, avoid dealing with ‘the man in the pub’ who offers you a pedigree puppy. At best, it is most likely stolen; at worst, it will have been bred by a ‘backstreet breeder’ (a small-scale puppy farmer, in effect) and may have serious welfare problems. You will not get a good pedigree Cavalier puppy cheaply. By buying from puppy farms, ‘men in pubs’ and backstreet breeders, you are simply encouraging the overproduction of unsocialized dogs with serious welfare problems.

Note: Sometimes local dog training clubs or veterinary surgeries will have details of a reputable breeder who has a litter of puppies and may be able to put you in touch with them.

Breeders

The best place to buy your Cavalier puppy will be from a reputable breeder, who is an enthusiast and has a great deal of experience with the breed and will probably exhibit Cavaliers frequently at dog shows. However, even amongst specialist breeders there will be the good and the not so good, so you need to do some research before making a decision on which dog to buy from whom. Begin by checking out the advertisements in the weekly specialist canine newspapers – Our Dogs and Dog World in the UK.

The Kennel Club is another good starting point as they will direct you to local Cavalier Clubs in your area as well as nationally. Log on to the Kennel Club website for more details. The breed clubs can supply you with a list of breeders, but don’t feel that you have to ‘go local’ to get the puppy you’re after – be prepared to put yourself out and travel if you want the best.