Carsan Cavaliers
Do's and Don'ts ...
DO:
Do listen to what your breeder tells you, it comes from experience and knowledge gained from years of practice.
Cavaliers aren't made of porcelain, but they are fragile at a young age, their bones are soft and they are easy to tread on, beware!
They will cling to you often unseen so it's too easy to damage them physically and unknowingly. Take great care especially with puppies and young children who might want to mishandle them.
Your breeder will use high protein foods, usually the best brand names during their time growing up. Once weened from the bitch's milk they will go onto small solid kibble. The breeder will keep the puppies on their mother to feed for as long as possible, in order to benefit from the carry-over from bitch to puppy ... to help grow and establish the immune system. So take the feeding advice for definite. A good breeder will give you a supply of food e.g Royal Canin ... so when puppy goes home it's wise to keep to it.
Watch and study your puppy every day to make sure it's lively, happy and healthy. Puppies do sleep when young so this is normal, they're growing in their sleep, but during waking hours they should be bright, happy and playful.
Always have a supply of fresh clean drinking water available. It'll surprise you how much they can drink!
Keep the puppy as clean as you can, free from accidental excrement, clean up often. Contrary to belief dogs DO NOT like to lie in their mess.
Spend time house training, and properly with praise and reward ... NOT chastisement. They're doing what comes naturally just not in the right place.
Remember to sort out your vet, you'll need to register puppy and get innoculations done, your vet will advise.
Eventually once allowed you'll want to take puppy out on a lead ... remember it doesn't come naturally, it's part of his/hers training and be gentle!
As puppy grows you'll want to start bathing and grooming properly, it's important to puppy's health especially with the longer coat and feathers which grow as the puppy matures. Smell the ear canals regularly when inspecting ... if it smells foul or unusual it could be ear mites or something more sinister like a disease progressing ... pseudomonus bacteria can kill dogs if it progressed that far.
A few good quality bone type chewy toys will reap benefits when puppy is teething, and it saves on the three piece suite!
Gnawing and chewing is natural to any dog, especially when young, so it's normal and they're developing jaw muscles and the correct bite ... a scissor bite.
Keep outside warm weather exercise to a minimum especially if hot and no breeze, you don't want them over-heating or getting heat stroke. And NEVER inside a locked car with no ventilation!
DON'T:
Abuse your puppy's trust, it only wants to please and love you. If you're patient and teach it properly in all aspects it will give you years of pleasure and fun and become an established and cherished member of your family.
Cavaliers are sociable dogs, they like company and companionship ... not to be left for hours on their own. If you work 9-5 in an office and expect to come home to puppy a Cavalier is not for you! It would become very depressed, lonely and mentally disturbed.
Speying and Neutering is OK in the right circumstances ... but not in young dogs where maturity hasn't finished, hormone levels not achieved and growth plates not stopped growing.
Always follow veteranary advice.
