i'm sure since you have kids this might be pointing out the obvious but be careful with the puppy around the cat toys! cat toys arent as sturdy as dog toys she could accidentaly swallow something!
but i know when i brought my puppy home having one crate was just what she needed, she would go inside the kennel for her naps and if she just wanted some alone time, i think that was what helped her transition the most because it gave her, her own space. i would say you should really crate train her at night, makes life much easier and you wont worry about where she is or what she could get into at night, or what the kids are doing with her and maybe when she is older she can sleep with everyone else, but while she is a puppy she needs structure.. as for the size i think you're supposed to get whatever size they will grow into?
:) good luck with your new puppy!!

I don't have any advice because the two dogs in my life were older when they arrived and were never crated. But I responded because I'm interested in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. I miss not having a dog and have been considering a few breeds if I don't adopt from the pound. I like English bull dogs and Corgis but the King Charles are awfully appealing. I heard they are mellow and sweet. Are they smart? And since you have cats, I guess that's not a problem. Some of my cats have never seen a dog. Good luck.

There are a number of good books on raising puppies and getting them off to a good start. Even if you've had dogs in the past check out some of the books. You can search on amazon and read the reviews.

You will need to buy a water bowl for indoors and one for outside if you are going to have her outside for any length of time. You will need a nice brush for regular daily brushing, a leash for walking (3 times a day AT THE VERY LEAST - even for a few minutes and even just right around your house) The hardest time for a puppy is a night, many people dont like dogs sleeping in bed with them - you need to decide if you are going to let your dog on the furniture or not. You might want to get her some dog beds or use some old comforters so she can have a "place" in each room to lay down. You will need some chew toys (I dont suggest any rawhide) Get a Kong for smaller dogs and some dog crunchies to put in the kong so she can play at getting them out. Most dogs I know like the liter bottles of soda (empty) since you have a smaller dog a small soda bottle is good to play with. Be prepared to have accidents in the house and if you research here on the forum there are many good suggestions on clean up stuff. I always use a hot cup of water on the area and blot with a clean cotton rag (a carpet cleaner guy taught me this) then you can use spray to get the odor out. Try and spend alot fo time with your little one outside and watch her for when she pee's - when she is in the act give her a command like PP outside or anything you are comfortable with - your command does not have to be mean, or too firm actually say your command in a praising kind of way like she just brought you a bag with lots of money in it. This way you are training her to go outside. You can do the same thing with her other toilet business. It is the fastest and easiest way to potty train them. As far as the crate goes - some dogs like em some dogs dont. I would get yourslf a baby gate and block off the kitchen area or the bathroom area or a place which is easy to clean for when you are away. Take her in the car a couple of times with you, and let her hang out with someone while you run in for a small shopping stop this teaches them to get use to the car without associating it with the vets. Be prepared she might throw up before a car ride so dont feed her just before hand. Good Luck King Cavs are great dogs if you dont treat them like Kings!!

Wow! Thank you all for your kind help.

Off the bat (and to make it easy for anyone reading this to find): what do you all recommend for car travel? I've seen actual car seats for dogs, similar to infant car seats. I envision our puppy coming with us for our daily to-and-fro nursery school trip(s). (plus, there will be the initial four+ hour car trip we make when we drive her home -- lots of stops for all the littles, human and canine) But then there's a booster seat as well as a seat belt. So confusing! What do you use and recommend?

I came to this forum (and posted my question) because the more I was reading (books, online opinions), the more confused I was becoming. Lots of stuff is "obvious" -- like the crate and working together (puppy and I) on her food / sleep / bathroom schedule, but just as when I brought my children home from hospital, I know there will be certain things I shall have wished I'd had in the house / already known.

kfntaine -- most of our little cat toys are tucked away but naturally the odd one makes its way out. Thank you so much for the tip! I'll be sure to lock everything away, not just "tuck" it away.

lily316 -- thanks for your good wishes. I grew up with a (Pembroke) Corgi! We (husband and I) did research for years, compiling a (long) list of what we wanted / did not want in a dog, and winnowing that way. We visited dog shows, spoke with breeders, and v. luckily for us, both my brother and cousin are vets, so we were able to pick their brains. Two breeds met our criteria: Cavs and Irish Wolfhounds. Talk about (nearly) polar opposites in terms of size! I love the idea of a big dog, but my husband said "no way," he could not fall in love with a dog only to watch it die (or help it die, I should say) seven years later (the life expectancy of an Irish Wolfhound). That is totally fair!

All of the Cavs we've met have only confirmed that they are the perfect breed for us. They are docile but not comatose, incredibly good with small children, smart but not drive-you-crazy smart (like a Parsons Jack Russell), easy to train (our puppy's already potty-trained and sleeps through the night!), and, if from an ethical, reputable breeder, healthy.

quirkyquercus -- all the oft-times diametrically opposed theories pushed in the various puppy-raising books is partly what brought me here. Luckily, I feel really confident about my abilities to be firm and consistent (some things are the same regardless of species!), as well as loving and cuddly. Visiting various pet stores can sometimes feel like a marketing ploy, though. "You MUST have this for your puppy!" Really? Why?

The one thing I did pick up online is to not punish the dog for an accident in the house. Don't bring attention to it -- just clean it up and move on. But to vociferously praise her when she tinkles / has a BM in her designated area in the backyard.

mazer -- your response was terrific! Thank you so much your specific tips. I've never heard of a Kong but it's already on my list, as well as the empty soda bottle (trust my husband to help with that one!). Luckily, last year I went through toilet-training my eldest child so I've gotten better than I care to be at cleaning up "accidents" ... plus we have hardwood floors. However, I have absolutely no doubt there will be other clean-ups with which I'll need help, and I am already relieved to know this will be my "go-to" source ....

Thank you all!

They sound like amazing dogs. Interestingly..I love Irish Wolfhounds too but their size and short life span deterred me. My only two dogs have been hounds...Afghan who lived till 14 and a rescued greyhound who only lived to nine. Ruby died of bone cancer and so many of the greys do. A friend of mine had two die of that and she has a friend who had three die of bone cancer. The Cavs have such sweet appealing faces and I remember some years ago an antique dealer I frequented had two and loved them. How do you find a reputable breeder and not a puppy mill operation? Good luck and please post pictures. What will her name be?

Since you have children, you should do some reading on kids and dogs. Two good books are:

Brian Kilcommin's: 'Childproofing Your Dog'
Colleen Pelar's: 'Living with Kids and Dogs'

You can travel with your pup in a crate or use a booster chair - many dogs like to see out the window. My friends Chihuahuas like to ride on my friends shoulders while they are driving around. Be certain that you bring extra cookies and have a water bowl available for the pup. Park your car in the shade when it is more than 79 degrees outside, and bring a blanket for those colder days. Many people like to restrain their pets while in the car, I dont and I have been rear ended with dogs in the car - they seem to fair pretty well but it is up to you. Good luck, let us know when you get your new fur baby

rmkitchen, congrats on your soon-to-be new addition! How exciting! It's great that you're starting your planning in advance and that you've done so much research about the breed.

I know that there is a lot of information out there about raising puppies, but I will highly recommend the work of Dr. Ian Dunbar. He literally invented puppy training. I remember when we got our first dane puppy (actually, our first several), every single trainer we contacted said to wait until the puppy was at least six months old before bringing her to training classes. This was what trainers did at the time. Dr. Dunbar recognized this as bunk and started Sirius Puppy Training. He later founded the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. APDT is the leading organization of dog trainers.

I was very fortunate to attend a training seminar he conducted about 20 years ago and have been a devotee ever since. His sensible and gentle touch was rare then, and he has influenced the field of dog training like no one else. Dr Dunbar is trained as a veterinarian, but he also has a Ph.D. in animal behavior. As a university professor myself, I understand the value of research to determine whether something is really effective or just purported to be effective. He studies his methods carefully and refines them based on his findings.

Anyway, all this is to say that I highly recommend that you get as much of Dr. Dunbar's literature as you can get your hands on. Puppies are his specialty, and his original video, "Sirius Puppy Training" is still the best out there.

Good luck with your new little guy! :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Sirius Puppy Training

I forgot to add that Dr. Dunbar's booklet, "Before You Get Your Puppy," is free to download! :)

Link below...

Here is a link that might be useful: Before You Get Your Puppy

Thank you, cynthia and holligator for your reading tips! I appreciate those so very, very much. mazer, you continue to be a font of information!

lily316, the way I found our breeder is by first visiting the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club USA site, the American Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club site, and, to a lesser extent, the AKC site.

I looked for breeders only listed on those sites. I did NOT use search engines to find breeders. There may absolutely be reputable, ethical breeders out there not associated with the above-mentioned organizations (although why they wouldn't be I don't know), but for me this was a "safety net."

I then e-mailed to them a long list of questions, asking if they'd be willing to talk with me and answer these questions:
1) What are the registered names of the puppy's parents and may we have copies of the registration certificates for both parents?
2) What are the birth dates of the puppy's parents?
3) Have you complied with the MVD Breeding Protocol?
4) Have you complied with the SM Breeding Protocol?
5) Have both parents' hips been x-rayed after age two years, and have those x-rays been evaluated and cleared of HD by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA)?
6) Have both parents' patellas been examined and cleared by qualified veterinarians within a year before the date of birth of the puppy we may adopt?
7) Have both parents' eyes been examined and cleared of serious genetic eye disorders by board certified veterinary ophthalmologists within a year before the date of birth of the puppy we may adopt?
8) Have both parents' hearing been tested and cleared of hereditary hearing deficiencies, preferably by the Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER) test, no earlier than at age 2.5 years?
9) Has either parents exhibited the symptoms of episodic falling syndrome?
10) Have both parents' blood been tested and cleared for diabetes mellitus and hypothyroidism within a year before the date of birth of the puppy we may adopt?

(see here for information regarding the above diseases / syndromes)

I was both surprised and disappointed at how many breeders did not want to answer these questions. They were immediately crossed off my list.

To my absolute delight the breeder to whom our little girl was born answered every one of my questions at great length. They also had a long list of questions for me, which thrilled me. This led me to believe they don't let their puppies be adopted willy-nilly -- they wanted to check us out as well! Our breeders are in Wyoming, and they got started breeding Cavs because they'd each (they are two friends) had a heartbreak with a sick Cav. They vowed they would help "clean up" the system and they take fastidious care of their dogs and have all the paperwork / registrations for it.

Anyway, this is how I found a reputable, ethical breeder in our part of the country (I'm in Colorado).

I was heartsick reading about the Greyhounds dying of bone cancer -- I never knew about that! When I was a little girl living in England the caretaker of my parents' "farm" (more like a weekend house -- as if my parents farmed!) had a multitude of Greyhounds. I loved them. Beautiful, gentle creatures. Fast, and then a couch potato!

This is a picture of our little girl from last Thursday, on her seven week birthday. We're naming her Genki-chan. "Genki" is Japanese for "healthy," "peppy," "lively" (although she is a mellow girl -- the breeders decided only two of their litters would be suitable for us [with such small children] -- gentle with their teeth, but still "sturdy" for play with toddlers), and "chan" is the feminine diminutive. My husband is Japanese and our children speak Japlish. Well, more English than Japanese at this point, but we keep it up. My 3.5 year-old refers to Genki-chan as Genki-grill; "grill" is how he says "girl." Our 19 month-old merely says "Genki." One of the breeders gave the laddies a little stuffed Cav doll whom the 3.5 year-old named CiCi-inu -- "inu" is dog in Japanese. I have no idea from where the "CiCi" came!

{{gwi:2008275}}

Oh, how precious is she?? What a beautiful pup. You are very informed and asked many questions I wouldn't have thought to ask. And that the breeders asked questions back, says a lot too. Our first dog, the Afghan, had the same type of breeders. This was when my kids were little and we had to agree to a gazillion requests from her. Our dog's grandfather was Madison Square Garden grand champion in 1957, I think.(I guess it later became the Westminster Dog show).She wanted Pasha neutered immediately because of a stray white spot, almost invisible, on her coal black face. We had planned to do that anyway. ~~~You said it perfectly about greys...fast as lightening and then coach potatoes. They are wonderful, sweet and loving pets. Keep the pictures coming.

She is so precious!

RM, it sounds like you found terrific breeders and you'll be a wonderful mom for your new pup!

This said it all to me: "They also had a long list of questions for me, which thrilled me." You wouldn't believe how many prospective puppy buyers are insulted when the breeder wants to interview them to see if they would provide a suitable home.

It has been many years since I was into breeding, but I had a long list of questions and both a pre-contract and a contract for my puppy adopters before they would even make it onto my waiting list. Any that balked because "it's just a dog" would be told that we didn't breed "just dogs" and promptly crossed off the list. Really good breeders also have a network. We would share names of these wannabe puppy buyers so that no one's carefully bred pup would end up in their hands.

I don't want to hijack this thread, but I want to add for anyone reading this who is considering a new pup that RM's list of questions is specific to Cavs. Although some apply to just about any breed, others are more breed-specific. To generate your own set of questions, research your breed to determine what the common health problems are, what can be done to prevent those problems, and what registries exist to document that preventive measures have been taken. Many breed clubs do offer a list such as this one. For other breeds, you have to come up with your own questions.

Back to Genki-chan...I can't wait to see more pics of that adorable pup! :)

Good luck with your new pup. We have a 4 month old puppy and a very large portion of our time is spent with him right now in his training and exercise. We knew it would be like that but it still took some getting used to. As far as traveling in your car,I guess you have to pick whatever it is that makes you the most comfortable but remember that an air bag hitting a puppy full force would probably be the end of him or her. We don't keep ours in the front seat.

What a cutie!

I foster lots of puppies - #1 on my list is toys they can chew on. They chew and chew and chew - and their little teeth are razor sharp!

Good luck with your new addition. :)

holligator -- Thank You for clarifying that my list of questions is only pertinent to Cavalier King Charles Spaniels! I am so sorry I didn't make that clearer. When writing my previous post, it felt like the list of questions was a natural segue from listing the Cav websites but upon rereading I can see that it wasn't as obvious as in my mind .... Thank you so much for the reminder!

mwoods, Thank You for that always important reminder about air bag safety! Our dog will be sitting in the second row of our minivan, in between the two children. She won't get to sit right next to a window but hopefully the children will entertain her .... But airbags are dangerous for anyone small!

share_oh Chew Toys! Thank you. I can pretty much guarantee I would not have thought of that, even though when we went to play with the puppies (Genki and her nine brothers and sisters) they were chewing on us like crazy! One of the reasons our breeders chose Genki or another of their girls (who may be the most beautiful Cav I've ever seen) is because they're gentle with their teeth, so those two girls tend to only play with each other. (The breeders were thinking of our children's fingers and toes.) But the puppy will get older and stronger, and there will be times she wants to play when children are napping or in nursery school, and it would be plain cruel to not have toys for her! When we adopted our oldest two cats (eight years ago), it was in the contract that we had to have toys for them. I think that is so important, and it made me like that rescue organization even more because they clearly love cats and know what's important for them!

I'll tell you, I am really conflicted about whether we should adopt a second puppy, too (the other gentle girl). On the one hand, I think it's a great idea because then they'll always have each other. On the other hand, I really want the puppy(-ies) to become a part of our family, to play with us, and I'm concerned that if there are two of them they may just do their own thing and exclude the children and me .... I'm also (and I think legitimately) concerned about what it will require of me to raise two puppies simultaneously. My 19 month-old has some real gross motor delays which require a lot of our time (he receives physical and occupational therapy throughout the week, for which I am always present, and then we "exercise" and reinforce what we've learned at home, throughout the day, every day). I don't know if training two puppies is that much harder than training one, but if it is, I don't want to be frazzled or short with anyone, human or canine child.

In July of '06 my mother adopted a puppy, and I'm not sure how much later but she and my father realized that her dog would be so much happier with a companion. So they rescued a Norwich Terrier (whom I find to be an all-around Fabulous Fellow), and now they have the two and her (original) puppy is so happy! She loves her "brother" and they play play play all day long together. Granted, it's just my parents (and their incredibly sedentary cat -- so fat he looks like a beached whale -- he's pretty wonderful, too!), no little kids with whom to play, but it still makes me wonder ....

Wow RM, she looks adorable ! I *love* CKCS's, they are such darling little dogs, and I really admire the amount of homework that you have done. There are no guarantees in life, but you are sure stacking the deck in your favour by doing your research and selecting such a conscientious breeder.

If I can add to some things that folks here have already brought up ...
1. even though she is "potty-trained", she is still a tiny infant. Keep as close to a sleeping/feeding/pottying schedule as you can, and understand that accidents will happen ! and usually when you are least able to cope with them.
2. I am a big fan of chew toys, like Kongs and Jolly Balls. My current dog (who just turned 3) didn't get a single meal from a conventional dog bowl until he was over a year old ... all meals were delivered either from my hand (during training) or in chew toys. It kept him busy and out of trouble. Being a retriever, stuffed toys were also a must-have, and he still has most of his puppy toys.
3. if you haven't already done so, enroll in puppy kindergarten asap ! socialisation is really critical during these early months, and puppy kindergarten will help you with that. You will also get some training advice, and a sympathetic peer group of other new puppy parents.
4. Be very careful about getting a second puppy, especially a littermate. Research this thoroughly. Good breeders are *very* reluctant to place littermates in the same home, with very few exceptions. The reason for this is that the puppies bond to each other, create their own pack, and can run rampant through the household. You also must train each puppy separately, which is a huge drain on your time. If the pups become very bonded, it can be difficult to separate them (for example, if one needs to stay at the vet's for treatment). I had a particularly distressing case of "friends of friends" who got two Lab littermates, thinking that Labs are "easy" dogs. When the adorable pups turned into rambunctious adolescents, the family did not find them quite so fun. I am sure two CKCS's would not be as tough to manage as two Labs, but I still think having two puppies is more than twice as difficult as having one !

Best of luck, and make sure you post more pics of the little princess !