I am SO counting the days til we bring her home...The breeder is going to send me pictures weekly so I can see...I can also go over there any time I want just to "hang" with her. I'm having empty nest syndrome SO bad...After we had to put our Boxer down a month ago, we were going to wait to get another dog, but I told him I can't STAND this quiet...After having 4 kids and now they are all gone, and then the dog, it's been really hard for me. Ariel is perfect!!!...Thanks for the comments guys!!! Caren/knotz

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!

I was surprised to see how small she was too. I agree with annz, she looks like a spaniel to me, not sure I see much Golden in her. " I realized as I crouched on the floor with her and rubbed her back while she got sick that on some level that I really do love her (finally). It's just a different love than before, but not in a bad way, if that makes sense." I had a similar situation with one of our dogs. We got her at about 3 yrs and for a long time I wondered if it was a mistake. Her behaviour was hmm, problematic in many ways which frustrated me. One day she had an allergic reaction and I realised just how worried I was for her, took her off to the after hours vet etc. The thing is, we do have different relationships with different pets. I've had really close relationships with about half the dogs I've ever owned, where they were like my baby and the bond was just so very strong. I didn't have this with all my dogs though, but I still loved them all very much and would do anything for them. Just my experience, but each of these relationships is different in it's own way but that doesn't mean something is wrong and it seems like you feel your bond with her should be just like it was with your pug girl, no I don't believe that. Treat each pet as an individual because each of them is a different dynamic.

I'm sorry for your family and that your dear sister died, you must be shattered. You made the right move by bringing home your darling Beans, great name for a pup from Boston. I'll bet you're already enjoying the new addition and will have many many years of happy times. You were supposed to have Beans.