Cavalier King Charles Spaniel: An Owner’s Guide. Nick Mays

Garden gates shut properly and there is not sufficient space underneath for a puppy to squeeze through and escape

      • If you have a garden pond, put a stout wire fence around it or strong netting over the top to prevent a puppy falling in

      • There are no poisonous plants that your puppy could eat

      • Weedkillers, slug pellets and other chemicals are securely locked away out of reach.

       Contact the vet

      Book an appointment for your puppy’s vaccinations and health check. You may also wish to check out puppy training classes, which are organized by local clubs. Some veterinary surgeries also organize ‘puppy parties’ where puppies can meet each other and get used to other dogs and people.

       A large, spacious outdoor run with a paved or concrete floor, which is totally secure, is an ideal area for several Cavaliers to exercise in.

       Collecting your puppy

      Finally, the big day will dawn and you will have to go to the breeder to collect your puppy. Take some towels and kitchen roll with you in case the puppy is stressed or unused to car travel and is sick. A water bowl and bottle of water will be necessary on a long journey as the puppy may be thirsty. If possible, take someone with you to collect the puppy, so that one of you can nurse him while the other drives.

      When you arrive at the breeders, make sure the puppy you chose on your last visit is still fit and healthy, and then check the paperwork over. The breeder should provide all the documents you need (see page 32), plus a diet sheet and two to three days’ supply of the puppy’s usual food. Once you have paid the breeder, it’s time to take your puppy home. Some breeders even supply a ‘puppy pack’, which includes toys and maybe a blanket on which he and his mother have slept in order to provide a reassuring, familiar scent.

      Make sure you keep a good hold of your puppy on the journey home. You can cuddle him on your lap or place him in a suitable carrier to keep him safe. Remember to reassure him as much as he needs, always talking quietly and in a friendly tone of voice, without overdoing the attention and making him anxious or over-excited. If you can, put a puppy collar (and lead) on him during the journey home, not to walk him – that comes later – but as part of the all-important process of getting him used to a collar and lead for his later training.

      If you use public transport rather than driving him home in a car, avoid letting any other passengers touch your puppy. Of course, people will want to stroke him and make a fuss of him, but although it’s good socialization it may also be quite stressful.

       Arriving at home

      When you bring your puppy home, it’s important that you try to look at things from his point of view. He is just a few weeks old, and all he will have known are his mother and siblings, their puppy pen and the immediate area of the breeder’s home in which they have been kept. Now he is on his own, with human beings he does not recognize by smell or sight, in a strange, new house. It’s a traumatic experience for a young dog, so do not expect instant bonding. On the contrary, it is quite likely that he will be anxious, even frightened, in his new and unfamiliar surroundings.

      The first thing you need to do as soon as you get out of the car is to take him into the garden and encourage him to urinate and/or defecate. When he performs, praise him lavishly and make a fuss of him. Do not stop en route in lay-bys as these can be places of infection where countless other dogs have been. Until he has completed his course of vaccinations, your puppy cannot be put down in a public place.

       Toilet train your puppy early on. Start taking him out in the garden for this purpose as soon as you arrive home. Never shut him outside by himself. It is important to go with him and to encourage and praise him.

      The last thing your puppy needs is to be pitched into a house full of your friends and neighbours all descending at once to meet the new arrival, even if they are being friendly and just wanting to pet him. Just take things calmly and slowly; let the puppy explore the rooms you make available to him, such as the living room and kitchen. Show him his bed or basket; if the breeder has given you a blanket, put it in his bed along with his other bedding. Indicate where The last thing your puppy needs is to be pitched into a house full of your friends and neighbours all descending at once to meet the new arrival, even if they are being friendly and just wanting to pet him. Just take things calmly and slowly; let the puppy explore the rooms you make available to him, such as the living room and kitchen. Show him his bed or basket; if the breeder has given you a blanket, put it in his bed along with his other bedding. Indicate where his food and water bowls are (ideally, these should not be situated too far away from his bed). Show him the back door, so that he can ask to be let out into the garden to toilet (which he will eventually learn to do).

       Playtime together in the garden can also be used for some light training, such as learning to retrieve and give up a toy or item on command. When your puppy does this, always be sure to praise and reward him.

      All the time, talk to him gently, using his name. This has a practical purpose, as he needs to associate with his name and respond to it. Never shout or scold your puppy while using his name as an admonishment, or he will associate his name with something bad.

       Bedtime

      Puppies are, of course, babies, so they tire very easily. One minute they may be playing madly; the next, they may be sound asleep. So when your puppy has explored your house, maybe had a little bit to eat and hopefully, gone outside to toilet, encourage him to use his new bed. Again, do not shout or get impatient if he climbs out of his bed; if he flops down to sleep somewhere else, gently pick him up and put him in his own bed, so that he gets used to it.

      One trick to help settle him down to sleep is to put an old clock in his bed, perhaps wrapped in a blanket. The ticking will remind him of his mother’s heartbeat and reassure him. As he gets older and more confident, you will be able to remove the clock without causing him any upset. Sometimes keeping a radio switched on nearby (but not too loud) will help to reassure him further.

       The first night

      Expect your puppy to be fretful on his first night – he will be alone for the first time in a strange house. You could leave a small nightlight on in the kitchen or the room where he sleeps for the first few nights. Some owners don’t mind having a dog in their bedroom, so if you want to take your puppy up to bed with you that’s fine – but make him sleep in his own bed, not on yours. Not only is it safer – a fall from a bed could injure a small puppy – but it also gives the dog the wrong message to allow him to sleep on your bed, as it elevates him mentally in his perceived ‘pack hierarchy’. Your dog is lower than you in the pack – you are the pack leader – so he should expect to sleep in his own bed, not in yours.