Breeding Info

Puppies & Breeding…

I usually start with  Although we live in credit crunching times…. if your first question is “how much are they?” please do not go any further.  However, the pandemic saw some ridiculously inflated prices which don’t seem to have come down. DO NOT pay mega money unless you are absolutely desperate for THAT particular puppy, and it comes with a 22ct gold collar! In this area a Spaniel’s normal price is around £2000. Cockers usually more than Springers. You should expect pups to be KC Registered, fully wormed, treated for fleas etc., Vetted, microchipped and have had first vaccinations. A Docking Certificate should be given to you, issued by the docking Vet, showing your puppy’s details and it’s microchip number. If it is claimed that the parents are fully health tested then the results should be visible on KC website (via their Health Test Result Finder). ALL health test certificates must be available for you to examine. The dam should be at home for you to meet her but she should definitely not be nursing her pups after six weeks old.  

Also see my Litter News page.

IN SEPTEMBER 2020 The Kennel Club went live with a new I.T. system that had serious flaws. Some registration documents were not sent out to breeders, documents that were sent contained all manner of errors. Dates, names, even breeds – all jumbled up! Added to this hip/elbow x-rays had not been assessed as regularly as usual because of covid. The BVA were several months behind with their scoring. BVA Eye Panellists were not able to examine dogs’ eyes, and were booking months in advance. It was a nightmare for good breeders – but bad ones had an absolute field day. I saw unregistered Cockers, with zero health tests, advertised in Southampton for £3800  and marked as sold within days..

It’s 2023 and things are returning to normal, thank goodness.

Breeders should only produce the very best that they can… temperament, health and longevity should be top of the list and they should provide unlimited help in the future to the new owners.

If money is a real consideration, why not think about giving a home to a rescue dog? Remember, putting size of the dog to one side, the costs of keeping a dog are the same no matter what the breed. Have you worked out annual feeding costs, fairly regular vet checks (lets not think of illnesses / accidents) and also pet care during holidays?

All my puppies are home reared – in and around my family.

The puppies are weaned on CSJ Adult Champ www.csjk9.com and BARF (bones and raw foods).

Dogs grow correctly and, in my experience, remain far more healthy when fed as near to a natural diet as possible. Very high protein all-in-one dried foods are all very well but are often over fed and used inappropriately, with dire results. It can cause over accelerated growth in, for example, the length of young bones. In later life there is too much strain on the digestive system trying to cope with excessive protein levels. n.b. I wean my puppies on Adult food. Nice low protein!

Puppies leave here microchipped, Kennel Club registered (with 5 weeks free insurance cover), fully wormed and treated for fleas/ticks. Spaniel tails will be docked by a third and dew claws will be removed. There will be certification with each puppy signed by the Vet that performed the operation. The pups will have had their first vaccination and be fully vetted at nine weeks old. Puppies are supplied with full written instructions to help with their basic care, especially during those first important few days and months in their new home.

Help and advice is always freely given to new owners in the days and even years ahead. As an added safety net, it is my policy to always take back my pups at anytime, at any age. Happily, this is a very rare occurrence.

I promise to always take my dogs back – no matter what the reason…