Hi Guys,

We're here and getting sorted - eldests first day at school today! Youngest starts kindy tomorrow and I get my new car Thursday! Busy week!

I'll say now I'll do a proper update soon but as we're only 10 days in it's probably a bit too soon and rose tinted spec like!

Anyway I'm on the search for a puppy - probably a cocker spaniel and trying to find a source is proving harder than I thought ... you need to remember I'm 3 hrs out of Adelaide but I don't mind driving to collect the little chap but not 5 hrs!

Don't want to get from pet shop but also not keen on rescue dog ... got two young children and masses of space (with cattle and sheep so mustn't show dodgy tendencies!)

Anyway thanks in advance - did look through FAQs but all seemed about how to bring pets over etc.

xx Jo

I think the RSPCA is a pretty good place to start Jo.

Good on ya for not wanting to go to a pet shop.

We just (as in yesterday) bought a Standard Poodle puppy.

Also didn't want to go the pet shop route so it was just a case of keeping an eye on the private breeder ads in the Trading Post. We eventually found a specialist breeder pretty close to where we live by doing a Google search.

Worth a go if you have not tried it already.

Happy hunting.

We met these people at the Adelaide Show one year and they seemed very professional - didn't get our dog from them but might be worth checking out if they'er near you.

www.freedomkennels.com.au

check with your local vets as they usually have recent litters of pups coming in for check ups from their clients or may know of local breeders who have litters due.

If you're looking at puppies check out their parents for character , ear and eye problems before you buy. Cockers are great but are prone to droopy eyelids, surgery needed! Ear infections and allergies, expensive to treat, almost imposs to cure, they can be a bit manic, and need a fair bit of grooming care. (and a few other less common things too,like most dog breeds!)
Claire (the vet)

Hi,

we got our puppy who was 6 months old at the time from Lonsdale RSPCA.

Took a while to get her as we wanted to make sure we got the right pup for our family.

We checked the website regulary as they have pics and details of the dogs and pups that are at the kennels for South Australia which are added regulary.

http://www.adoptapet.com.au/

Lauren :D

We got our puppy 2 weeks ago from a breeder who was advertising in the advertiser. We had to drive all the way to 2 wells to view her and then again to collect her when she was old enough to leave home !! :sign60:

awww!! wish I was getting a new puppy again....

www.dogzonline.com.au lists all breeders in all states (go to Breed Pages).

happy puppy hunting :D

Hi All,

Thanks for all suggestions - funnily enough I've tried those routes already - sent out a load of emails to listed breeders and contacted local vets etc.

Have to say one suggestion that someone named I wouldn't use having had an odd email back from - I asked to clarify whether puppies were born into family environments or kennels (last dog I had came from a kennel that later turned out to be a puppy farm) as it wasn't clear from website. The reply came back very simply stating why would you want them sh :sign53: ing everywhere? No comment as to if they had cockers but that put me off really - I know Aussies can be plain speaking but I found it offensive and I'm not the sensitive sort! :unsure:

Anyway back to searching through Trading Post it would seem! Have given ourselves a while to look and it certainly looks like it might take a bit of time!

(And Claire don't panic I know a fair amount about cockers (and springers) having had my own for nearly 12 yrs and worked :ph43r: with many in past 5 yrs!)

Jo

I would have thought if you were running sheep and cattle you would be looking at the Aussie breeds that are bred just for that i.e cattle dogs or kelpies.


Sorry just my 20 cents worth!

Jo, were you are going i would look at an Aussie breed , they are more street smart in that country.
Kelpie .kelpie x .Border collie, BC x Kelpie Blue heeler , BH x stumpy tail heeler , good dogs that know the country and are adapted to OUR Enviroment, .........mm
ps , did Andrew get that ute washed :D ??

I used dozonline for our Cavalier puppy and alot of the breeders took a long time to answer our emails .We ended up getting one from interstate as they seemed the quicket and most friendly breeders who answered.

QUOTE:
I would have thought if you were running sheep and cattle you would be looking at the Aussie breeds that are bred just for that i.e cattle dogs or kelpies.


These dogs are not very reliable around young children though !!

I disagree there. My blue heeler has spent all her life surrounded by small kids and has been just fine with them. I must say though she is extremely well trained. My day care kids used to play join the dots on her with textas (she's a Queensland Blue), of course with permission from their parents to have supervised contact with the dog. Poor old girl is 15 now and still so loving and gentle, but not much longer for this world.

I've known a lot of blue's and kelpies and none of them has ever had any bad interaction with kids.

Each to their own - we were advised against most working dogs as they CAN" herd "children and CAN nip heals more so than other dogs I would rather not take the risk .

We were also told that CAVS were much more reliable around children than the Cocker spaniel ????? and YES these were reliable vet/breeder sources.


I think a cavalier would look a bit silly on a farm though and would prob get trampled by cattle ect :(


GOOD LUCK FINDING A PUP :bouncy:

Sorry if this appears twice!

Congratulations, you have made a wise decision! I sadly left my white standard in England as he was too old to make the journey and now lives with my Dad. I now have a 6-month old white standard called Yuki (Japanese for snow). We will be showing him, so will probably travel a fair bit.

Should you need any tips or advice on grooming or standards in general please feel free to get in touch. Otherwise we could try to meet up somewhere mutually convenient for poodle talk!

Have loads of fun with the dog (what is her/his name going to be?). They are a truly wonderful breed if you can survive the first few months!!

Take care

Claire.

It has taken me a while and a lot of puppy searching to find our puppy. I went to vierw some boxer puppies here in SA and when I asked why some werew docked and some not she replied that her kennels are registered in WA and therefore she can dock the tails. I then asked why she didn't dock all the pups then if that was the case and they are really legit and she said she was not that brave!!! I then thought it was dodgy and decided against buying from here.

I then phoned many breeders through Oz and have now bought Leo (with a tail!!) who is from NSW and will be arriving sometime in NOv. We have had many calls and vetting over the phone, many pics and documents about her dogs. We asked how we wopuld know they were not ri[ppping us off and she is a reputable breeder who shows her dogs and said we could ruin her repoutatiopn. They only sell their puppies to vetted families (4 interviews before they said we could have him) and they look for people who have a current boxer so they know how to look after them.

Anyway to cut a long story short be very careful about breeders and make sure you do plenty of research they cost a lot of money (Leo is $1000 + air costs) but he is from champion breeing stock and we wanted that.

Good luck I hope you find what you are looking for. :D

Thanks guys - to clarify whilst we live and work on farm this dog is to be a pet not a working dog and have no experience with Aus dogs so hence we're sticking to what we know - we have Cavs in family and much the same temprement but yes too small for us to be practical.

Andrew did wash ute thanks mm! We tried to catch up with him but didn't get chance - sure we will at some point!


Right on to the phones to see how I fair!

Hi, we have a kelpie x and she is fantastic with our children. Brilliant with our 15 month old as well, always really gentle with her! we would never have bought her into our home if we felt any other way, she is a great dog - apart from the digging though :o lol! we had a bulldog in UK and could never get a better dog then that, miss him loads :sigh: anyway good luck in your search

Jo- have PM'd you.
M

A $1000 bucks for four legs a bit of a tail and a wet tongue. Could have got the same thing from the Animal welfare or Rspca for about $150, fully checked.

Stevo.

We got our German shepherd from a rescue center. We thought we were doing the right thing as she had been neglected and under fed.
She only lived until she was 6 as her bones didn't grow properly when she was underfed as a puppy.
I wouldn't buy a rescue dog again BUT i would by all the accessories and any other bits from the RSPCA to support a good cause.
Spend your $1000 and enjoy your dog to a good age. :sign03: ;)

Done both things....had a rescue dog and bought a puppy..

OK...the rescue dog was in the UK....and he was a lovely dog...sadly died 4 years ago...


But since we have been here, we have bought a staffy pup...had him since January and he is almost a year old. Saw him being advertised in the paper, went up to Paralowie to view him...and his parents...and bought him. He is a lovely dog....and is excellent with the children.

I would highly recommend a Staffy!

Lorraine

When you search for a good bred pedegree the price is really not of concern, We paid 750 GBPabout ($1700 here) for Sasha as she came from champion bloodlines in the Uk and has a fantastic pedegree. We had no intention of breeding her we just wanted this for ourselves.

When looking for a second for me personally the same applies. He has come from champion bloodlines with also english blood in him too. I am not prepared to be ridiculed at my decision to spend $1000 on my puppy just merely stating that is what I have paid. I am by no means telling anyone to spend that money nor am I telling them which way to go about it merely giving an opinion and my reality of my decision to by a puppy and how I have gone about it.

Please dont comment on my choice of costings it makes no ounce of difference to you in your life as I presume you are not on the lookout for a puppy and certainly not willing to pay more than absolutley necessary :P

Jo you sound very wise as we always had Cocker Spaniels as a kid and you have to be so careful as to where that breed comes from, too much inter breeding and breeding in general can make some awful puppies to have around kids.

Make sure you see the parents and the history of the parents as you can't be too careful, they can suddenly snap and lash out at people as it's something in their make up caused by over breeding or too much interbreeding. They are very loving breed and the best sort of dog you could ever wish for, it's a shame people over breed them causing these problems.

Good luck.

Sasha :)

Sadly overbreeding causes so many issues in all dogs - my aunt's got cavaliers and her eldest (who's same age as my cocker in UK) has just been diagnosed with an enlarged heart which puts pressure on his diaframe (sorry spelling not a strength) which means he passes out if he gets excited - awful! I've personally seen less issues with cockers although all those I've met have a lot of company and exercise which helps any dog!

My hunt continues although we're now leading towards a labrador due to grooming concerns of a cocker! Size isn't an issue but now obviously we need to think about hip checks etc! Maybe a budgie would be better!

Also as a side point I spent about $5000 on my springer in UK, for initial cost to buy, and then training and every penny worth it and I worked hard for it so every pet owner makes their own decisions as to how much they'll pay. Likewise we bought our Jack Russell for about $300 mainly because I wanted a small dog and he was cheap! Dogs do seem generally cheaper over here.

x Jo

Theres a sign in Seacombe road by the radio repairs shop outside someones house, saying puppies for sale, I dont know what type or how much tho.
Sorry I cant be more helpful,

Paul

Friends of ours here in SA have a poodle/spaniel cross, such a cute lovely little thing.
Don't know where they got him from but could find out.

Get a gold fish even less work :lol:

Good luck Jo on your hunt ;)

Sasha :)

Hi, I have searched and researched several breeds and on balance the cocker spaniel is the breed we are getting. Our pup was born 3 weeks ago to a well respected breeder/shower. If you want I could ask if she has any left from this litter or nows anyone else with a litter? :D

Girl, i am not ridiculing you or your dogs, i am stating that for a $150 you could have got the same thing from a rescue pound. Having brought my old fella over from England, at the time he was a 3 year old Springer Spaniel and died here in Adelaide 2 years ago aged nearly 17, we went to the Animal welfare looking for a replacement. But no dog at whatever price could have replaced my jaeger. In the end they are 4 legs, a wet tongue and a tail.

Stevo. :P :P :P

We too have opted for a Staffy.

It took us a while to find a good breeder that had pups available - they are a very popular breed. We pick up our new family member 'Mack' on 11 Nov....not that we are counting down the days or anything.. :P

FULLY CHECKED is a joke however hard they may try to work out how friendly/well behaved a rescue dog is with some they may never know the HORRORS that went on in thie dogs life before they ended up there .

We had a really upsetting and heartbreaking experience with a wonderful rescue dog .It wasnt untill we got her home that we realised she was never going to be okay as her problems were too extensive.

We paid about the same as Candice for Oliver our Cavalier and he is worth EVERY cent !!

We have a well known breeder ,knowledge of great-grandparents to parents and siblings temperments ,a breeder who still contacts me a year later for photos and how he is getting on. a breeder who I could call on and did often in the first few weeks if we were experiencing problems.

Oliver is the most well tempered puppy and with three very small children I wouldnt want any less.

I totally agree with you Ceinwen it is really important to us to have a family history of our dogs so we know what to expect. My new breeder has been on the phone weekly, we told them what puppy we wanted and waitred for her dogs to have a new litter hence the wait for Leo. He was shown to us at only 10 days old (too oung to be photographed before that) and he was ours from the moment he was born.

My breeders have also stated that they tell every one of their parents that if for any reason they cannot look after their puppy they would like them to bring the puppy back to them rather than to sell it elsewhere. Leo comes with 4 generation background just as Sasha did and for that peice of mind for me and my family no price could amount for that.

I have heard lots of horror stories about rescue dogs but also lots of good ones too but it is each to their own and if you are just wanting a dog and not a particular breed then I would say check out the RSPCA but if you want a specific breed for behaviour/temperament then I would deffo say find a reputable breeder.

Hi,

We chose to go through our breeder based upon her reputation (and recommendations of other breeders). We shall be able to see him in aweek or so (cant wait)... we could have got a cocker from the local pet shop and even one petshop willing to send one by air from VIC but this seems somewhat cruel :( . So we are prepared to wait for pup we can see with its parents and ask the breeder questions - temperament , health, feeding, vaccs etc.....I have left a reply for the original thread starter some time ago but no reply ?????

Good for you.

Doing your homework and patience I'm sure will give you a lovely dog.

One of our three Bedlington Terriers is a rescue dog so I know what can happen when things go wrong.

After 4 months we have stopped him peeing in the house!! A big achievement for us!!

Farmingfamily, did you find a breeder yet? I see on dogzonline that there is a Cocker Spaniel breeder in Gumeracha that has a litter currently available. Gumeracha is not that far out of Adelaide, the link is here

http://www.dogzonline.com.au/breeds/member.asp?name=KEBARLEA

cheers, adelaidegirl

I wonder if this is the rather curious little petshop on Seacombe Road which doesn't believe in penning their animals. Enter carefully as there are kittens and pups roaming free, along with rabbits etc. :lol2:

We bought a couple of goldfish there once and it did seem a great place to buy an animal, the guy there was really an animal lover. He told us he once had a rabbit that terrorised even his german shepherd so in the end he had to pen the rabbit as all the other animals were herded into one corner :lol:

Oooh good luck! I know from experience with staffies in the park and at dog training classes that they are one of the hardest breeds to train! No malice in them, but boy are they strong, and strong willed and everyone I know that has obedience problems seems to have a staffy!!!! Oh, and make sure you keep them safe as well, have heard a few horror tales of staffies being stolen from people's gardens and taken away for - supposedly - 'training' as fighting dogs.

Steve had a Stafford a few years ago and has assured me that he will be able to train him(hopefully before he eats the funriture and wrecks the garden!!) They are great spirited dogs, they look a bit on the scary side but are real softies. I know that they can be very dominant so Georgia and I will be going to puppy classes to learn how to handle him properly.
Thanks for the warning - it would be awful to have your family pet stolen, and to be trained as a fighting dog.......well, there are just no words!!

We went for a staffy, as friends of ours in the Uk had them...and they were really good dogs...

Bailey....that's our staffy...we have trained him ourselves... to a certain extent...

The only downside to him, is that he pulls when you walk him...but we have bought one of the body harness things....and he is much better. He sits at the road etc... and is just brilliant with the kids!

BUT....be warned!!!! they love chewing.... i've lost count of what bailey has chewed, but they include...camera leads, playstation games & a controller....lots of shoes...jon's sunglasses...kids soft toys etc...

Before we go out we have to make sure the hosue is completely dog proof...and that nothing is lying around.

But i am a bit worried about what someone said earlier about the theft of these dogs.

Lorraine