Buying a Spaniel Puppy.

The puppy on the logo of this website is my Spaniel Jade.
I did not choose Jade - she chose me .
When you start looking for a puppy,you will undoubtedly be bewildered by the huge number of puppies for sale.
We looked in internet sites and newspapers and magazines throughout Europe.

A friend then suggested that we contact the local Spaniel Rescue Service.
All major breeds of dogs have really kind people who take in and rehome pets that are parted from their owners through various circumstances.
The man who runs our local service put us in contact with a reliable local breeder and we visited him.

What we did not want to do was buy from a puppy farm. Most of the ads in newspapers are from puppy farms.
A puppy farm is a business that produces puppies on a more or less constant basis placing a huge strain on the female dogs who are kept more or less pregnant.
They then become sick and are sometimes killed and replaced.
Some (but not all) puppy farms get their breeding females by kidnapping or otherwise stealing family pets.
This is a huge business and is often run by criminals.
Make quite sure you are not buying from a puppy farm.
One way to tell is to phone and ask what puppies they have.
If there are more than a couple of breeds offered it is probably a puppy farm.

Eddie (our local breeder) had only Spaniels and offered us a choice of 15 cute puppies.
We spent the whole afternoon playing with them on his lawn. It was wonderful.
Although we were only looking for one puppy we fell for two puppies and they looked healthy and bright and adventurous (both good signs) .
We learned how to avoid sickly looking puppies from other breeders or those that hid in corners shaking
(which would be a sign of illness or infestation).

A good puppy will always rush up to you wanting to play and may even attack your shoes as playthings.
He or she should be bright eyed and full of fun.

Do not be surprised if your puppy runs around for a while and then crashes out. This is common.

Watch out for signs of rickets (bow legs) or hip dysplasia (common in overbred Spaniels)

We had great fun with our puppies exploring our garden and I took lots of pictures
Remember to do this on the first day as you will get some great photos or video.
We only had one problem - Jade had worms and these were cured rapidly with a worm tablet. It is very common for puppies to have worms.

Always start your puppy (puppies) off with their own bed and this will be their safe haven.
Get puppy food in for them and accumulate lots of newspaper ( you will need it..)
Make sure there is always a bowl of fresh drinking water down for them
 (and have lots of paper towels ready for those little puppy accidents)

The only really difficult decision we had was which puppies to choose. We wanted them all.