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[Gary Messenger]

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Hi,
We are investigating dog breeds (both have had dogs on the past) and feel we would be suited by cava Jack. Does anybody have details for breeders they would be happy to recommend please?

 

[JoanneF]

Finding a good cava jack breeder could be quite difficult. Cavaliers in particular can suffer from some really nasty congenital conditions (heart problems, syringomyelia) that good breeders try to eliminate through responsible breeding like carrying out health tests and careful selection of parents. Good breeders do tests on their breeding dogs (proper tests, not just checks to say the dog is capable of siring/carrying a litter) to breed out these conditions. Unfortunately with the popularity of these crosses there are many puppy farmers who are more interested in exploiting buyers than the long term health of the puppies they are selling; and pet owners who think it would be lovely to have mini versions of their own pets but lack the understanding of responsible breeding.

It used to be believed that crossbreeds had the best of both breeds and health problems were 'bred out' but in fact you could well get a puppy who has inherited health defects from both parents. So crossing, for example, a cavalier with a jack, you could get still a puppy who has heart problems and spinal cord problems. This obviously could cause long term pain and distress to the dog and the owner to incur on going expensive vet bills. Marilyn Munro allegedly once suggested to Albert Einstein that if they had babies they would be amazing with her beauty and his brains. Einstein allegedly replied how awful it would be if it were the other way round. You get the picture!

There are some responsible breeders of crossbreeds and that is a good thing. But they are very few and you may have to search extensively to find one.

What is it that attracts you to this cross? People might have suggestions about how to get what you want with less risk.

You might find these articles helpful too.

Animal Welfare Site

What Does a Puppy Farm REALLY Look Like? Could YOU tell?

 

[Tinytom]

I would go for a pure breed over a so called designer cross ....as some of the croses come with worst health problems than a pure breed ...