Better Cavs

09/11/2025

09/11/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19mk4hcgoU/?mibextid=wwXIfr

03/11/2025

If you love your dog but sometimes feel you’re winging it, you’re not alone. Most of us grew up around dogs, picked up habits from family or TV, and then… stopped. That’s normal human psychology. But dogs are living in our homes, and a little education can make life safer, kinder, and a lot easier.

Why we think experience is enough

1. Familiarity feels like expertise. When something is part of daily life, our brains label it “known,” even if we’ve never formally learned it. “I’ve had dogs forever” is often a handful of dogs in one context, helpful, but not the same as broad knowledge.

2. Dogs are tolerant. They adapt to our routines and forgive our mistakes, which can hide gaps in our understanding, until something goes wrong (a bite “out of nowhere”).

3. Survivorship bias. If the old ways “worked” for previous dogs, we remember the wins and forget the close calls or differences in breed, age, health, and environment.

4. Modern life changed. Dense housing, busy streets, fewer off-lead spaces, and more visitors/kids/pets create pressures many dogs from “back then” didn’t face.

A bit of behaviour and body language knowledge prevents the most common accidents: “sudden” reactivity that was actually clearly signposted, if we knew what to look for.

Common myths that keep us stuck

“He’s just stubborn.” Many “won’t” problems are actually “can’t” problems pain, fear, or confusion.

“He knows what he did.” Dogs read patterns, not morals. If timing or clarity is off, they learn something else.

“He’ll grow out of it.” Puppies grow out of very little without guidance; most things are grown into by repetition.

What should you do:

Learn dog body language; teach your family the early signs. It pays off for years.

Make consent a habit. Call a dog over rather than reaching in. Growling gets space and only then do you fix the reason.

Manage the environment. Management prevents rehearsals of the very thing you’re trying to stop.

Reward for calm, checking in, loose leads, and moving away from triggers. Small wins, repeated often.

You’ve had dogs your whole life. Great. Imagine how good you’ll both feel when you can also say, “I learned their language.”

03/11/2025

DON’T FORCE ME TO BE SOCIAL!

It may be really disappointing or frustrating when our dogs are not the social beings we expected them to be.

Many people assume dogs should just naturally get along with other dogs, after all they’re the same species.

Some believe the “unsociable” dog has a behaviour problem that needs to be “fixed”.

Early, appropriately timed and proper socialisation is really important, but sometimes despite all of this, some dogs are just not that sociable or socially selective to varying degrees.

Sometimes this can be improved, especially if the cause is from a negative experience, but genetics, breed tendencies, individual personalities, health and age all contribute to tolerance and sociability, which also change throughout a dog’s lifetime.

If we, as a human species, don’t get along with everyone we meet, how can we expect our dogs to?

Do we label or try to fix every person that has an argument; doesn’t make friends with everyone they meet, dislikes some people, or just prefers not to be social as having a problem that needs to be fixed?

Why is it so easy to accept that every individual person is different than to accept that every individual dog is different?

When we have done what we can to improve our dogs’ social skills, we need to accept and acknowledge our dogs for the individuals they are, allow and respect their choice of whether to be sociable or not and never force interactions that dogs are not comfortable with.

29/10/2025

New rules about renting with pets kick in on 1 December. Tenants must have the landlord’s consent to keep a pet but landlords can only withhold consent on reasonable grounds.

Landlords may require a pet bond of up to two weeks’ rent, in addition to the existing general tenancy bond.

Tenants will now be liable for all pet damage to properties beyond fair wear and tear.

These provisions strike a good balance I reckon - making it easier for people to have pets in rentals and making sure landlords are incentivised to say yes.

28/10/2025

Did you know!

The Creation of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

The Timeline:

1500s–1600s: Early Toy Spaniels
• Small “comfort spaniels” were bred across Europe, especially England.
• Popular with royalty and nobility for their gentle, affectionate nature.
• King Charles II adored them — so much that they became known as “King Charles Spaniels.”
• These early spaniels had longer muzzles, flatter skulls, and moderate noses — the look that modern Cavaliers now resemble.

1700s–1800s: The Fashion Changes
• Flat-faced dogs became fashionable.
• Breeders began crossing the traditional toy spaniels with Pugs and possibly Japanese Chins to shorten the muzzle and dome the skull.
• The result was today’s King Charles Spaniel (English Toy Spaniel) — smaller, shorter-nosed, round-headed.

1920s: The “Cavalier Revival”
• An American, Roswell Eldridge, offered prize money at Crufts to anyone who could “bring back the old-style toy spaniel seen in 17th-century paintings.”
• British breeders took up the challenge, selecting longer-muzzled, flatter-skulled dogs from the existing King Charles lines.
• This was selective breeding, not crossbreeding — they used what was already within the toy spaniel gene pool.

1940s: Recognition of the New Breed
• The revived “old type” became distinct enough to be recognized as a separate breed.
• Named the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel to distinguish it from the shorter-faced King Charles Spaniel.
• “Cavalier” refers to King Charles II’s royal supporters — a nod to their historical roots.

26/10/2025

26/10/2025

26/10/2025

Such a precious little darling. She has found a way to cuddle, still being able to lie on the cooler floor. We love her so much.

26/10/2025

BRAIN UNDER CONSTRUCTION
The challenges of the teenage dog.

There’s a saying that most parents of teenagers can relate to - "Parents of teenagers understand why some animals eat their young!"

The changes that happen in the brain of a teenage dog are not that different to a human teenager.

The brain undergoes a period of "pruning" and "re-wiring". This process can cause some parts not to work, work sporadically or work too much.

To describe it in the simplest of terms -the prefrontal cortex of a teenage brain is at the “back of the queue” in this process. It’s still “under construction” and still developing. This area of the brain is responsible for making “logical” decisions, controlling impulses, learning, remembering, problem solving and social interaction.

Because the prefrontal cortex is being reconstructed, the brain relies more on a part called the amygdala to make choices and react.
The amygdala is involved in the “big feelings” we may see - emotional responses like fight or flight, anxiety, excitement, reactivity, impulse control and instinctive behaviour.

Being aware of the physical changes the teenage brain is going through in the process of maturing, helps us to be more understanding and accepting.

Statistics show that many dogs are surrendered or re homed during the teenage stage as their owners no longer “like” the way their dog behaves, can’t handle them or just give up on them.

Please don’t give up on your teenage dog. We need to manage our expectations and frustrations during this phase.

Understand and acknowledge what is happening in their brain. Help them through this stage with patience, consistency, love and acceptance.

20/10/2025

𝗣𝘂𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗸𝘆 — 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴!

You know that feeling when you see a newborn and suddenly your heart melts, your voice goes up an octave, and you start thinking “Maybe it’s time…”?

Well, it turns out the same thing happens with puppies. We call it 𝗣𝘂𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗸𝘆 — and yes, it’s 100% real! (We’ve just experienced it ourselves today 😅).
(There’s also Kitten Clucky… but that’s a whole other post!) 🐱

Those little paws… that puppy breath… those eyes that say “Take me home!” — it’s hard to resist.

Before you get swept up in the puppy love, here are a few things to keep in mind 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗣𝘂𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗖𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗲𝘀 as every single puppy deserves the very best home:

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 & 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆: Puppies are adorable, but they’re also little bundles of work — think toilet training, chewing, and midnight wake-ups!
𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁: Vaccinations, food, flea/worm treatments, desexing, and training all add up.
𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 & 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲: Is your home ready for zoomies and muddy pawprints?
𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝗧𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Dogs bring joy for 10–15+ years — it’s a big, beautiful responsibility.

If your heart’s feeling extra clucky, come chat to our team first. We can help you plan, choose a breed that fits your lifestyle, and make sure you’re ready when the right pup finds you.

Because while Puppy Clucky is definitely a thing… preparation is the key to turning that instant love into a lifetime of happiness. 🐾💛