Our own Code

While we are breeding for show conformation, temperament is vital to us. We are breeding from the same basic families of dogs which two generations of our own children have grown with and loved. All our puppies are extensively handled by both adults and children and we happily let the youngest member of the family (Megan, born in Nov 2002) roam in and out of the kennel with our adult dogs and our bitches with puppies. An essential ingredient in any cocker is the character – they should be a merry, loving family dog. We do not, and will not keep dogs with traces of aggression. If you want a guard dog, don’t buy one of our cockers because while they will let you know the burglar is there by barking, it will be barks of welcome not defence!

We will also not let any puppy go until we are completely satisfied that it is well established on food and able to cope without its mother. This means that a purchaser may have to wait an extra week or so until we are satisfied that their puppy is completely ready.

Puppies for pets

Unless we are selling to a registered breeder for show and breeding purposes, all our puppies are sold as “pets only” and female puppies are sterilized before leaving the kennel. We supply an Extract of Birth Certificate with a three generation pedigree, the date of birth, sex and colour of each puppy. While this is not an official certificate of registration for show and breeding use all puppies sold by us are bred from registered parents and all puppies are registered. We welcome visitors both seeing and handling the parents and other family members of any puppies which are for sale. 

How to buy a puppy

First of all, determine that a cocker spaniel is the best dog for you and the one that you truly wish to spend your life with. Then decide from where you are going to get your puppy. Ask people who have a cocker for their advice, contact the Canine Association for a list of breeders (see Tip below) , maybe go to a dog show to look at the dogs there, ask breeders of other dog breeds who they recommend - anything you can do to get an idea of where to buy your puppy from. Then visit some breeders and kennels, handle their dogs and ask them questions about the breed and their bloodlines. We welcome visitors handling our dogs, but please phone to make an appointment first (to make sure that you do not arrive at feeding time or when we are just about to whiz off to a dog show!).

Tip: When finding breeders beware of "recommended" or "reputable" breeders lists. Chances are you came to this website via the Canine Association of WA's website. We pay to be on the list of breeders as do many others, it is not a recommendation. Similarly some of the commercial websites, such as some dog food brands provide lists of breeders; these are people who use the product in return for endorsement. We do not participate in any such schemes as we prefer to be free to make the best choice of foods for our animals based on quality considerations alone.

Once you have researched the breed (Tip: make sure if using the internet that you are looking at information relevant to “Cocker Spaniels” and not “American Cocker Spaniels” an entirely different breed. Many North American sites will list our type of cockers as “English Cocker Spaniels”), decided on the sex and colour you would like, then contact us and determine what we have available and what we have coming up. Our puppies are often ordered within a few weeks of birth and we take deposits on puppies from about two days of age onwards. The first people to pay a deposit have first choice of the available puppies after we have chosen for ourselves. We will not take orders on puppies prior to them being safely born and over the first 48 hour period.

A Special Note on Choosing the Sex of your Puppy
We often receive enquiries for female puppies with the comment "females are gentler than males" or "females are less aggressive".  While this may be so in the more aggressive breeds that are bred for guarding or similar purposes, we do not believe this to be so in cocker spaniels.  In fact there are several advantages to male puppies, not the least of which is the absence of any need to sterilise males.

What do we supply?

We supply all puppy purchasers with:

• Comprehensive feeding and care instructions

• Enough food for the first week

• Vaccination certificates

• Birth Certificate

All puppies are regularly wormed and are Vet checked at the time of vaccination.

Most importantly we supply 50 years of experience in our beloved breed and provide a lifetime advice and assistance service to all owners of our dogs. 

Tails

In April 2003 the Animal Welfare General Regulations (2003) were proclaimed by the Western Australian State Government. These included the following:

14. Further offences (s. 94) - Tail docking 
(1) In this regulation, a reference to tail docking means the amputation of one or more coccygeal vertebrae, leaving at least the first coccygeal vertebrae intact (unless the health of the animal will be adversely affected by the retention of that first vertebrae, in which case it includes the removal of that vertebrae). 
(2) A person who is not a registered veterinary surgeon shall not carry out tail docking of a dog. 
Penalty: $2 000. 
(3) A registered veterinary surgeon shall not carry out tail docking of a dog unless he or she believes that there are sufficient reasons for the tail docking to proceed for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes. 
Penalty: $2 000.
This effectively made docking of dogs tails illegal in Western Australia. Therefore all our puppies since April 2003 have been left undocked. If you are offered a cocker spaniel with a docked tail you should determine when and how it was docked as it may have been done so illegally, or may be a puppy flown into WA from the large puppy farms in Victoria.

Please do not ask us to dock your puppy’s tail.

What you can do to make the transition to your home easy for a puppy

Puppies are often extremely stressed by the move from a comforting “pack” situation into a home where they are the only dog. They will often experience some diarrhoea, maybe even with some blood in it, for the first few days. Provided that they are happy and eating and drinking well, do not worry, this will settle down in time.

Give plenty of reassurance and affection but don’t force the puppy and over-crowd it. Allow it to find its own way around in its own time. Determine before you bring it home, where it will sleep and what it will sleep in. Puppies often like to have an enclosed sleeping space such as a crate or a simple cardboard box with the flaps down and some fluffy material inside. Most of our puppies have been reared with a radio in the background and many find this comforting. In winter a hot water bottle can do wonders.

Check out your yard for holes in fences or other hazards to the puppy. Remove any snail pellets or other poisons within puppy reach. If you have a pool you may need to cover the bottom 30cm or so of the pool fence and gate with fine wire mesh to prevent the puppy getting in. When it has grown big enough to climb this barrier it should be too big to slip between the bars. Dogs do not naturally know how to get out of swimming pools and drown easily. It is vital that you train the puppy when it is big enough where the steps are and how to get out.

Most importantly do not take the puppy off your property until 10 days after its final vaccination.

Older dogs needing homes

From time to time we have older dogs who we will consider parting with to the right family or home. While we are never happy to part with them, it is a fact of life that they will have a better and more comfortable retirement in the luxury of a family home where they are individually spoilt and cosseted, then they ever will in a kennel situation. Not all of our older dogs do go to homes and it is not a common occurrence. If you believe you could offer such a home to a retired show dog (maybe the days of puppy training are not for you) and you would like to be added to our register of interested owners please contact us. We try to match dogs with ownership situations and the availability of both is very variable. We charge a small price to cover sterilization because we have found in the past that a financial cost weeds out those people who are simply looking for a “cheap dog”. Those people willing to give their love to and adopt an older “pre-loved” cocker are a special breed themselves and we would love to hear from you if you fit that category.