Havent you always wanted a pet dinosaur? A dinosaur that would rather lick your face instead of eat it? I found these new adorable costumes from Party City for your upcoming masquerade balls. Judging from the size of the dogs used in the photo shoots, your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel should be a perfect fit in these dinosaur costumes.

They are available from Party City online at this link

The terrific triceratops ($9.99) is my favorite dinosaur.

This spectacular stegosaurus ($34.99) will knock your socks off and clean into the wash.

The viscous velociraptors ($24.99) hunt in packs. Clever girl.

Now I just have to get to work on my own Dr. Grant (Jurassic Park) costume to match.

We recently found out that Blue Buffalo is carried by Amazon. This is a much better price than we have found in any box store and if you are a fan of their product, this could save you some money. You can find them here.

Blue Buffalo Small Breed Puppy Food is a quality dry kibble that is by-product, corn and wheat free. Please feed your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel premium food and consider the natural brands. Good nutrition is cheaper in the long run. In the short run, they eat half as much (so the bag goes twice as far), and you’ll have much less waste to scoop in the yard.

What food do you feed your Cavaliers?

I’m usually very protective of my puppies’ health and hate to take them out in public too soon to expose them to contagious illness, but I’m starting to rethink that. We socialize our puppies very well in our own controlled environment, but maybe we need to get them out in public more once they are 8 weeks old.

Here is an interesting article from the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association).

Behavior society supports early puppy socialization

A position statement on early socialization in puppies released in July by the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior encourages veterinarians to recommend puppies be socialized before the vaccine series is complete.

The guidelines state puppies can start socialization classes as early as 7 to 8 weeks of age. In general, they should receive a minimum of one set of vaccines at least seven days prior to the first class as well as a first deworming.

Additionally, puppies should show no signs of illness during the classes and should be kept up-to-date on vaccines throughout the class.

While veterinarians are appropriately concerned about infectious disease in young puppies, the fact is that behavioral issues—not infectious diseases—are the number one cause of death for dogs under 3 years of age, according to the AVSAB. Veterinarians contribute to these behavioral issues when recommending pets be kept away from possible germs until their vaccine series is complete, the AVSAB stated.

“Puppies go through a sensitive period of socialization when they are uniquely prepared to benefit from exposure to social opportunities. From the time the owner adopts the puppy until 3 to 4 months of age, it is critical that the owner get the puppy out to meet other animals and people, and experience many different kinds of environments,” said AVSAB president, Dr. E. Kathryn Meyer.

“These (unsocialized) puppies may also fail to develop coping mechanisms and grow up into dogs that are unable to adapt to new situations. This can severely inhibit the dog’s quality of life as well as the owner’s enjoyment of the pet,” Dr. Meyer added.

To veterinarians who refrain from recommending early socialization because of the threat of infectious disease, Dr. Meyer suggested taking control of the situation.

“Have the puppy classes in your lobby where you know you can disinfect and you know who has entered,” Dr. Meyer said. Doing so will greatly enhance the veterinarian-client-patient relationship. The pet is happier, and when the owners see this, they are more compliant, she explained.

To view a copy of the AVSAB puppy position statement, go to www.AVSABonline.org and click on Position Statements.

Bil-Jac makes some great dog treats. I just noticed last night that our local Kroger carries Bil-Jac refrigerated dog food. I dont know how good it is, but you can see from the picture that it is in the right section – next to the other dog food. At least I think Bagel Bites are dog food, right?

We recently watched an episode of the PBS show Nova called Dogs Decoded. It is currently available on Netflix watch instantly or for free at Top Documentary films

It’s absolutely fascinating. Nova has set up a website with some interactive features.

They show a few Blenheim and tricolor cavaliers, but for the most part, this is an astounding look at dogs in general and the special relationship between humans and canines.

One of the segments dealt with breeding experiments and emphasized how important it is to only use the very best temperaments in a breeding program. While we certainly didn’t like to see how the foxes were treated, the scientific results are enlightening.

Valentine, its a puppy not a pillow.

Dakar Danger Silver Capricorn x Baroc My Funny Valentine

At Mokido Cavaliers, we are proud to announce Valentine’s first litter!  
Two Blenheim males and two Blenheim females were born Wednesday, July 20.  Mama and babies are all doing very well.  Valentine is the best mother we’ve ever had and loves her new babies.

I have nothing to do with this photograph, but I have so much respect for the photographer and the training skills of their owners. This was taken by Libor and is not photoshopped.

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel has a rich history with art. I have previously posted about some beautiful books which cover the amazing history of the cavalier king charles spaniel in paintings, so I would like start a series of posts and talk about some art you might not have seen. First up we have the television show, Royal Pains.

USA Network airs a series which Mary and I have found quite entertaining lately called Royal Pains. If you love Cavaliers, you will enjoy the first few episodes of this series. Ms. “New-parts” Newberg, played by the enchanting Christine Ebersole, is obsessed with her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and appears with her beautiful tricolor in Season One. The dog appears in a few of the first episodes, but really takes center stage in Episode Six (“If I Were A Sick Man”). There are a variety of options to watch this show: [iTunes] [Amazon] [Netflix] [Hulu] [USANetwork] although I believe only the first three (iTunes, Amazon and Netflix) will allow you to view the first season.

I really do not want to spoil the episode for you, but she throws her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel a “Bark Mitzpah”.She is a recurring character in the series but I believe we only see her dog in the third and sixth episodes of the first season. There are two different cavaliers who played the tricolour, but the poor dogs and their trainer are uncredited in the episode. Rumor has it that the cavaliers belong to Susan Jaffe, a Hollywood animal trainer. One of the two is a six year old champion named McCallum who shares a Grantilley great grandparent with our Venice.

The producers, and particularly the set designers, have everything right about this character. She is obsessed with her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel dog. The attention to detail in the artwork is what really blew my mind. Every picture on every wall of her home is either of cavaliers, or of her own tricolor. However, they missed one detail.