Hello Sandra I can understand your concerns and wanting to do the best by your puppies. All part of the breeders responsibility of bringing them into the world and raising them. The family has obviously passed all criteria with you except this reluctance due to the disinterest of one child.
I have to say that IMHO not every child is animal crazy and some are even scared of dogs, cute and cuddly and inoffensive as Cavalier puppies are. If the parents, who sound very responsible people who have done their homework - are aware of this fact they will be diligent with regard to the puppies well-being. Particularly if you explain your concerns to them. Perhaps an older more settled dog would be a better match for them. I have sold puppies to parents with small children - but after long and serious thought and observation of how the youngsters are controlled by their parents. One such puppy went to a family because one daughter was terrified of dogs and needless to say the puppy worked it's magic and she now adores her and is much more confident with other dogs too. Having grown up with dogs I would hate to deprive others of the countless hours of companionship they bring. I think you have to assess each situation as it arises and if your gut feeling tells you no - then go with that but explain it carefully to the people, what ever you decide. Dianne Tyssen Prestonville Cavaliers Invercargill New Zealand [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.prestonville.com "S. L. Reiley-Lince" wrote: > > Greetings, everyone; > I might be premature in wondering about this - the family that came > to visit yesterday might have already made a decision about whether or > not this is a good time for their young family to have a Cavalier puppy - > but I'm wondering if I can run a situation by all of you, and ask for your > collective wisdom... > The family is very nice, living not far from me in the same nice > suburban city, in a very nice area, and he holds a very nice position (I > haff my vays.. of doing some checking, lol!). My concerns were the > ages of the children. But, to back up a bit, I have to say that my only > hard and fast rule about placing puppies with families with children is > that I really have NO hard and fast rules: every situation deserves a > fresh look and an individual decision. The six year old boy seemed very > good with the animals, and one of the twin 3 year old girls did also. > However, one of the 3 year olds didn't seem quite... hmmm.. not as > interested? not as calm? not quite as 'gentle'? and she was a bit... > busy? (even though there were adult hands helping to hold the babies, > the children were allowed to hold them.) > Hubby commented after they'd left (this is the man that changed > his TV from CNN to the Disney channel when the girls went in to visit > with him, and the same man that got out one of the small parrots to > show the children!) that the one girls was just not ready for a puppy, and > certainly not a smaller breed... > So, even though mother would be diligent in watching the child/dog > interaction, and they otherwise (at this point) meet my strict criteria, I'm > not entirely sure this is a good match. I await mom calling me today to > tell me what the family thought, and if they think a Cavalier puppy is > right for them now; but I'm ruminating over a mouthful of chewy thoughts! > On one hand I KNOW that families with small children CAN do just fine > with small puppies (animals, period) - WE have done it! On the other > hand you have different fingers... Oops, I mean: on the other hand, I > don't want to make a mistake in my judgement call, and have the puppy > end up being handled a bit too roughly, or find out that the puppy is > 'terrorizing' the one twin... Or any number of other similar thoughts! > Any suggestions, oh wise people?!? Thanks in advance! > > Sandra ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 1999 by its original author.
