Kate’s Family Pets
Other Puppy Breeds
Moyen
Poodles
After the labradoodles these are my favourite cross. Moyen means medium in French and our Moyen poodles are a cross between a standard and a toy poodle. These pups have all the advantages of hybrid vigour within a single ‘breed’.
They are knee high and look like small standard poodles. With the advantage of hybrid vigour, a long tail and a sensible haircut they are great looking, healthy, and highly intelligent dogs.
Our poodles are selected for outgoing temperaments but poodles are generally more reserved and aloof with strangers than Retrievers or Retriever Poodle crosses. Poodles are not regarded as ideal children’s pets.
Cavoodles
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel X Poodles are a well known and justifiably
popular cross these days.
The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a lovely little dog that has always
been bred specifically as a pet. Because their only purpose has ever
been to be a warm cuddly companion to the upper classes they have been
selected for several hundred years for a gentle sweet natured non-aggressive
temperament. They aren’t
the smartest dogs in the world but they are far from the least trainable (scoring
44 out of 80 on Stanley Coren’s ranking)
Structurally they are quite 
sound although they have a shortened face and concurrent
soft palate problems which can lead to heat intolerance if they are overweight
and protruding eyes which can be easily damaged. They have long coats, which
usually shed a great deal of hair, and there are a number of common genetic problems
in the breed. Heart problems are a particular problem in Cavalier King Charles
Spaniels
”Cavoodles” are small to medium sized, reasonably intelligent, shaggy, low to non shedding dogs. They have normal sized eye sockets and so their eyes don’t protrude but they have a rounded head and marked check so they are pretty little shaggy dogs. They are good indoor pets and would suit a family or single person with a smaller yard. To date we are not aware of any heart problems being reported in Cavoodles.
Cavalier X Beagles
This
is the cross I have always wanted to try. Beagles are pack dogs and appear
to be almost totally without an aggressive bone in their bodies, they
are laid back, small, easy care friendly - almost the perfect family
pet - EXCEPT, as every beagle owner knows, once a Beagle gets its nose
to the ground it becomes deaf to all commands. By introducing the Cavalier
(a toy pet breed with no hunting instinct at all) we aim to produce a
Beagle like pup with hybrid vigour and a reduced scent following drive.
We have 2 beagle bitches and have bred a couple of litters now. As you can see the puppies are extremely cute and grow into a very beagle like dog - with a slightly shorter face, longer ears and slightly hairier but still short coated. Physically they are exactly what I would expect from this cross.
These pups are for someone who wants a small, sweet natured, totally non aggressive, short coated, easy care family dog. They may not win obedience trials but they should be loyal and reliable pets.
