Sharing is caring. November 27, 2023
The picture in this post included Harper (she’s the big one), Jafar, and Gaston. Harper isn’t the mother to these two litter guys….and this keeps happening recently.
Abigail completely stole a Harper litter, and now Harper has taken a liking to an Estella litter. Though she isn’t nursing them at all, she appears to be comforting them while Estella is attempting to ween and give them more independence.
I think this is crucial to the health of our dogs and the socialization of our puppies. The fact that they get introduced to so many caring adult dogs, a friendly kitty cat named Henry, and our children allows them to break out of the nest phase and experience a lot of new and exciting world before they are “thrown” into a completely new environment with their future families.
Wait until these little guys are greeted by the snow in the backyard when we start potty training!
5 week meetups – worth the time taken. November 26, 2023
Maybe the best part of my “job” is dealing with customers…I don’t really consider the dogs/puppies to be part of the job, the Cavaliers would be here without the breeding program.
From the point of contact to when the puppies go home at 8 weeks, we try to keep contact with customers at least once a week. That’s not always possible when we are waiting around for a heat cycle or birth, but once the puppies arrive it’s an absolute pleasure to be in constant contact with their future families.
Whether we are educating customers on the health/behavior of Cavaliers or simply sending pictures with cutesy updates like “OMG they opened their eyes!!!” I get absolute joy out of communicating with customers because I know that they know we really care about every aspect of our business.
I think most people would assume that a “dog breeder” is simply a person who capitalizes on an activity that occurs in nature pretty regularly…and sure – all it takes to get a puppy is to have one female dog + one male dog. But even beyond the proper testing, pairing, consistent health visits, etc. there is the customer experience.
Having happy customers not only promotes a returning customer (the easiest marketing ever by the way) but also adds a ton of value to the customer’s investment in their new puppy. When someone is willing to spend thousands of dollars – they aren’t just buying a puppy…but they are buying our service. The health, testing, pairing, scheduling, emails, phone calls, texts, pictures, meetups…you name it, and we include it. We aren’t just “puppy people”, we are “people people,” too.
How we got here (written in my own words). February 27, 2022
It started with just the four of us: Alissa, Nicholas (me), Myla, and Remington. Oh, and we had a kitty named Henry. I had never needed another pet, it was “us and our cat” and that was just fine by me. For years though my wife, Alissa, constantly asked about getting a family dog which always got the kids excited. I was against it! I knew that a family dog meant that I was training, walking, feeding, etc. another member of our household and I was not looking forward to that.
St. Patrick’s Day a few years ago we were at a parade in our city Greeley, CO, and everyone had a dog! Myla and Remington could not wait any longer: They must have one! So….of course, I finally gave in.
After years of wanting their own dog, Alissa had researched all the breeds and every detail of their health and behavior attributes that they had been associated with. Long story short: The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was at the top of the list. It made sense to me as well. A dog that fits into any groove for housing, has a great temperament, and can tolerate our busy lifestyle having children and work.
It didn’t take long to find the right breeder and find our Abigail. I’m going to admit this….I did not want to like this dog! My stubborn nature and after years of resisting having another “pet” I was not going to make this easy. Fast forward 6 months and take a guess who is in my lap every chance she gets? Abigail had chosen me as her person, and I had accepted her as my companion. We did everything together. Car rides, walks, kids to the park, etc. Abigail was there!
Now there’s always a part of a story, long or short, where the climax occurs. In this story it occurs when someone said, “We should get another puppy!” and I replied, “Another Abigail?!” Alissa’s years of researching the proper dog for our family had led her down the path of finding the dog which had been bred properly and all the health concerns involved in breeding Cavaliers specifically. For lack of a better way to say it, she knew her stuff.
The decision was made. We are going to get another puppy and we were going to breed Abigail properly in order to obtain it. That first litter was life-altering. Not only did we fall in love with every little puppy we helped her raise, not only did we keep TWO of those incredible little puppies, but we opened the door for our family to offer a “better” puppy program that produced quality pups!
We remembered while shopping for our Abigail that we had a tough time finding breeders that were doing the proper health testing and certifications as well as offering some form of customer service and satisfaction. Alissa and I having a background in working with customers and her newfound love for understanding as much as she could absorb about the Cavalier became a cocktail of “this makes sense.”
The rest is history. Abigail is still my lapdog years later and nearly ready to retire from breeding. We have two more Dams ready to take her spot as Queen(s) and another beautiful puppy we recently brought home. We have also added Shango, our male, who we are using as a stud for our own puppies and Stud Services to help others breed healthy pups. We are still doing all the right things, and maybe even better, and it feels great to be able to send smiling families home with their very own healthy Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
–Who we are and what we do (and don’t do).
Abigail’s Fancy Fan’s Mission and Guarantee is that we will provide families with the healthiest pets that we can.
We will always maintain our adults Cavaliers OFA certifications. We will, also, always health test any two breeders to ensure that we are never pairing two dogs together that could possibly have health affected puppies.
We will always be available to our customers. What that means is that the very moment we open conversation with you, we are ready to help you through the decision-making process. It means that the moment you put a deposit down on your new puppy, we are going to provide you with updates of any vet visits, concerns, and many pictures!
Once our puppies become your puppies, we will continue to be available to you. You can contact us with any concern or question, and we will always be available to answer you or help you find the right answer.
Your new puppy will always be “one of ours” and we want to extend that to you, their new family.