A friend of a friend is looking after a 3 yr old neutered male CKCS until she finds him a home.
We have been thinking about a 2nd dog, and have decided against getting a puppy for the time being.
Would this dog be a good choice to live with our 20 month spayed GR bitch? I have not met him yet but he is living nearby so a meeting could easily be arranged
He is apparently great with people and other dogs, but used to being the centre of attention, just him and his mistress who has sadly passed away.
Because of this she is keen to find someone who is at home all day ( I am)
Would welcome your thoughts very much!

Depends a bit on what your Golden is like -if she's very boisterous a Cavalier can get knocked over and hurt in play (I've had that happen with the exact same combination and ended up buying a second cavalier as the first eventually refused to go outside with the Golden and needed company his own size), but if she is sensible and knows how to play gently with a smaller dog (which she should do a her age) it should be fine. In many ways it's a very good combination of breeds. :)

In this room with me right now are 3 little Papillons, a 13 year old Cavalier and a 15 month old Golden bitch in season, all getting on just fine. :)

Sounds likely to be an excellent match.  She is probably past the most clumsy not knowing her own strength phase and a male and female are most likely to get on well, and both are basically gundogs, so will enjoy a lot of similar kinds of play etc.

She is very good with small dogs when we meet outside,  seems to adjust her playing to the size and enthusiasm of other dog.
She is very energetic but seems to know when to stop.
She's great indoors--very sensible!
I feel in a way as if it's fate (probably sounds really daft!) but I've been agonising about getting a new puppy from my breeders current litter and decided that now isn't the right time for a puppy. Then today I got a text from my friend about this 3 year old dog!

I think you should give it a trail run. Both breeds have nice natures (usually) so they should hit it off well and be good company for each other.  :-)

We have a Golden Retriever and a small terrier rescue in our household. The GR weighs in at 33kg and the terrier at 5kg and one of the worries I had was the difference in size and weight. We had 5 meetings, including one in our home, before the terrier came to live with us. Harley would appear to half lie on Cooper when they were playing and I was really worried he would hurt him but the kennels assured me that he was fine and playing normally - they pointed out that Harley was not putting any weight on him and it was normal play.

Terriers are very hardy dogs and Cooper can play as hard as any terrier. In fact it is he who initiates most of the play and gives Harley a hard time :) Harley can pull me off the sofa when I play tuggy with him but always tempers his strength to match that of Cooper's when he plays the same game with him.

I would give it a trial and see how things go, well bred Cavaliers seem to be such lovely gentle dogs and your GR sounds as wonderful as mine so hopefully you shouldn't have a problem :)

Hi Hamster,

Just to add my two pennies worth, I have a Cavalier and an Alaskan Malamute, two very different breeds. I would agree with everything the others have said, as long as your Golden is not too boisterous, you should find that they get on well with each other, both being sociable breeds. Our two are always playing with each other but we do supervise as the Mal can sometimes get a bit rough, mind you the Cavalier is perfectly capable of holding her own and will always tell the Mal off if she oversteps the mark. I would introduce the dogs to see how they get on initially - good luck, Cavaliers are great little dogs, they are so loving and gentle :-)

I keep Cavaliers and Boxers.   'Nuff said!

I'm going to meet Harvey tonight!!!!
The plan is that we meet soon on neutral ground with the dogs and let them have a play. If all goes well then we will have him here for a trial period to see how we all get on.
Does that sound ok??? or is there a better way to go about it?

That sounds like a good idea to me! I hope all went well, how exciting! You'll have to let us all know how it went. What colour is Harvey?

Just come back from meeting Harvey. He's a lovely little dog--very waggy, but looks so old for 3, more like 10 really. He probably needs to lose at least half his body weight bless him.
I said I will ring tomorrow and arrange a meeting between the two dogs but he was so timid I think he may be overwhelmed by Bonnie's bouncyness, even though she's very gentle.
It would also be ages before he could manage one of our walks.
I'm really confused now !
By the way he's a tri-colour

Ah bless - Harvey sounds like my Bobbys twin.  Bobby is a tri colour aged 3 (nearly 4) he weighed 20 kilos when we got him last May - has a grade 3/4 heart murmur, hip dysplasia and sever arthritis in his hips.  Whith the aid of the correct medication, magnetic collar and good diet he is now at 14 kilos - loves a good run and a walk - manages an hour to an hour and a quarter no problem - just has a rest afterwards!

does your friend know if Harvey has any health issues - on the bouncy side of things this doesnt seem to bother Bobby he just stands and lets the others bounce so you may find it will be fine......

let me know how you get on

Maxine  

PS just remembered when I first took my Bobby to my vet he said he had the body of a 10 year old but the teeth of a two year old  :)

She didn't know of any health problems. I did comment on a bare patch on his back about the size of a 50p piece that she said started when her Mum went into hospital and had got bigger. Also his coat is very dull and out of condition.
I have a couple of contacts for people who may be interested and will pass them on.
I have decided that we're not the right home for him so I will give them a ring this morning. He's very much a lap dog because that's what he's been used to. Much as I hate the thought of him staying the size he is, I'm sure he would be happier in a one dog family where he gets all the love and fuss--maybe a retired couple?
We go for long hikes sometimes at the weekend and I'm not sure he would ever be up for that and have visions of having to do 2 separate dog walks twice a day, and leaving him at home when we go for our long walks.
I know that maybe I could turn him around but don't feel able to take the chance I'm afraid.

Just thought I'd give you an update on Harvey.
I posted last week about a little cavalier who needed a home. I put the word around my dog walking friends and within a couple of days he was rehomed!
He has gone to live with a local lady who lost her westie a couple of months ago so it's all worked out well.
I even saw him yesterday out on his walk and he has settled in well on his new settee and was enjoying meeting lots of new dogs, and his tail never stopped wagging!

That's lovely news :)