Thank you lucyd & Goldmali for restoring a little of my faith in this website, and not shooting me down first chance. My first note may not have come accross as perfectly worded as it should have but as oyu might have guessed im new to this.
I am indeed looking for a 'family' dog, which includes my 3 children 11 & 8 (twins). I have put off getting a dog for a few years but i do now feel the time is right, its not just for the children. My in-laws have had a yorkie for 12 years but feel a Cavalier would be best suited to us. I am aware of the cavalier temprement and health issues through the research i have done but i was advised through a KC enquiry that some breeders breed (within the breeding standards) smaller cavaliers, this i know nothing about and am really non the wiser.
We do have a large garden and very large enclosed dog friendly feild which we back onto which we feel will be ideal for a cavalier. I am at this moment gathering as much information as i can on the cavalier to make a decision in the new year and would welcome any coments on the breed good or bad.
I hope this is worded a little better and hope you can give me a few ideas or recomend any breeders in the northwest area whom i could contact for further information. Thank you

colin.o'hare@uisl.co.uk

The ideal cavalier size according to the KC breed standard is 11lbs to 18lbs, as I own a 15lb dog who appears to be the size of a puppy compared to the rest of the class at 99% of the shows & he is smaller than a lot of the bitches too. He doesn't look like a bitch BTW just a lot smaller.

Perhaps the dogs you have seen have been the result of puppy millers using Welsh Springer Spaniel bitches to get bigger litters

Best thing you can do is go to a few dog shows & when you see dogs that you like have a word with the owners.

I cannot think of anyone who breeds for the 11lb size who does all & I mean all the health tests(including MRI scanning)

If you join & click on my name there is a link to my boys site & you will see the difference between my JD & the other dogs who are the same size as most other cavaliers

Hi guest
thankyou for your new post...it has cleared things up dramatically.As MM says if you can it is a good idea to go to some shows and see the type of CKCS you like.However you can also contact the breed club who should be willing to assist you in your search and advise you of health tests etc.(mind you think people have near enough covered it on here)There should be a list of clubs and breeders on the CKCS page of champdogs.
It is important that any pup you buy is from a good breeder who health tests....please do not buy from a person who breeds and sells more than 1 or 2 breeds.A good breeder  will offer you life long support and advise. 
Do not be put off approacing a 'show' breeder...they all produce pet quality pups although these are more often than not still superior quality to a pup bred by Joe Bloggs down the road.
Talk to a breeder...ask questions but also be wiling to answer them too...it shows the breeder cares about their dogs.
Good luck in your search...take your time and buy the best...you will often pay the same if not more for a pup from a puppy farm of pet supermarket.
Make sure you pup is KC reg...nothing else as other registries are becomeing very popular because they are cheap and will register ANYTHING!
Archer