About Us
How We Raise Our Cavaliers
Located on 3 acres in the leafy mountain suburb of Mount Crosby, Fredricos Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are a small Dogs Queensland (Dogs Australia formerly known as the A.N.K.C.) registered show breeder of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, mainly concentrating on the whole colours; Ruby and Black & Tan.
Our puppies are all raised inside our home with an abundance of love in a family environment being carefully handled from birth by our small family - which includes our 5.5 year old daughter, Isabelle. This process desensitizes young puppies to little and big people (male and female), making for confident, well adjusted Cavaliers. There is something so magical about watching children and puppies play, it could almost have you believe in fairy tales!
All members of the family are involved with the day to day handling of our dogs from cleaning, feeding, grooming, playing and training - we all play a vital role in their mental stimulation and well being.
Our Breeding Program: Health, Goals and Direction
The dogs being used in our breeding program are screened for:
- Mitral Valve Disease by a qualified cardiologist Dr Geoff Nicolson: BVSc (Hons) MVETSTUD Dipl. ECVIM-CA
- Eye diseases by qualified (FAVSC) ophthalmologist Dr Michael Bernays: BVSc FANZCVS
- DNA testing by Massey University (New Zealand) for Curly Coat/Dry Eye (CC/DE), Episodic Falling (EF).
One of our key goals since our beginnings was to breed out " Carriers " of Curly Coat / Dry Eye (CC/DE) and Episodic Falling (EF) within our breeding program. It has taken several years, however after carefully thought out, planned breedings and making very selective breeding choices, we are pleased to confirm that we have achieved this milestone in 2020 with ALL of our Cavaliers being " clear " of these hereditary diseases. We plan to push on this way as best we can and any breedings with " Carriers " will result in the entire litter being DNA tested to sort our keepers.
Considered the hallmark of the breed, Cavaliers are an active, graceful, well-balanced dog, very gay and free in action; fearless and sporting in character, yet at the same time gentle and affectionate and we aim to continue to breed such delightful little spaniels.
In 2019, we were ecstatic to welcome our lovely " Turretbank Smarty (Imp Fra) " from Katie Sloan in France who is a well known, respected Cavalier breeder, exhibitor and judge from within the Cavalier realm. We are forever grateful for her kindness, guidance and generosity to share Smarty with us down under. He is a special dog, has contributed so much to our breeding program and is loved with every inch of our being.
Fredricos Cavalier King Charles Spaniels respects the original standard of our breed and can trace the lineage of all of our Cavaliers back to many of the most notable and influential forebearers of our breed and will continue to choose quality, health tested dogs from imported or down from imported lines to continue the diversity our breeding program.
Canine Nutrition
Out of choice and for the overall and mental health of our dogs, we feed Biologically Appropriate Raw Food (BARF) which we mix it up by feeding commercial high quality, completely balanced " AAFCO " approved raw food along with making up and preparing our own raw food meals that are balanced over time.
Every day, each dog will chew a bone for the health and mental stimulation benefits it provides them.
- Children and Raw Feeding
Many queries we receive from those looking to raw feed is how do they handle children and raw food.
Our daughter, Isabelle, plays a vital role of giving each dog their raw food every night and she has been safely responsible for this task since she was 3 years of age. Isabelle takes her role of feeding the dogs very seriously and has the importance of safe food handling down pat. She thoroughly disinfects and washes her hands well after all dinner bowls have been delivered to each individual dog and has been taught not to put pre washed hands anywhere near her face or let the dogs lick her face, particularly after their meal times. By doing this, we have never had any health problems in our family caused by raw feeding.
Isabelle and I together make the batches of fresh fruit and vegetable mixes up together which we process through the " nutribullet ". Whatever of the fruit mix is left over is divvied up between us being enjoyed with a dollop of icecream or yoghurt!
We welcome any email enquiries for raw feeding direction from anyone interested in feeding raw and can recommend local canine nutrionists as well as books, websites, facebook pages, groups and the highest quality commercial raw food we recommend.
