Castle Grogan Cavaliers is a team of two families: Kayla Raut- owner of the ruby jewel, Everest Rain, and Kelsey, Cameron, and Juliet Grogan- owners of the tricolor little lady Luna and the goofball Finnegan Indiana.
Breeding wasn’t the plan when we first got our babies, but as they grew and we saw how sweet they were and how much we had grown to love the Cavalier breed, we realized we had the space, the time, the energy, and the heart to raise puppies.
Our number one concern is to give our puppies the best possible start in life. They are born here at home, with Kayla and Kelsey helping the mamas stay relaxed and calm- even if it’s 3 AM! And they spend their first few days in our little library nursing, sleeping, and being loved on by Mama.
Sometimes we have a tiny baby runt in the litter, and we fear Fading Puppy Syndrome may strike. When this happens, Kayla, Kelsey, Juliet, and Cameron all take turns hand-feeding the little one every two hours and snuggling them against their chest to stay warm. We’re proud to say we have not lost one single puppy EVER!
When the pups can walk, see, and hear, they are introduced to the outdoors a little at a time, always with a human supervising. They start out a little scared of the big wide world! They huddle together, or cry for the human to hold them. But as they get more and more used to the grass and the sun and sky they begin exploring our big yard. They crawl under the stairs, they roll in the dirt, they rest in the shade.
As the Mama weans the pups, we introduce solid food and treats. The pups love to chew on a good pig ear! As they start responding more and more to what’s around them we begin our training. Potty Training takes lots of time, so we know our puppies won’t go home completely potty trained at 10 weeks. But we do our best to begin introducing the idea of Not-Going-In-The-House while they’re in our care. The method we’ve found to be the most successful is to immediately take the pups outside as soon as they wake up from any sleep. Even if it’s just a short nap, as soon as they’re little eyes start opening we rush them outside to potty.
We also begin training the pups to their particular names at this time. Kayla, Juliet, and Kelsey, (or one of Juliet’s many friends if she’s having a slumber party!) sit in a triangle around the kitchen floor and put one puppy in the middle. Then they take turns calling the puppy by it’s name. When the puppy comes to them, he gets a treat! We repeat the process several times each day with each puppy. Now when they come home, they will already know their own name!
At 6 weeks of age it’s time for the puppy’s first vet visit! We schedule our appointment with the same vet that has cared for Luna, Everest Rain, and Finnegan all their lives. We love our vet and trust him to take his time with each puppy- checking their eyes, their heart, their ears, their tummies, everything! He usually gives us a brief science lesson while we’re there- explaining what, exactly, a “patella” is and why heartworm prevention is so important. The room is usually flooded with vet assistants who take turns crowding inside to see our sweet babies. They snuggle them and ooh and ahh at how cute they are. We get a little file on each puppy and pack it away to give to the puppy’s new owners on pickup day. At the end of the visit the puppies are tuckered out, so it’s straight home and straight to bed!
At 53 days of age it’s time for Volhard testing. The Volhard Test is a trusted test for puppy personalities- often used when discerning which pups have the right temperament to become guide dogs or police dogs. We have our Volhard Tester come out to the house and take the puppies one by one into the garage. The puppies have never been in the garage before and they’ve never met the Volhard Tester! It can be a little scary for a puppy, but it ensures that they will respond as their authentic selves, and not how they’ve learned to respond to Kayla or Kelsey and Juliet.
The Volhard Test has several different levels- an umbrella is opened suddenly right in the puppy’s face, or a pot is clanked on in the corner. These tests are designed to gauge the puppy’s reactions and thus judge their temperament. Once all the tests have been done, the Volhard Tester presents us with a score for each puppy- telling us if this puppy is bossy, or that puppy is timid. We share these results with the puppy’s buyer!
At 8 weeks of age the puppies are completely weaned and getting smarter everyday, but it’s not quite time to go to their new homes yet! At 8 weeks they are still very much babies- and even though they would do alright going home at this age, we know that they will thrive at their new home if we keep them just a little longer. Keeping our puppies these extra two weeks gives Mama and Daddy a chance to teach the puppies how to be Good Dogs. It gives us as breeders extra time to reinforce good behaviors and continue instilling Potty Training Etiquette. And, most importantly, it gives the puppy time to mature emotionally, so when they transition to their new homes they can be brave, good, happy puppies.
When it’s time to say goodbye to our puppies, we NEVER put them in a box and ship them off- this would just be too traumatic for our babies! Instead we meet with the buyer personally, whether at our home or at a halfway meeting point, and hand the puppy over ourselves. Sometimes buyers like to come to our house and look at the yard, look at the parents, look at the garage, just to make sure we’ve been honest about how we’ve been raising our puppies. We don’t mind at all!
Once the puppies are at their new homes, we check on them every few weeks. We LOVE updates on our babies! And we periodically set up Visit Days so the whole family can get back together again.
NOnce the puppies are at their new homes, we check on them every few weeks. We LOVE updates on our babies! And we periodically set up Visit Days so the whole family can get back together again.
All in all, we love to breed Cavaliers! We love the whelping, we love the training, we love the snuggles, heck, we even love cleaning up all the p**p. We feel we have truly found our calling- giving puppies love and attention from day one, and finding them homes that will love them just as much as we do.
