All about Flora, my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
A month ago today, I adopted Flora the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel from the Dog Mill Rescue. At the time I first visited her, she had been at the rescue less than 24 hours. I then had to wait a week, both because we had a guest coming and because she had to be vetted-which included all necessary tests and shots as well as spaying. She had been groomed before I saw her and was groomed again before I picked her up on July 3rd. Her hair was trimmed short, which isn’t typical for a Cavalier (and makes her look puppish) but is a good idea when one lives in a kennel with another dog and wants to stay tidyish.
When I first brought her home, she was dopey from the spaying, which took place only a couple of hours earlier. I was given meds to give her twice a day for the next week, and these kept her a little out of it. She was fairly chill and low energy for that week, never barked, and-especially the first two days-had no interest in sniffing anything. She also didn’t go potty for the first 36 hours, although I took her out every half hour because the rescue told me most of their dogs had never been house trained. She does sit on command, but since she basically sits when one looks at her, it’s hard to tell if she knows why.
There were a few things I discovered almost immediately. First, once she was well enough to walk up and down stairs, I found that she was terrified to-she had never encountered stairs before. I had to lure her up and down to convince her. Other new things include passing cars, television, belly rubs (see below), and kind strangers. She also doesn’t seem particularly comfortable with other dogs.
Second, she would have minor panic attacks on our walk. She would stop moving and sit there shivering, and I couldn’t convince her to move, and ended up having to carry her. She has since grown more confident, and these haven’t happened severely in over a week (very minorly this morning, but I hugged her until she stopped shivering, and then she was willing to walk on).
Third, she was not house trained and still isn’t. If she isn’t taken out when she needs to go, she will (looking at me, but not guiltily) use the floor or even my bed! This latter is especially worrying, since dogs will almost never soil the place they sleep. However, she prefers to go outside, and if I take her out four times a day, she’ll never make a mess in the house. Nature’s Miracle really works wonders, by the way.
Fourth, she enjoys nesting. I allow this behavior on my bed, since it’s adorable and doesn’t harm anything. She basically makes a nest of the blankets, including a spot for me to sleep. (Cavaliers are typically very neat dogs. Flora tends to sit on her tail, presumably to keep her underside cleaner. When I first got her, she was clean except for her tail, which was encrusted with urine, presumably where she sat in it in the Mill Dog Rescue kennel. These kennels are cleaned every morning, but have concrete floors for that purpose. However, I think that bit was a fluke, because Flora is extremely careful never to step in excrement, her own or others’, even when she seems not to be paying attention.)
Flora has grown much attached to me. She sits on my lap at every opportunity. When she walks in front of me and I accidentally kick her, she doesn’t hold it against me. Even when I hit a little quick while trimming her nails, she didn’t hold it against me-although the plethora of treats I gave her immediately after may have helped. When off-leash, she follows me around. On leash, she walks pretty well and doesn’t pull much. She trusts me enough to roll on her back and let me rub her belly. (Fifth: she had never had a belly rub before. She had no idea what I was doing the first time, but came to love it.)
The downside of this is that she’s very wary of other people, even my roommate, who’s been here since day one! She’ll sometimes bark or growl when people come into the room. Her tail, on this occasions, may either be wagging or between her legs, depending on the person. However, she never bites. If I leave for even a few minutes, she’s first frantic and then lies desolate and inconsolable on my shoes. The one time my roommate briefly tried to take her outside to potty, Flora grabbed the leash in her mouth and did her best to haul them both back to me.
Sixth: Flora doesn’t know how to play. She simply doesn’t understand toys. (I caught her on photo one of the few times she bothered with one.) She does, however, absolutely adore the nutri dent chews I give her to clean her teeth. She also loves her vitamin and cardio supplements, and considers them most excellent treats. Likewise her heartworm prevention medication, of which she’s currently only had one dose.
I feed Flora 50/50 homemade casserole and Innova dog food. She will happily eat however much I give her, but I’m careful not to overfeed her and am keeping an eye on her weight. Her coat, which was gorgeous when I got it, is now even nicer. It’s just incredibly sleek, soft, and shiny.
Although not stupid, nor is she particularly bright. She is trainable, however.
She loves the body harness I use with a leash. She wasn’t sure about it at first, but soon came to see the benefits. This is well, because her hunting instinct (Cavaliers are bred as lap dogs, but are still spaniels) sometimes prompts her to lunch after bunnies, birds, and squirrels. Thankfully, she gets along well enough with cats.
At the moment, Flora’s being a bit reactive and barky when she sees people or dogs on our walks, but we’re working on this. She’s very friendly from a distance, wagging her tail, but when we get close she becomes very shy and jumps on my for support, looking only at me and licking my face (when I kneel to hold her, poor nervous dog).
Flora spent the first 3-1/2 years of her life as a breeder in a dog mill. I don’t know exactly what her history is, but she bears clear physical signs of having had puppies at least once and having had very little positive interaction with humans and other dogs (although she loves both from a distance), and minimal exercise. I am glad to say, however, that I’ve seen a marked improvement in her confidence and condition, both physical and mental. She is, in short, a marvelous dog.
