Category Archives: akc

How to tell if your beeder’s OFA heart certs are legit

Both Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and Beagles should have their hearts checks before breeding.

CKCS should go one step further and have theirs checked every single year, since our breed is plagued with a heart disease that can develop over time.

Hearts, while they can be checked by a general practitioner, *should* be checked by a cardiologist. Cardiologists train to hear the difference in the clicks and ticks that hearts make and what these noises make. They are trained to see things on echocardiograms to understand how the heart valves work and blood flows.

To know if your breeder is having their hearts checked properly, check their documentation. Have a look to see what is written. I will show you two examples.

This beagle was seen by a cardiologist as you can see on the bottom right.

This cavalier was seen by a regular vet (unfortunately).

As I mentioned earlier, heart clearances for cavaliers are only valid for 1 year. If your breeder is breeding dogs that haven’t got current clearances, you should ask them why not.

Not every breeder posts the results online – it can get expensive to do so. So, they can just show you the paperwork that would be submitted to www.ofa.org. Below are some examples for you to look at.

If you want to know more about what a heart murmur is, there is a little video about it here:

I want to say thank you to Su Ann from Lucidity’s cavaliers for the inspiration and a couple of the images for this article.

Nick is #2 15 inch beagle in the USA

We are SO excited to announce that the February statistics of the “Canine Chronical” shows that Nick is the #2 15 inch beagle in the USA (All Breed points) and #3 15 inch beagle in the USA (Breed points). He is also the #15 Hound in the USA.

He has had group wins and placements under judges such as Mr Raymond V. Filburn Jr, Mr Dana P. Cline, Mr James Mitchell, Mr Thomas Kirstein, Mr John P. Wade, Mrs. Linda Hurlebaus, Mr Allen L Odem and Ms. JoAnne Buehler.

We can’t wait to see what the march statistics show, and what the rest of the year has in store for us. This boy certainly makes us feel like all our Christmases have come at once.

Charlotte and Zakk’s cavalier pups are 2 weeks old

2 weeks flies by so quickly. As a breeder, I can breathe a little sigh of relief as it means I can start getting a little more sleep. I don’t have to wake up every hour or two through the night anymore to check on them. Not that I mind – but my bed is calling after 2 weeks of broken nights of rest.

The puppies are thriving, and by all accounts a little on the advanced side. Because cavalier puppies are born “early” (by dog standards), they tend to be like preemie human babies that can be a little developmentally delayed – they get there eventually but maybe a month or two behind their peers sometimes (or in puppy cases a few days or a week behind what i would expect a beagle pup to do).

However, these little guys, the two blenhiem pups decided day 10 was the day to start opening their eyes. This means that they are also starting to hear and they are moving around the whelping pen more. The two tri girls are not far behind and at 14 days both have slivers of eyes opening.

I can’t wait till we start seeing their little personalities emerging. For now we are just enjoying their little blobby snuggles. Enjoy the photos of them growing up.

*please note that they are not available at this time. *

Fergie

Kate

Archie

Victoria

Charlotte’s cavalier puppies are 1 week old.

Time flies when we are having fun and our Easter gift this year is that Charlotte’s puppies turned a week old. They are all thriving and active. They are nursing well and gaining weight like they should. Charlotte is healing well from her c-section and is a wonderful mother, taking great care of them. They are clean and bonny. What more could we ask for?

Without further ado, I know what you are here for – photos of the little dumplings. Enjoy.

*please remember that none are for sale at this time. *

Fergie. Now 9.88oz

Kate. Now 11.78oz

Archie. Now 10.05oz

Victoria. Now 10.55oz

Charlotte’s pups are 3 days old

Now that Charlotte’s babies are a few days old and starting to fill out a little, I took some time to photograph them with my phone tonight before doing their dewclaws. I usually use my “big girl” camera, but I couldnt be bothered – sorry. But they still look cute anyway I think.

*please note that none of these puppies are available at this time*

Enjoy <3

Fergie. (now 7.5oz)

Victoria (now 8.2oz)

Archie (now 7.6oz)

Kate (now 8.4oz)

Charlotte has her baby cavaliers

Charlotte’s due date was Friday the 26th. We had done the xrays on Wednesday the 24th and we knew there were 4 puppies on board. True to timing, she started panting and nesting Friday evening around 7pm.

I woke up every 1.5 hours through the night to check on her. I walked her, and pottied her but there wasn’t much action happening. This is normal. Stage 1 can be long (just like a human – they are opening the cervix to “10 cm”). Around 4am she cried a lot so I ended up sleeping beside her from that point, with my hand on her as she slept and panted and shifted.

Saturday was much the same – watching her, but not much happening. we went on lots of walks/potty breaks. That was, till about 4:30pm. During one of our potty breaks, her water sack came out and she proceeded to pop it. “Awesome”, I thought. “We will have a puppy soon.” But, as the afternoon wore on, Charlotte kept panting and then would do an occasional push, but nothing worth noting.

In the dog breeding world, you start to worry when your dog has been pushing consistently for an hour. She hadn’t been doing that, but after 3 hours of waiting, it just didn’t feel right. By this stage, Molly and Abbey arrived. Molly is Charlotte’s ‘other mom’ (Charlotte lives in a guardian home with one of my closest friends).

Around 8pm, we spotted a little bubble – YEAH – a puppy was on it’s way, but then we saw feet. UH OH – that’s not usually a good sign. Feet without a sack means a dry birth, which is harder for momma to push out, and a bubble usually means there is another baby competing for space. We did the “wheelbarrow” technique to try to reposition the babies and called our vet. He said since there was a puppy so close, we should grab a towel and try to gently pull the puppy out. We tried to do this, however, Charlotte kept sucking it back inside making it near impossible to grab. I made the call to Dr Anders to do a c-section – he agreed.

At this stage, I will say a HUGE thank you to Dr Anders Thoreson from Klahaya Animal Hospital for being on call – I know this is not normal and it is SO appreciated.

As irony would have is, just as we pulled in the the Klahaya carpark, Charlotte gave birth to that birth puppy on Molly’s arm. In the breeding world we call that “bumpy road protocol” 🙂 haha.

Inside we talked about it – between the lack of pushing and the long labor, we decided to go ahead with the c-section and get the babies out. Better to have healthy babies alive than wait too long and have them die.

I was in the surgical room (far back from the clean area) to “catch” puppies and then i ran them out to Brianna, Molly and Abbey so they could rub them down. All 4 are healthy and strong – at first a little tired from surgery but it didnt take long to get them nursing.

We got 3 girls and a boy. 2 tri girls and 1 blen girl and 1 blen boy. 🙂 Born just before 10pm on Saturday the 27th. Mama and babies were able to come home an hour later and so I got up all through the night to check on their progress.

We are so thankful for these precious little lives and look forward to them growing up.

Since Charlotte is named after Princess Charlotte, it seemed only fitting we did a “Royal” litter in her honor.

Blen girl was born at 6.17oz. We are nicknaming her “Fergie”

Blen boy was born 6.49oz. We are nicknaming him “Archie”

Tri girl 1 (with the larger blaze) was born at 6.53oz. We are nicknaming her “Victoria”

Tri girl 2 (with the smaller blaze) was born 6.67oz and we named “Kate” since she looks so much like her mom.

**please note that none of these puppies are available at this time**

Welcome to Kazuri, Puddin’

So, I have been a huge fan of a kennel in Australia called Karakush for a long time owned by Leigh and Helen Gibson. The consistency in their breeding program, and quality of their dogs is something to aspire to. I used one of their boys “Langrigg The Cake Boss” for my last breeding to Madison and was not disappointed.

A short time ago, a good friend of mine, Chelsea from Van Mar Beagles contacted me. She had been given the opportunity to import and own Puddin’ (Aus CH Karakush The Proof Is In The Puddin’). She is a beautiful adult beagle that Chelsea could have a litter from and therefore bring some of that bloodline into her own kennel. Well, she called to ask if I would be interested in owning her with her. It was a no brainer for me – of course I said YES! I am SO thankful to Chelsea for her generosity for allowing me to co-own Puddin’ and I know she will add something wonderful to both of our programs. Puddin’ is a 1/2 sister to Charity, whom we co-own together, so it seems like a wonderful extension of that for both of us.

Puddin’ arrived via plane. A huge thank you to Gemma and the staff at Pet Carriers International for coordinating a smooth and uneventful trip! Chelsea and her daughter picked Pud up from the airport and they enjoyed a night at a hotel and some time at the beach before heading home. Pud was un-phased by her long trip proving her wonderful temperament. She walked out of her crate, tail wagging and even though she had not spent much time with little kids was happy to make Chelsea’s daughter her new BFF.

I also want to take the time to sincerely thank Leigh and Helen for giving us the opportunity of adding one of their lovely girls to my breeding program. I’ve been a big fan of the Karakush dogs for a long time. I feel like Puddin’ will compliment what I have going on and really accelerate the plans I have moving forward.

As Chelsea said, “I am reminded that is truly takes a village to create a successful breeding program. I am so grateful to all the breeders behind all my dogs and the fact they are so generous to share a piece of their success with me. They have become cherished friends and I will never forget their generosity and willingness to allow a fellow breeder produce good dogs.”. I believe those sentiments wholeheartedly. <3

Puddin’ at 8 weeks
Puddin’ at 12 weeks
Puddin’ at 1.5 years
Puddin’ at 1.5 years
Chelsea’s daughter helping get Puddin’ out of customs and onto US soil
Puddin’s first kiss
Puddin’ enjoying the beach before driving home to Chelsea’s

Nick is our New Grand Champion

Nick continues to show us he is a gift wrapped in a little tri package!

This weekend Mike and Karen attended the Ochlocknee River Kennel Club of Florida & Greater Panama City Fanciers Association in Tallahassee Florida.

Nick (CH Kazuri’s All I Want For Christmas) blew us away by gaining all of the other requirements he needed to get his GRAND CH (Akc pending) – winning five 5 point majors to finish in 2 weekends as a move up special. ?

On Friday he went Best of Opposite to Paul Hines and Carol Herr’s lovely girl Noel under judge Mr Allen L Odem. This was an honor as Noel went on to win Reserve Best In Show!

On Saturday we went Best of Breed under judge Mr Dana P. Cline.

On Sunday we went Best of Breed under Dr. Steve Keating. He then went on to win a Hound Group 2 under judge Mr Allen L Odem.

I am so thankful to these judges for finding our boy in a large entry of lovely beagles. I am always thankful to Mike and Karen for their care and handling of our Nick.

We are expecting cavalier puppies

We are so happy to announce that the first Kazuri litter for 2021 will be (all going well) cavaliers. We expect them to be born late March/early April.

Miss Charlotte is in whelp to German import Est/Lat/Germ CH Angel’s Pride Zakkary.

This is a tri x blenheim breeding and we could get puppies in either color from this litter.

*please note that we have an existing waitlist and so these puppies will all be spoken for*

Charlotte
Zakk

Guardianship Of Our Breeding Dogs

As a reputable and responsible preservation breeder, I care about the well being of my dogs first and foremost.

In order for me to give my dogs the best possible life, while also being a part of my breeding program, I feel it is important for me to limit how many dogs I keep physically at my home. I do not believe in running a breeding program where dogs are living in kennels. All of my dogs are beloved pets and members of our family. If I had to wait till they passed on to continue my breeding program, I would have a very very small breeding program, and would only breed every 10+ years. That doesn’t really help me create a good breeding program.

To be a good breeder of quality dogs, we must keep, evaluate, and continuously add quality bloodlines to our breeding program. We like to keep a few of our pick puppies to monitor their growth and development. Some will eventually fit into our breeding program, but as we only breed the best, some also will not make the cut. We prefer to place these pick puppies in guardian homes so we can watch them grow and health test them and make the decision whether or not to breed them when the time comes.

Both beagles and cavalier king charles spaniels need to be a part of the family to develop their full potential. That is why we have a guardian program.

The guardian home program is an excellent deal for the dog, it’s a good deal for the guardian parents, and it’s a good deal for producing an exceptional breeding program. It’s one of those “win – win” situations for everyone involved.

The family receives a quality, health tested and top pick puppy. These puppies are sold at a small discount. I am able to improve the breed by using only the best for bettering the breed faster than I could if I had to limit myself to only the few dogs I can keep under my own roof as per the county guidelines and as is reasonable to love and care for them properly.

As a guardian home puppy grows up, we closely monitor the temperament, structure and health. As a guardian family, you will agree to meeting me, or allowing me to take the dog to health clinics to check eyes, hearts, hips etc. as well as perform genetic testing. If the dog is a great ambassador of the breed in all aspects, he/she may be used in our breeding program. We do not take back possession of the dog if they enter our breeding program but instead work closely with our guardians as a team. The dog will continue to live with their guardians full time in partnership.

Before any dog is bred all genetic testing will be performed as well as going to a reproductive specialist vet to be cleared for future reproduction. All of these health tests and breeding costs are done at Kazuri’s expense. If the dog does not pass all genetic testing and is not deemed healthy enough to carry/sire litters by the repro vet, he/she will be fixed at the expense of the breeder and all ownership paperwork will be transferred to the guardian at that time. If a female passes all testing and is cleared for reproduction her breeding career will begin on or after her second or third heat. She will be evaluated after every litter by the repro vet and both timing of breedings and length of breeding career will be at the breeder’s discretion upon the professional opinion of repro vet.

Females are generally in guardianship until her 5th year of age or typically 2nd (at most 3rd) litter – whichever comes first. Kazuri may not need her for this many litters, but we would rather set up the maximum expectation. Why 5 years? Well, a girl is not ready to have babies till 2 – 2.5. Since I work with the families and dont force a timeline on them, if she doesnt have a first litter till 3 or 3.5, we may need till 4.5/5 in order to have the 2nd litter, depending on how often she goes into heat cycle. Alternativly, if it works to do the litters at 2.5ish, your puppy may be “retired” by 4.

With regards to pregnancy and whelping the litter, she would have her pregnancy with her guardian home and then whelp and raise the litter at Kazuri. Guardian families receive a monetary gift for every litter as a thank you. And, of course the guardian family will be welcome to visit. After the completion of her final litter Kazuri will pay to have dog spayed and all ownership papers will be signed over to guardian family forever.

Males are in guardianship until a maximum age of 7 years of age. During this time he may or may not be needed for stud service. Guardian families will get a portion of the stud fee if they are ever used by outside breeders, as a thank you. At retirement, Kazuri will have male neutered and all ownership papers will be signed over to guardian parents forever.

General life expectancy of well bred and cared for beagle is around 15 years but can live up to 17 years with lots of love and care and a healthy cavalier king charles spaniel will usually live 12 years but can live up to 15 with proper care.

As an added thank you to our wonderful guardians I do allow guardians to reserve one puppy out of their guardian dog’s last litter to keep as beloved pet at half cost if they would like to.

Please send me a message for our full guardianship overview that goes into greater detail on how exactly the program works!

Mandatory qualifications for guardians

  • MUST BE WITHIN 30 MINUTES OF WOODINVILLE, WA
  • MUST BE IN A STABLE LIFE SITUATION (NOT PLANNING TO MOVE OUT OF THE AREA FOR AT LEAST 6 YEARS AND MUST ALWAYS RENT/OWN A PLACE THAT HAS YARD ACCESS AND ACCEPTS ANIMALS
  • YARD MUST BE ESCAPE PROOF AND CLEARED OF POTENTIAL HAZARDS THAT A DOG COULD GET INJURED FROM
  • GUARDIAN MUST NOT OWN ANY INTACT MALES/FEMALES OF OPPOSITE SEX OF GUARDIAN DOG OR ANY AGRESSIVE DOGS
  • YOU MUST BE ABLE TO CARE FOR THE FINANCIAL DEMANDS OF A DOG. FOOD, VET CARE AND GROOMING IF NEEDED – ALL DAY TO DAY COSTS INCLUDING MEDICAL ARE THE RESPONSIBILTY OF THE GUARDIAN HOME
  • YOU MUST BE READY TO DEDICATE TIME AND ENERGY INTO THE TRAINING OF YOUR DOG. ALL GUARDIANS MUST TEACH THE BASIC COMMANDS OF: SIT, DOWN, STAY, COME, NO, DROP IT, LEAVE IT. KNOWING THESE COMMANDS HELPS KEEP YOUR DOG SAFE
  • MUST BE WILLING TO COMPLETE PUPPY CLASSES/CANINE GOOD CITIZEN CLASS AND POTENTIALLY SHOW CLASSES TO PREPARE DOG FOR FUTURE SHOWING
  • MUST BE ABLE TO GIVE YOUR DOG AMPLE ATTENTION, EXERCISE AND AFFECTION DAILY. BEAGLES AND CAVALIERS ARE DEDICATED FAMILY DOGS AND REQUIRE LOTS OF LOVE
  • MUST BE COMPLIANT WITH ALL TERMS OF THE CONTRACT INCLUDING NOT USING YOUR DOG FOR BREEDING YOURSELF

* Occasionally we do make exceptions to the mandatory requirements for unique situations. If you feel you are a great match overall aside from one of the requirements above, please contact me and explain. We mostly care our dogs are going to excellent families with lots of love to offer and do sometimes make exceptions on a case by case basis.