Tag Archives: hound

Do I want a puppy from a show breeder?

With many enquiries into my puppies or dogs, I will get a statement of “Well, I am not looking for a show dog – just a companion”.

That’s fair enough. Showing is not for everyone.

However, let me explain the benefits of buying a “companion” puppy from a breeder who shows their dogs. What do I mean? Let me explain.

Each breed of dog has a written standard showing the “ideal/perfect” specimen of that breed. It’s the gold standard we are all trying to get as close to. Here is the standard for the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Here is the standard for the Beagle. It goes through everything from earset, to topline, to head shape, to acceptable colors, to temperament, and everything in between.

When show breeders show their dogs, they are asking judges to critique and choose their dogs based on that criteria. Showing dogs is essentially assessing breeding stock – how closely do the dogs match the standard so when they are bred, hopefully they will pass on genes that look and act like that specific breed. So, if you don’t get a pup from a show breeder, you may be getting a puppy that wont really look like the breed standard by the time it is an adult.

Show breeders are often part of clubs also. These clubs hold high ethical standards of breeding and there are penalties for not breeding ethically. So, while it might totally be in fashion to breed designer colors, since it is deviating from the breed standard, a preservation breeder won’t do it intentionally. I just introduced another term – preservation breeder – I did a separate blog all about that – you can read it here:

In any litter that a show breeder may have, they may only keep 1 or 2 pups. The other pups may have not been chosen, may still be beautiful but may have less angle or white in their eye, or be a carrier rather than clear of a genetic issue – whatever the reason, it wont impact your puppy from being an incredible pet. However, a show breeder/preservation breeder only wants to keep the best to continue breeding from. So, as a companion home you get the benefit of all the planning, time, effort that went into the litter.

Show breeders are often involved in other sports, and often they are also involved in their local rescue groups. They are interested in the BREED as a whole. What they can do to help and serve their beloved breed, not just them serve you by producing puppies to sell.

In addition, not all “pure bred” puppies have been well bred. To get a “pure bred” dog, you just need two purebred parents. They don’t have to be good examples of the breed or health tested to have puppies. However, to get a “well bred” dog, means you get the benefit of health testing, and a good example of the breed. A “well bred” puppy is one where the breeder has thought about the whole process – the structure, the temperament and the health of the dogs being bred.

For each breed, there is a club list of the recommended minimum health tests. A preservation breeder will perform these on all of their breeding dogs. The health tests for a CKCS can be found here: The health tests for a beagle can be found here: You can look up any dog by their name on www.ofa.org – not all tests are posted there but you can ask your breeder for their paperwork to look at.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.

xo Sarah

Lilibet the beagle turns 4 weeks

Little Lili is growing – although not too much – she is actually rather small and I am really starting to wonder if she will end up as a 13. She loves to explore the yard and play with the other pups – she certainly holds her own even though she is so much smaller.

Now, if only the smoke from the wildfires would clear, maybe they could play outside for longer than 30 mins at a time.

Interested in your own Kazuri beagle pup? please visit our Puppy page for information on our breeding plans, and pricing, how we place pups and how to apply.

Sylvie’s beagle girl turns 3 weeks

Little Lilibet is thriving under Syl’s care – she is now eating 3x a day and nursing just on an “as needed” basis. Its so fun to see this little girl grow up and I can’t wait to see how she will turn out.

Interested in your own Kazuri beagle pup? please visit our Puppy page for information on our breeding plans, and pricing, how we place pups and how to apply.

Fun playtime in the yard

The pack always loves it when they can play with the babies and of course the baby puppies love to play with the big dogs too. Our adult beagles are so gentle and our golden is like “Nana” from Peter Pan. She just wants to smother them in her love and they adore her for it.

Enjoy these photos taken in the fall sun today, in the yard.

Select Dog at the National

Words can’t express how THRILLED I am, that Nick received Select Dog today at the Beagle National. With 70 specials, and an entry of 203 in 15s alone, Breeder Judge Annette Didier (Meadowcrest Beagles) sure had her work cut out for her.

Nick makes me just so dang proud every time he steps into the ring. Mike Kurtzner presents him to his finest and I am grateful for that.

With all that 2022 has thrown our way, what a wonderful day indeed!

Sylvie’s baby beagle girl has opened her eyes

We came up with a name for Sylvie’s little survivor – LILIBET. It seemed fitting to honor the late Queen Elizabeth II who just passed away. She was strong, determined, soft hearted, and a huge advocate for pure breeds.

Little Lilibet is growing little a sweet little flower. She is sweet and mellow and yawns when we pick her up. Her eyes are open and we are delighted at how she is growing so far. Syl is a content and attentive mother – we couldn’t ask for more after all she went through.

Interested in your own Kazuri beagle pup? please visit our Puppy page for information on our breeding plans, and pricing, how we place pups and how to apply.

Phoenix gives birth to her CKCS puppies

Cavalier king charles spaniels are notorious for not waiting till day 63 to give birth. I predicted that Phoenix would give birth sometime over the weekend and true to form, Sunday afternoon she started to get super clingy, not letting me out of her sight and panting a little. By 5pm things started to get a little more serious as she panted and dug in her bed beside me, and vomited a little.

She started pushing and we realised that there was a baby but no sack. These are the births that make us most nervous as it’s harder on mom when there is no lubrication. I could tell the baby was a good size as with every push Phoenix would yelp. I ask ed my husband to come and help and I held Phoenix’s hips apart as he gently guided it out.

Baby 1 was an 8oz girl! A beautifully marked blenhiem girl!!

Baby 2 got suck, once again coming without a sack, but this time even harder feet first. We tried so hard to get her quickly, but 20 mins of gently pulling with every contraction, we knew there was little hope of a live baby at the end. And we were right – our 2nd perfectly marked blenhiem girl was born DOA 🙁 UGH. We did all we could and rubbed her down to no avail.

At this point, I started called ER vets – I didnt want to pull each puppy out – it’s hard on us and the mom – and I didnt want to lose any more. 3 ER clinics said they were full and not taking any more patients. One told us to call Mt Vernon – despite being an hour away, we called them and they said COME so we jumped in the car and drove.

Phoenix and the blankets and her firstborn were on my lap and my husband drove us. On the way, she started pushing and had a tiny ruby boy. We later weighed him at 4.5oz.

While waiting in the waiting room in the clinic, she started pushing again and had a 2nd ruby baby boy – again small at 4.5oz.

The vet asked if we still wanted surgery with 1 pup to go. We decided to see if she could do it herself and went into a quiet room for her to labor. The final pup, a ruby girl, was another big one but the vet assisted her out and was able to do it so she made it.

I think we arrived home at 4am. Exhausted but grateful. Phoenix is a great mom and now the work begins.