Living with, and caring for, 5 dogs may sound like a lot of work, but these Cavalier King Charles Spaniels were well behaved – well for most of the time anyway. This sit found us in the West of Scotland, 45 minutes south of Glasgow, staying in a 3 bedroom home, in a ‘wee’ village of 6 houses with 5 King Charles Spaniels Cavaliers for 2 1/2 weeks.
The family of Cavaliers comprised two Blenheim’s and three Tricolour’s varying in age from a young puppy to an ‘old’ lady. They were:
Fergus (15 months – Blenheim) your typical puppy always wanting attention and will chew ‘anything’ if you give him the opportunity (including a pair of Jacqueline’s glasses!!!).
Robbie (6 yo – Tricolour) would bark whenever he wanted to go outside or it was dinner time, and of course the other 4 would join in (with the barking)
Charlie (9 yo – Blenheim) had sad eyes and would often bark at nothing. Again the others would join in (with the barking).
Geordie (9 yo – Tricolour) was the most sensible one and when you walked him, he was full of class. Sadly an illustrious show dog career was cut short because he only had one testicle!
Jinty (13 yo – Tricolour) nicknamed the ‘Princess’ because she had this ‘regal’ feel about her. She would spend most of the day sleeping, but when it came to dinner time, she would wake up and be jumping and barking along with the others.
There were no specific instructions for walking the Cavaliers as they had a large yard to exercise in and they enjoyed exploring the garden and chasing the birds that would come and visit the bird feeders. We were advised that since they had no awareness of the danger of cars, they had to be on their leashes before the front door was opened. Initially we would take 2 dogs out at a time in the car (supplied by the owner) however after a few days we noticed a quiet country lane nearby and each morning we would walk all 4 dogs there. Jinty, because of her age, didn’t need (or wanted) to be walked.
This area of Scotland is a lovely place to visit with plenty of rolling hills, walking trails and castles nearby to visit – weather permitting. Remember this is Scotland and even the locals don’t have high expectations for the summer weather! Of the various places we visited, Dumfries House and Craigneath Castle were favourites. Dumfries House is a stately home built in the 1800’s and has many original pieces of Chippendale furniture. There is one Chippendale cabinet on display valued at 25 million pounds! Craigneath Castle was your typical ruined castle with lots of areas to explore, including a dungeon. We also did a quick day trip to Edinburgh, where we lived from 1995 – 2004, so it was great to visit this beautiful city again.
After 2 1/2 weeks it was time to leave and, as always, it is sad when we have to leave our adopted family. We do plan to return to Scotland again and will visit Nancy and her cavaliers on our return.
If you’d like to see the wonderful reference Nancy gave us you can find it here
The Aussie Lambs - Pet & House Sitters 
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