Questions and Answers

How long have you been raising Cocker Spaniels?

We (my wife and I) have had Cocker Spaniels all our married lives. We have been raising our lines of Cocker Spaniels for over twenty years. Our focus has been to improve the breed through our focus on good breeding practices (No Inbreeding) and careful selection of both the Mother and the Father to make sure you get the very best Cocker Spaniel possible.

Can I come to see your facility and the parents?

Yes of course you can we have people come from all over to get their puppies. You can meet the parents. We are a disease control facility so we will ask you to take some precautions before you come to make sure you do not inadvertently bring a health issue to our property.

Are your puppies registered?

Yes, all our Cajun Cockers adults are AKC (American Kennel Club) registered. We are inspected by AKC every year to make sure our dogs are well taken care of. They also check the condition of our kennel to make sure it is a clean safe environment for our dogs. While they are here they check all of my paperwork as well. They also D.N.A. check our puppies to make sure they belong to the right male. AKC has a D.N.A. profile on all our adult males. All our cockers are microchipped also. Puppies will be AKC registered if asked by the buyer. There will be a one time charge of $50 per puppy based on the full asking price to cover this transaction.

Can I speak to people who have purchased your puppies?

Yes, tell us from where you want references from. We have owners who live all over the United States, anyone who has one of our puppies is a reference. this way you can get a good reference that is not what we call "canned".

What king of guarantee do you offer?

All of our puppies are health guaranteed. You are expected to follow our instructions in the proper care and feeding of the puppy and vet care as scheduled. Our puppies are guaranteed to be free of any life threatening disorders on receipt and we are always available to help with any health questions for the life of the dog.

All parents of my puppies have undergone an OFA exam for hip dysplasia and have had a current eye exam before breeding. At least one parent in the litter will have a clear DNA profile for prcd PRA (one clear parent means no offspring can be affected by the disease). Testing does not guarantee no health problems will be produced, but it is part of my commitment to producing the healthiest cocker puppies I can.

Do your puppies have shots?

Unlike most breeders we go to extremes to insure your puppy has a proper immune system before he/she leaves. This is our shot and parasite protocol:

Puppy will have (2) two 5 way puppy shots

Puppy will have (2) Two sub type B Parvo shots

Puppy will have (2) Kennel Cough Shot

Puppy will have been wormed and treated for parasites (4) times

(Bonus) We will worm the puppy one more time the day before leaving.

If puppy sold comes from a litter where one of our males was studded out, no guarantee can be made for proof of shots, health or disposition.

What paperwork comes with my puppies?

Health Records: Each puppy comes with his/her complete health record, detailing shots, dew claw removal and tail docking. We also provide a recommend schedule from our Vet as to what and when the next and type of shots should be scheduled. We also provide a letter of instruction for your vet as well.

Registration Papers: We provide a copy of the Pedigree and the registration papers for you for an additional fee of $50 per puppy based on the full asking price. We only register our cockers with the AKC. As we raise cockers for pets, they will come with a Limited Registration. Full Registration is available for an additional cost.

Frequently asked questions Package: We know there will be questions. We try to provide you with the most common questions asked of us over the years after the puppy has arrived.

Basic instructions: We provide a basic instruction as to health checks and so on for you to have as well.

Do you ship your puppies and is it safe?

Yes we do ship our puppies, mostly using United Airlines. We also use American Airlines and Delta Airlines for air transport, but will try to use the airline most convienent and direct connections as possible.

Air transportation is by far the safest and fastest way to get your puppy. Puppies are not afraid to fly, they have no concept of flying, they sleep as if in a big rocking chair all the way to your welcoming arms. We will give you specific instructions as to where to go and how to pick up a puppy at the airport.

We prepare each puppy for transportation. They have been introduced to the airline approved carrier, (We call them "Sky Condo's") and have gone for rides the prepare them for motion as well.

Each Condo has a big comfortable bed of shredded paper, Food and water to eat and drink along the way. Each trip is about four hours on average. Essentially a good puppy nap and a wake up.

We have heard of Puppy Mills, Puppy Farms, Backyard Breeders, Pet Stores, Brokers, Rescues, etc. How do we know it is safe to buy a puppy from Cajun Cockers?

We have been very concerned with all of these names that float around and have worked hard to not be associated with any of them. Let's take each one and try to help you understand these types of places.

We are a specialty kennel who breeds American Cocker Spaniels exclusively and have been doing so for over twenty years. Essentially we work to be the best American Cocker Spaniel breeder in the World everyday. We are a Licensed facility in good standing with the state of Louisiana and all registries.

Now on to the definitions of the types of places. (Some People are gong to object to my descriptions, but this is my website they can publish their ideas on there own website if they wish, I am trying to be fair to all.)

What is a "Puppy Farm"? A "Puppy Farm" is a place where breeders raise multiple breeds primarily for introduction into the commercial pet industry. They are licensed by the USDA and often the State and local county, Must meet very strict standards for animal welfare and care and are inspected numerous times throughout the year by all of their licensing agencies. Normally these places seldom sell directly to the public.

What is a "Puppy Mill"? A "Puppy Mill" is a non licensed, un-inspected, sub-standard facility, that may provide poor care for the animals at the facility. Often a "Puppy Mill" will be a "Hoarder" type facility and will have several types of breeds of dogs typically of poor breeding quality. The easiest questions to ask is. "How many breeds of dogs do you have?" More than two is a "Red Flag". Are you licensed and inspected? a good Question as well. The Name Puppy Mill is bantered around a lot by the Animal Rights people, according to these people anyone who raises anything is a "Puppy Mill" these extremist can not be taken seriously everyone cannot be bad and everyone cannot be good, there is a correct answer. My thinking is to stay with a specialist type breeder Having "One Breed" and you should be ok.

What is a Backyard Breeder? A back yard breeder normally is a family operation that promotes themselves as a "Hobby Breeder of some type", now what that really means is in my opinion they raise dogs in an unlicensed place not having the proper facilities to care for Mother and Babies, usually advertised as "Raised Under Foot" usually meaning in a filthy card board box in the garage or worse, poor preventive health care and high infant mortality. You hear will phrases like she had (8) eight and we saved (5) five! To me that is outrageous horror for the babies and mother. A back yard Hobby breeder, will not have an adequate selection of dogs to breed with, which simply means you will get a dog from who ever is handy. Very little thought or planning, poor care and usually sub standard dogs. These are people who raise dogs for the car payment or to let their children experience the creation of life.

Pet Stores, Brokers: A pet Store is a place were you can by a puppy provide to the pet store from a Commercial breeder or from a Broker. When you by a puppy at a Pet Store who uses licensed legal suppliers you should have a good experience over all. However, the Pet Stores are not required to buy from the Legal and Licensed Breeders and Brokers they can buy form anyone that has puppies to sell locally. Enter the Hobby Backyard Breeder and the Hoarders and Puppy Mill puppies. This is why buying a Puppy at as pet store is such a risk, knowing where the pup actually came from is pretty hard to understand. Plus in respect to the Pet Store owner he is not required to report where the pup came from as it is his supplier. The Pet Store should warrant the puppy.

Agents: These are web sites you see on line that offer all kinds of puppies at a pretty hefty price with a guarantee that no one will ever be able to take advantage of if there is a problem, these place have a long history of problems and are best to stay away from. (Not to be confused as a listing service like Puppyfind.com and others.)

Rescues and Shelters: The slogan is "Adopt don't Buy", on the surface it sounds like a reasonable thing to consider. Now if you are an adult and have experience handing dogs that may be a problem, do not mind getting bit and have a good fenced yard where the dog cannot get out from climbing or digging you may consider this. You should have a good insurance policy that covers animal attacks on your neighbors and visitors. And you also need to make sure your children and grand children or others are closely supervised until you know the specific issues why the dog is really at the shelter or rescue.

These dogs can make good pets, but you should always remember one very important thing, These dogs are in this situation for a reason, the Shelters make money from the adoptions and the Rescue's have become "Big Business" selling thousands of dogs a year. (Second hand Pets stores) If you choose this route, be very careful. There is no health guarantee and no refunds this can become a very expensive nightmare in the long run.

I have a question not answered here.

No Problem you are welcome to call us from 9:00 am until; 9:00 PM Central, Monday through Saturday. Current owners may call and leave message on Sunday, and we will try to call you back, Sunday is the Lord's day! Our Phone Number is 985-860-5599.