Questions frequently asked by puppy purchasers

Dachshund’s since 1988, we have previously been involved with American cockers and other hound breeds since 1966.

Yes, we can tell you about the breeds history and have published this information on seperate pages accessible via the our dogs drop down menu.

Dachshunds – since 1988

American Cockers – since 2000

Our first litter of Dachshunds was born on May 21st 1989, and we have been breeding our Americans since 2016, we previously bred Whippets and greyhounds.

The government introduced new laws on animal breeding a few years ago, these laws force every household to just two litters in a rolling twelve-month period.  If you are purchasing from a licensed breeder they can have up to the number shown on their breeder’s license, the license is issued by the local council and you should be able to view it to check for yourself.

Zara has held office on the ‘Cambrian Dachshund Club’ and due to that position, she has sat on the Dachshund Breed Council during this time she was a sub-committee member of the Health and Education section, currently she is a Mentor and an assessor for the dachshund breed.

All of us have been members of all breed clubs at some point since we became involved in our breeds.

Zara currently serves as a committee member of the Gundog Society of Wales and Will is currently serving as a committee member of The Welsh Kennel Club

We have been involved in the rescue of over 51 dogs so far should we be asked to assist them again, it would be given paramount priority.

This information is on the breed information pages, accessible from the drop-down menu on the our dogs page.

Miniature Long haired dachshunds are health screened for GPRA, (Progressive Retinal Atrophy), this is now controlled by the use of a DNA test.

• Results vary, but you will be quite safe with a carrier or clear result.

Long haired dachshunds do not require any health screening.

All six varieties have a weakness to IVDD (Inter vertebral Disc Disease) but some bloodlines/varieties have less than others.

The American Cocker Spaniel (ACS) breed suffers from several eye conditions that range in severity and are well documented within the breed.  Conditions that are currently certified under the British Veterinary Association KC/ISDS eye scheme include hereditary cataract (HC), glaucoma, retinal dysplasia and generalised progressive retinal atrophy.  Clinically, the ACS also frequently presents with distichiasis, corneal lipidosis and dry eye.  These conditions are seen during a BVA eye examination but they are not certified under the scheme.

HC in the ACS has a very variable age of onset and clinical presentation, with cataracts occurring in different parts of the lens, and there is often dissimilarity between the two eyes.  For this reason, and because the possible genetic mechanism causing HC in the ACS is currently unknown, any type of cataract in the ACS has to be considered hereditary.  HC in the ACS, although variable, can be blinding, so it is very important for dogs to undergo regular yearly eye examinations throughout their lives to allow early diagnosis and appropriate management.

We are very proud to have been awarded Top Honours on many occasions with a number of generations of all the breeds that we have owned over the years, there is a list of honours on this website of some of our most memorable.

We exhibit at Championship Show (highest level)

As we usually breed for ourselves, it is very likely that we shall be exhibiting a puppy from each litter.

No, we do not withhold registration on pet puppies it is their birth certificate and besides this contravenes the UK KC rules and regulations.

In order to protect the guardianship of the breed, our bloodlines, all of our dogs are sold with the UK Kennel Club endorsements.

1. Progeny Not Eligible for Registration
2. Not Eligible for issue of an Export Pedigree

Any puppies sold to prospective show homes will be assessed for show potential prior to the sale and will also be endorsed as stated, in their contract of sale.

For further details of our requirements in this regard, please refer to our Puppy and Young Adults Page

We bred the litter to produce dogs which are both beautiful, fit for function and healthy.

We try to only keep one from a litter, certainly we keep no more than two, one of each sex.

Long haired require about 20 minutes per day, Miniature longs about ten to fifteen minutes daily.

Americans can cope with half an hour daily, but love to play ball all day long and never get tired of it.

Now this one is hard, miniature longs tend to be more noisy than there larger cousins, however the larger cousins can be chewers.

Americans can be possessive if allowed, parti-colours need to be extra well socialised.

No, neither of the negativity has affected our breeding decisions, besides we take these negativities into account when rearing the puppies.

We will always take one of own back at home, this is part of our condition of sale and contract of adoption.

We usually allow pet puppies to leave at 8 weeks, as it is a UK law these days, occasionally some may need to stay up to a further month for development assessments bearing in mind we breed to keep for exhibition.

We are bound by the law to give a vaccine before the puppy is collected from the home where it was bred although our personal preference used to be the use of homeopathic inoculations on all our puppies here from six weeks old, thus allowing people to visit their own veterinarian and have their puppies inoculated conventionally if they wish to, this way the puppy is injected from the same batch of vaccine and by the same veterinarian.

Please note we never ever use ‘Lepto 4’ so you will need to seek a vet that uses ‘Lepto 2’ as we do, you do not want to be inoculating all over again, they do not need a double dose at such a young age.

Yes, we do health screen.

Please see Q9 for further information.

You will receive all relevant information in the ‘Puppy Pack’ at the time of sale.

This will include

• UK KC Registration Documents
• Pedigree
• Worming Sheet
• Diet Sheet
• Shopping List
• Grooming Advice

and more

Yes, we offer a lifetime 24/7 support for each and every puppy we breed, we also offer a facebook group page which has two types of respected dog trainers to help you along the way.

The dachshund is Faithful, versatile and good tempered.

The American cocker is biddable, good tempered, fun and agile.

if you intend to spay a bitch, then we feel you would be better off with a male! In our experience males make better pets as females are quite independent.

As to neutering a male why would you want to risk their lives under anaesthetic unless it was life threatening.

Yes,  previous happy Zarcrest owners would all be happy for me to contact them and ask if they can telephone you for an informal chat, after all we are all one big happy family.

We would be happy to contact the stud dog owner and get them to telephone you for an informal chat where you can ask if a visit can be arranged.

On average they would be a 10, otherwise we would not have them ourselves.

There are two steps to proceed.

1. We ask you to complete the form below in as much detail as possible, if we are happy with your answers we inform you that we are happy to proceed, or we may ask you some further questions.
2. You would be expected to pay 25% of the full purchase price as a non-refundable deposit to secure your puppy and make an appointment with us to collect around the age of eight weeks this is the minimum age the law allows a puppy to leave its mother.