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Index
Breed Standard
General
Information
History
The Cavalier King Charles
Spaniel Breed Standard
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General |
An active, graceful, well-balanced dog, very gay and free in action;
Appearance: fearless and sporting in character, yet at the same time
gentle and affectionate. |
|
Head |
The skull is lightly rounded, but without a dome or peak; it should
appear flat because of the high placement of the ears. |
|
Eyes |
Large, round and set well apart; color a warm, very dark brown,
giving a lustrous, limpid look. There should be slight cushioning
under the eyes, which contributes much to the sweet, gentle
expression characteristic of the breed. Faults: Small, almond
shaped, prominent, or light eyes; white surrounding ring. |
|
Nose |
There should be a shallow stop, and the length from the base of the
stop to tip of nose should be at least 1 1/2 inches. Nostrils should
be well developed and the pigment uniformly black. Putty, or "dudley"
noses, and white patches on the nose are serious faults, as are
small, pinched nostrils. |
|
Muzzle |
Well tapered; mouth level; lips well covering. Faults: Sharp,
pointed or snipey muzzle. Full or pendulous lips. Flesh marks, i.e.
patches of pink pigment showing through hair on muzzle. |
|
Teeth |
Strong and even, preferably meeting in a scissor bite, although a
level bite is permitted. Undershot mouths are greatly to be
discouraged; it should be emphasized, however, that a slightly
undershot bite in an otherwise well-balanced head with the correct
sweet expression should not be penalized in favor of a level mouth
with a plain or hard expression. Faults: Weak or crooked teeth;
crooked jaws. |
|
Ears |
Set high, but not close, on top of the head. Leather long, with
plenty of silky feathering, and wide enough so that when the dog is
alert, the ears fan slightly forward to frame the face. |
|
Neck |
Fairly long, without throatiness, well enough muscled to form a
slight arch at the crest. Set smoothly into nicely sloping
shoulders. |
|
Shoulders |
Sloping back gently with moderate angulation, to give the
characteristic look of top class and presence |
|
Body |
Short-coupled with ribs well sprung but not barrelled. Chest
moderately deep, leaving ample heart room. Back level, leading into
strong, muscular hind quarters. Slightly less body at the flank than
at the last rib, but with no tucked-up appearance |
|
Legs |
Forelegs straight and well under the dog, bone moderate, elbows
close to the sides. Hind legs moderately muscled; stifles well
turned; hocks well let down. The hind legs viewed from the rear,
should parallel each other from the hock to the heel. Pastern strong
and feet compact with well cushioned pads. The dog stands level on
all four feet. Faults: Loose elbow, crooked legs; stifles turned in
or out; cow hocks; stiltedaction; weak pasterns; open feet. |
|
Tail |
Set so as to be carried level with the back. Tail should be in
constant, characteristic motion when dog is in action. Docking:
Docking is optional, but whether or not the tail is docked, it must
balance the body. If docked, the tail must not be cut too short;
two-thirds is the absolute minimum to be left on the body, and the
tails of broken-colored dogs should always be docked to leave a
white tip. |
|
Coat |
Long and silky and very soft to the touch; free from curl, though
slight wave is permissible. Feathering on the ears, legs and tail
should be long, and the feathering on the feet is a feature of the
breed. Trimming: NO trimming of the dog is permitted. However, it is
permissible, often desirable, to remove the hair growing between the
pads and the underside of the foot. |
|
Size |
Height 12 to 13 inches at the withers; weight, proportionate to
height, between 13 and 18 pounds. These are ideal heights and
weights; slight variations are permissible and a dog should not be
penalized only in comparison with one of equal general appearance,
type and quality. The weedy specimen is as much to be penalized as
the oversized one. |
|
Colors |
The following colors are the only ones acceptable:
Blenheim: Rich chestnut markings well broken up on a pearly
white ground. The ears must be red and the color evenly spaced on
the head, with a wide white blaze between the ears, in the center of
which is the much desired lozenge (diamond), or "Blenheim Spot". The
lozenge is a unique and highly desirable, though not essential,
characteristic of the Blenheim.
Tricolor: Jet black markings broken up on a pearly white
ground; with rich tan markings over the eyes, on the cheeks and on
underside of tail.
Ruby: Whole-colored rich red.
Black-and-Tan: Jet black with rich tan markings over the
eyes, on cheeks, inside ears, on chest, legs, and underside of tail.
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It is important to remember that a dog can have one or more of
the faults listed in the Standard, in moderation, and still be an over-all
typical gay, elegant Cavalier. On the other hand, bad temper or meanness are not
to be tolerated and shall be considered disqualifying faults. It is the typical
gay temperament, combined with true elegance and "royal" appearance, which are
of paramount importance in the breed.
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General Information
The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a delightfully
affectionate, playful, intelligent little dog that repays his owner’s care and
attention with an endearing devotion.
Cavaliers are not kennel dogs. Because of four hundred years of
close contact with their owners and their development as lap dogs, they make
wonderful companions. They are happy, outgoing, loving little dogs who want to
love you and be loved, to run and play in a safe place, and to sleep in a soft
bed - preferably your bed, but they’re willing to negotiate on that point! They
get along well with children, cats, and other dogs. Cavaliers are truly lap
dogs. They are happiest during the day and evening to sit in your lap and enjoy
long stroking pats.
Because young Cavalier puppies are so small, some breeders are reluctant to sell
a puppy to a family with children under age five. Such families may find that an
older puppy or grown dog may be more suitable. Cavalier puppies do not thrive
when left all day without human companionship or the company of another animal.
They are highly intelligent and require the same consistent and loving
discipline as does a child.
Cavaliers love to share their home with a companion Cavalier. They tend to sleep
together, play together and in general hang out together. You can often find
your Cavaliers all sleeping in a pile, heads on top of one another. This is
known as the Cavalier pile!
Cavaliers are active and sporting little dogs that require
regular exercise. They have an instinct to give chase to just about anything
that moves, and should either be on a leash or in a fenced yard or they will
surely come to grief under the wheels of a car. Because Cavaliers never become
“street wise,” some Cavalier breeders require a fenced yard as a prerequisite
for Cavalier ownership.
While Cavaliers are clean, intelligent, and easy to groom and train, they do
shed, occasionally chew things, and sometimes forget their manners by barking,
making a puddle, and so on. In other words, they really are first and always
dogs, in spite of their ethereal faces!
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Height |
12 - 13 inches at the withers |
|
Weight |
13 - 18 lbs. |
|
Colors |
Black and tan, ruby, tricolor, Blenheim |
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Coat |
Long and silky, free from curl |
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Temperament |
Friendly, obedient, gentle |
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With Children |
Good. Children should be older if just a puppy. |
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With Other Pets |
Good. |
|
Special Skills |
Family pet. |
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Watch-dog |
Moderate. |
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Guard-dog |
Low. |
|
Care and Training |
Cavalier King Charles Spaniels need weekly grooming with a firm
bristle brush. Special attention should be given to their ears.
Cavalier King Charles Spaniels should only be bathe when necessary.
Minimal exercise is needed for Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, but
they do enjoy a romp in the park or a backyard with a playmate. |
|
Learning Rate |
High. |
|
Activity |
Moderate |
|
Living Environment |
Indoor dog. Best with fenced yard and walks on leash. |
|
Health Issues |
Patella luxation, eye conditions, heart murmurs |
|
Life Span |
9-11 years |
|
Litter Size |
2-6 |
|
Country of Origin |
Great Britain |
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History of the Cavalier
King Charles Spaniel
The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel of today is descended from the
small Toy Spaniels seen in so many of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth
century paintings by Titian, Van Dyck, Lely, Stubbs, Gainsborough, Reynolds, and
Romney. These paintings show small spaniels with flat heads, high set ears,
almond eyes, and rather pointed noses. During Tudor times, Toy Spaniels were
quite common as ladies' pets, but it was under the Stuarts that they were given
the royal title of King Charles Spaniels.
History tells us that King Charles II was seldom seen without two or three
spaniels at his heels. So fond was King Charles II of his little dogs, he wrote
a decree that the King Charles Spaniel should be accepted in any public place,
even in the Houses of Parliament where animals were not usually allowed. This
decree is still in existence today in England. As time went by, and with the
coming of the Dutch Court, Toy Spaniels went out of fashion and were replaced in
popularity by the Pug. One exception was the strain of red and white Toy
Spaniels that was bred at Blenheim Palace by various Dukes of Marlborough.
In the early days, there were no dog shows and no recognized breed standard, so
both type and size varied. With little transport available, one can readily
believe that breeding was carried out in a most haphazard way. By the
mid-nineteenth century, England took up dog breeding and dog showing seriously.
Many breeds were developed and others altered. This brought a new fashion to the
Toy Spaniel - dogs with the completely flat face, undershot jaw, domed skull
with long, low set ears and large, round frontal eyes of the modern King Charles
Spaniel (also called "Charlies" and known in the United States today as the
English Toy Spaniel). As a result of this new fashion, the King Charles Spaniel
of the type seen in the early paintings became almost extinct.
It was at this stage that an American, Roswell Eldridge, began to search in
England for foundation stock for Toy Spaniels that resembled those in the old
paintings, including Sir Edwin Landseer’s "The Cavalier's Pets." All he could
find were the short-faced Charlies. Eldridge persisted, persuading the Kennel
Club in 1926 to allow him to offer prizes for five years at Crufts Dog Show -
twenty-five pounds sterling for the best dog and twenty-five pounds sterling for
the best bitch -- for the dogs of the Blenheim variety as seen in King Charles
II's reign. The following is a quotation taken from Crufts’catalog: "As shown in
the pictures of King Charles II's time, long face no stop, flat skull, not
inclined to be domed and with the spot in the center of the skull" and the
prizes to go to the nearest to the type described.
No one among the King Charles breeders took this challenge very seriously as
they had worked hard for years to do away with the long nose. Gradually, as the
big prizes came to an end, only people really interested in reviving the dogs as
they once had been were left to carry on the breeding experiment. At the end of
five years little had been achieved, and the Kennel Club was of the opinion that
the dogs were not in sufficient numbers, nor of a single type, to merit a breed
registration separate from the Charlies.
In 1928 a dog owned by Miss Mostyn Walker, Ann's Son, was awarded the prize.
(Unfortunately Roswell Eldridge died in 1928 at age 70, only a month before
Crufts, so he never saw the results of his challenge prizes.) It was in the same
year that a breed club was founded, and the name Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
was chosen. It was very important that the association with the name King
Charles Spaniel be kept as most breeders bred back to the original type by way
of the long-faced throwouts from the kennels of the short-faced variety
breeders. Some of the stock threw back to the long-faced variety very quickly.
Pioneers were often accused of using outcrosses to other suitable breeds to get
the long faces, but this was not true, and crossing to other breeds was not
recommended by the club.
At the first meeting of the club, held the second day of Crufts in 1928, the
standard of the breed was drawn up; it was practically the same as it is today.
Ann's Son was placed on the table as the live example, and club members brought
all the reproductions of pictures of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth
centuries they could muster. As this was a new and tremendous opportunity to
achieve a really worthwhile breed, it was agreed that as far as possible, the
Cavalier should be guarded from fashion, and there was to be no trimming. A
perfectly natural dog was desired and was not to be spoiled to suit individual
tastes, or as the saying goes, "carved into shape." Kennel Club recognition was
still withheld, and progress was slow, but gradually people became aware that
the movement toward the "old type" King Charles Spaniel had come to stay. In
1945 the Kennel Club granted separate registration and awarded Challenge
Certificates to allow the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel to gain their
championships.
All of the above information and more can be found at
the CKCSC-USA web site.
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