Breed History

A History of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Breed

The following is an excerpt taken from the book Cavalier King Charles Spaniels; A Complete Pet Owner’s Manual written by D. Caroline Coile. A copy of this excellent book is included with the purchase of any puppy from Prairie Meadow Farms.

Among the many roles the dog has played throughout history, none has proved more valuable than that of companion. And few breeds have proved more companionable than the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

The Cavalier’s uncanny companionship capabilities stem from its remote spaniel roots, dogs that were breed to hunt in partnership with their masters. Exactly when and how the hunting spaniel became the toy spaniel has been lost in antiquity. The breeding of small dogs was perfected in the ancient Orient, and the European toy spaniels were probably the result of breeding smaller spaniels to Oriental toy breeds such as the Japanese Chin and perhaps the Tibetan Spaniel – breeds that in turn could trace their own roots to the Maltese.

The Lap of Luxury

The lapdogs of Tudor Europe were every bit as vital to human comfort and health as were the glorified hunting dogs of the day. Lapdogs attracted fleas from their owners’ bodies, thus lessening the human diseases and discomfort spread by these scourges. The dog’s high body temperature also proved an asset in the lapdog’s role as lap and foot warmer on cold wintry evenings or on long coach rides. Dogs were even welcomed into beds as foot warmers and heating pads. A warm dog placed on an aching joint or stomach could often help alleviate pain. In fact, lapdogs were sometimes credited with curing disease by extracting their owner’s illness and taking it into their own bodies. While this is sheer myth, it is now accepted that dogs can improve the health of their owner’s just by cuddling and comforting. And one thing was as accepted in days of old as in modern times: these “comforter spaniels” did more than warm laps – they warmed hearts.

Several lapdog types vied for preeminence, but the toy spaniels had the advantage of appealing to every member of the family. The man of the manor might coax the little spaniels out of their ladies’ laps for a foray in the field to hunt small game, such as rabbits or woodcock. The children found willing playmates in the little dogs. And the esthetic appeal of these dogs was evident to all. The little dogs thus served their purpose as hunters, companions, foot warmers, flea catchers, adornments, jesters, and confidants. Many breeds have tried to live up to such duties, but few as successfully as the little comforter spaniels.

The Dog Who Would Be King

The comforter spaniel wasted no time in weaving their way into every facet of their people’s lives. These dogs became inseparable companions to the nobility, as evidenced by their inclusion in so many royal portraits. Few breeds have their history documented in such royal fashion, painted by the most esteemed artists of their time. Whether cavorting underfoot, sitting majestically alongside or lying comfortingly in a lap, the dogs of these fifteenth-century paintings look uncannily like the Cavaliers of today.

The comforter spaniels were a favorite of royalty throughout Europe. Mary Queen of Scots spent her youth in France, and was probably introduced to the spaniels there. She in turn has been credited with introducing the little dogs to Scotland and England. When, in 1587, she was led to the gallows, her faithful black and white toy spaniel refused to leave her side. It was later removed from beneath her skirts after her beheading.

England quickly became the adopted homeland for the toy spaniels, in great part because of the dedication of King Charles I. But like that of their royal owners, the fates of the royal spaniels were forever intertwined with their tumultuous times. On the same day that King Charles I was executed at the demand of Oliver Cromwell, Cromwell’s men took the King’s constant companion spaniel, Rouge, to publicly exhibit as a trophy.

By far the most credit for the unrivaled success of the toy spaniel can be attributed to King Charles II, who regained his father’s throne and ruled England from 1660 to 1685. King Charles was an unabashed aficionado of the little dogs, always having several n his company. In fact, the king was so preoccupied with his dogs that he was accused of ignoring concerns of the kingdom. One royal edict he did find time to make was that no toy spaniel could ever be denied entrance into any public building, including Parliament. It was not unusual for a dam with a litter of pups to be found in the king’s bedchambers, and a dozen of his devoted spaniels comforted him on his deathbed. So much did the little dogs come to be identified with the king that they eventually came to be called “King Charles Spaniels.”

After his death, King Charles’ brother, James II, took over as both king and patron of the King Charles Spaniel. His reign lasted only a few years before he was exiled to France and William III took his place as king, but not as King Charles Spaniel advocate. The new ruler favored Pugs, and so the Pug usurped the toy spaniel as official royal dog.

But the Pug could not completely take over as the dog of the nobility. Through his association with King James, the Duke of Marlborough had become completely infatuated with the little spaniels. The duke bred mostly red and white King Charles Spaniels, which became known as Marlborough or Blenheim (pronounced “blennim”) Spaniels. Supposedly, while the duke was away fighting in the battle of Blenheim, his wife was at home worrying about her husband and soothing a whelping bitch. The distraught duchess comforted both herself and the prospective mother by repeatedly pressing the bitch’s forehead with her thumb. When the news came that the battle had been won, the puppies were born, and all bore a red “thumbmark” in the middle of their forehead, said to have resulted from pressing the dam’s forehead! Of course, such markings are due to genes, but at the time it was a popular explanation. The name Blenheim was applied to the red and white dogs with the characteristic “Blenheim spot.” Generations of Dukes of Marlborough continued to breed their Blenheim strain until the early 1900s.

King Charles Spaniels rivaled the Pug as the perennial favorite of aristocracy throughout the centuries. Queen Victoria was known for her affection for dogs of many breeds, but her particular favorite was a tricolor toy spaniel named Dash. Upon his death, his epitaph read “His attachment was without selfishness, his playfulness without malice, his fidelity without deceit.”

Despite competition from the Pug, the King Charles Spaniel continued to grace the homes and cavort in the gardens of the wealthier families just as they had done for generations. But although they still displayed the gay, fearless, and loving temperaments that had so long endeared to their families, their appearance was slowly changing.

Winners by a Nose

During King Charles’ time, the toy spaniels had fairly long muzzles, flat skulls and high-set ears, but by the late nineteenth century dogs with shorter muzzles, domed skulls and low-set ears were the preferred and prevalent type. Around this same time dog showing was emerging as a pastime of the wealthy and judging guidelines, or breed standards, were drawn up describing the ideal for each breed. The standard for the King Charles Spaniel required a domed skull and pushed-in nose. Those dogs not meeting these criteria did not win in the show ring, and thus were not sought as breeding stock. By the early twentieth century, few dogs remained that resembled the dog so popular in earlier times.

The king’s spaniel was in peril, and it took a gallant knight to rescue it. That gallant knight was a wealthy American named Roswell Eldridge, who had become enthralled by the pointy-nosed spaniels pictured in the old royal paintings. So enamored was he that he traveled to England in 1926 to obtain a breeding pair for himself, but was sorely disappointed to find not a single such dog at any show. Mr. Eldridge then astounded the dog world by a dog show class prize of 25 pounds ($125) each for best male and female “Blenheim Spaniels of the Old Type, as shown in pictures of Charles II’s time, long face, no stop, flat skull, not inclined to be domed, with spot in the center of skull.” Most breeder’s who had been striving to produce only round-headed dogs were appalled, but nonetheless several entered their “worst” (that is, longest-nosed) in the competition, and a few deliberately bred these dogs together. Roswell Eldridge died without ever finding the dog of his dreams, but could scarcely have imagined the course of events his challenge would elicit. The seed he sowed fired the imagination of several breeders, who embraced the vision of recreating the original royal spaniels. In 1928 the first Cavalier club was formed, the first standard (modeled after a dog named Ann’s Son) was written, and the English Kennel Club recognized the new type as King Charles Spaniels, Cavalier type. The name Cavalier was in homage to the political group that restored King Charles II to the throne after the death of Oliver Cromwell. The name seems particularly fitting to denote these dogs who were now being restored to their place of royalty.

Within a few years long-nosed Cavaliers were gracing the show rings as well as fine homes, although their numbers were still limited. With the Second World War came a devastating setback, as most of the breeding stock had to be destroyed because of hardship. Eventually, six dogs came to be the foundation from whom all modern Cavaliers descend. Their numbers and quality gradually increased, and the Cavalier was granted status in 1945 as a separate breed, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

The Cavalier versus the English Toy Spaniel

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and the English Toy Spaniel are constantly confused with one another. To further complicate matters, in England the English Toy Spaniel is known as the King Charles Spaniel and in the United States, one of its color varieties is known as King Charles. The two breeds resemble one another and, until the last hundred years, shared the same history and came from the same stock. The breeds come in the same four colors, but we call two of the colors by different names. The English Toy Spaniel is divided into two color varieties, the solid body colors (ruby and King Charles) and the broken colors (Blenheim and Prince Charles). The Cavalier does not separate the breed into varieties.

	Cavalier	English Toy Spaniel
Weight	13 – 18 pounds	9 – 12 pounds
Muzzle length	Medium	Short
Skull	Flat	Domed
Ear set	High	Low
Tail	Undocked or docked long	Docked short
Colors
Red & White	Blenheim	Blenheim
Black, Tan & White	Tricolor	Prince Charles
Red	Ruby	Ruby
Black & Tan	Black & Tan	King Charles

Haute Dogs

Despite acceptance by the Kennel Club, popularity of the Cavalier rose slowly – that is, until 1973. One of the largest and most prestigious dog shows in the world is England’s Crufts Dog Show. In 1973 a Cavalier named Alansmere Aquarius bested thousands of other dogs to emerge as the Best in Show at Crufts, thrusting the Cavalier into the limelight. No longer was the Cavalier the closely guarded secret of the wealthy; the little dogs with the teddy bear eyes were suddenly the darling of everybody. This was the break the breed was waiting for, but it was not without its downside. Now there was a ready market prepared to pay top dollar for an irresistible puppy. Unfortunately, there were unscrupulous breeders ready to cash in, producing as many puppies as possible without concern for quality. Those pups in turn were bred by their naïve owners, who never realized their dogs were not up to snuff. As supply exceeded demand, prices dropped, and those who were never really in love in the breed except for its money-making potential deserted them for the next fad breed. Today the Cavalier is the most popular toy breed in England; in fact, it is one of the most popular of all breeds there. Most breeds that have achieved such popularity are rife with hereditary problems due to uneducated or uncaring breeders. The Cavalier has sidestepped this destiny to some degree, but still has suffered from popularity.

The Controversy on the Continent

Meanwhile the situation was very different in the United States. For Americans, lacking the constant reminders of royal heritage and oblivious to the existence (yet alone outcome) of the Crufts Dog Show and its supreme victor, the Cavalier remained an anonymous face. Yet early paintings suggest that Cavaliers had made their way to the New World in Colonial times, and there was steady documented importation to America from England from 1946 on. A group of enthusiasts formed the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club, USA (CKCSC, USA) in 1954. The club sought recognition for the breed from the American Kennel Club (AKC), and in 1961 the AKC accepted the Cavalier into its miscellaneous class, a sort of staging area for new breeds. Still, too few Cavaliers existed in America to warrant official breed status, so the CKCSC, USA held its own shows and awarded its own championships while awaiting an increase in the breed population. The breed grew so much that the club’s specialty shows attracted entries of as many as 300 Cavaliers. Official AKC recognition seemed imminent, and the invitation finally came in 1993.

Few cubs can claim the success that the CKCSC, USA has achieved, both in terms of numbers of members and service to the breed. The club maintains complete records of all Cavalier pedigrees, litters, and registered dogs. Members must abide by a strict code of ethics, which governs (among other topics) the age and number of times a dog can be bred, and the criteria for receiving full recognition. AKC recognition would mean giving the duties of registration to AKC, thus giving up the club’s quality control guidelines. These guidelines had helped keep the breed out of the hands of unscrupulous breeders, who have found it nearly impossible to register their stock, and thus would have difficulties selling inferior puppies. In addition, without the catch phrase “AKC Registered,” the puppy market would not be strong, further discouraging careless or profit-motivated breeding. Many members of the CKCSC, USA feared that AKC recognition would propel the Cavalier into the popular limelight and result in a repeat of the situation that had ultimately hurt the breed in England.

Thus when the invitation came, it was not met with universal glee. The CKCSC, USA polled its members who voted overwhelmingly (1,237 to 117) against accepting the AKC’s invitation. While all members wanted the best for their breed, they disagreed about the best way to serve it. The dissenting voters feared that if AKC did not recognize the CKCSC, USA as the parent club for the breed, they might recognize a parent club formed of less experienced and less devoted fanciers. In self-defense they formed the American Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club (ACKCSC) and offered themselves as the official parent club to AKC. The AKC then officially welcomed the Cavalier into its toy group on January 1, 1996.

The Cavalier was an instant success in the show ring, quickly winning the admiration of judges and hearts of spectators. Forewarned by the fate of their cousins in England, Cavalier fanciers are careful to promote their breed cautiously and place them only with the greatest care lest they fall into unscrupulous hands. Anyone trying to obtain a Cavalier from an ethical breeder must be prepared to be given the third degree.

The Cavalier remains a fairly expensive dog and is still relatively uncommon in America. It continues to appeal to the upper crust of society throughout Europe and America. But more and more, the little spaniel with the royal cape and pauper eyes can be found transforming humble homes into Cavalier castles and any lap into the lap of luxury.