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Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

History

 

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel has an interesting, and perhaps one of the most unique histories of any of the spaniel breeds.

 

The first spaniel type breeds were found in England in the 16th century and were known as Comforters.

It is believed that they were valued by both the royal courts and the common people as a way to control fleas, as the insects stayed on the dogs instead of biting humans!

Charles 1 had a spaniel named Rogue that he kept with him at all times.

Charles II is the most famous royalty associated with the King Charles Spaniel. He, in fact, made it a law that no King Charles Spaniel could be denied entry into any public building or place.

The spaniels were depicted in many famous works of art showing English royalty during the 16th through 18th centuries.

Breed changes

During the late 18th and mid 19th centuries dog breeding and showing became increasingly popular in England, and many breeders worked to develop distinctive characteristics in particular breeds.

One such breed was the King Charles Spaniel. Breeders of the day bred the type for a short muzzle, marked dome-shaped head, low set ears and an overall smaller size.

In 1926, an American dog enthusiast named Roswell Elderidge challenged the British breeders to produce a long nosed King Charles Spaniel at the Cruft’s Dog Show, a very prestigious event.

In order to catch the attention of the English breeders, he offered a cash price of 25 British pounds, which would be equivalent to about one thousand dollars US today!

He was looking for a male and female King Charles Spaniel that resembled the dogs depicted in the Van Dyck and Gainsborough paintings of historical royalty and their beloved dogs.

  It is believed that the actual breeds crossed to produce the closest replica of the historic spaniels were a King Charles Spaniel and a Cocker Spaniel. The longer nose and hair as well as the more sturdy body are thought to be a direct influence of the Cocker spaniel line.

Some healthy disagreement

Some historians of the breed disagree that any outside line was used, and believe that the breed was developed by throwbacks to the original style of spaniels favored by King Charles. This group believes that a small number of breeders continued to breed the longer nosed dogs, and were able to easily keep the appearance since other kennels were discarding the longer nosed males and females.

One of the most influential breeders of the early Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was a Mrs. Hewitt Pit. She became influential in the development of the breed after being given a female Blenheim Spaniel. Blenheim refers to the brown and white coat color with the patch of brown in the white at the top of the head.

Mrs. Pitt became aware of Mr. Elderidge’s wager, and entered her female, Waif Julia, in the class and won best female. She then went on to work to gain recognition for the breed as separate and apart from the other King Charles Spaniels.

Interestingly

It is interesting to note that Mrs. Pitt used the prefix Ttiweh in the names of her line of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. This is, of course, Hewitt spelled in reverse. The champion bloodlines of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel breed today still carry the Ttiweh name in many lines.

In 1928, the long nosed King Charles spaniel breeders met at Crufts and banded together the form the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club. The word “Cavalier” was added to the King Charles name to distinguish the new breed type from the original.

In essence the term “cavalier” meant a supporter of King Charles, especially in parliament, and so the prefix to the name seemed fitting as these dogs were noted in all the paintings of the royal family, especially those that included King Charles l and his son, King Charles ll.

In the United States today, the original short nosed type is known as the English Toy Spaniel.

Breed Registry

The Kennel Club of England did not recognize the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel as a separate breed until 1945. At that time they were given their own registry, and officially distinguished from the King Charles Spaniel.

 In the United States, the American Kennel Club entered the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel into the Miscellaneous Class in 1961. In 1995 they were officially entered into the Toy Group in the AKC registry.

Well, that's about it!

 

 Thanks for visiting us and we hope  you enjoyed learning a little about the history  of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Feel free to look around some more at our other pages on our Cavalier King Charles  website.

For further detailed information, please consider  the Insider's Complete Guide To The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

This ebook and audio package includes detailed training  guidance and tips  and other extensive resources to best care for your doggy.

There is also a FREE online Cavalier King Charles course available from the  homepage.

Just Click  Here for more details.

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