All About
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

At first glance, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel may look like a dainty breed, (and they do love to be pampered), but further investigation reveals an energetic dog with hunting roots, who loves the outdoors just as much as they love curling up in a lap for a belly rub. The King Charles is a true companion dog – they love to be with people as much as possible and should not be left alone for long periods of time. They make great companions for active, retired seniors who are willing to walk them daily and have a yard for running. Their temperament, energy level and trainability also makes them an ideal choice for the first-time dog owner.

The Cavalier should be fed a high-quality dog food appropriate to the dog’s age (puppy, adult, or senior). Some Cavaliers are prone to getting overweight, so watch your dog’s calorie consumption and weight level. If you choose to give your dog treats, do so in moderation. Treats can be an important aid in training, but giving too many can cause obesity. Give table scraps sparingly, if at all, especially avoiding cooked bones and foods with high fat content. Learn about which human foods are safe for dogs, and which are not. Check with your vet if you have any concerns about your dog’s weight or diet.

The Cavalier’s lustrous, silky coat requires little more than regular brushing and an occasional bath to keep him in beautiful condition. Brushing not only helps to keep the coat shiny and tangle-free but also serves as a full-body massage that the dog enjoys. grooming sessions enhance the dog-owner bond and provide an opportunity to inspect the dog’s whole body for any new or unusual bumps or other issues. The ears should be checked weekly for signs of infection, and the nails should be trimmed at least once a month, as overgrown nails can cause pain and structural problems.

Their size and generally quiet nature make Cavalier King Charles Spaniels good candidates for apartment or condo living. They are moderately active indoors, and a small yard is adequate for their exercise needs.Walks on leash or a securely fenced yard are musts with this breed. They have no street smarts and will run right in front of a car if they catch sight of a bird or other interesting prey. Your Cavalier will enjoy a daily walk or romp in the yard and will tailor his activity level to your own. Because he's a rather short-nosed breed, avoid walking him during the heat of the day and never leave him out in a hot yard without access to shade or cool, fresh water.

Major concerns: MVI, CHD
Minor concerns: patellar luxation, entropion
Occasionally seen: retinal dysplasia
Suggested tests: cardiac, hip, knee, eye
Life span: 9-14 years

While the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a relatively new breed, recreated less than a century ago, his prototype is the toy spaniel that has existed for centuries as a companion to royalty and nobility.Cavaliers are descended from the same toy spaniels depicted in many 16th, 17th, and 18th century paintings by famous artists such as Van Dyck and Gainsborough. The spaniels in those paintings had flat heads, high-set ears, and longish noses.These little spaniels were great favorites of royal and noble families in England. Mary, Queen of Scots had a toy spaniel who accompanied her as she walked to her beheading, and her grandson, Charles I, and great-grandson, Charles II — who gave their name to the breed — loved the little dogs as well. It's said that King Charles II, who reigned from 1660 to 1685, never went anywhere without at least two or three of these little spaniels. He even decreed that the spaniels should be allowed in any public place, including the Houses of Parliament. It's claimed that the decree is still in effect today in England, although no one has tested it recently to see if it's true.After Charles II's death, the King Charles Spaniels' popularity waned, and Pugs and other short-faced breeds became the new royal favorites. The King Charles Spaniels were bred with these dogs and eventually developed many of their features, such as the shorter nose and the domed head.There was one stronghold of the King Charles Spaniels that were of the type that King Charles himself had so loved — and that was at Blenheim Palace, the country estate of the Dukes of Marlborough. Here, a strain of red and white Toy Spaniels continued to be bred, which is why Cavalier King Charles Spaniels with this coloration are called Blenheim today.Since there was no standard for the breed and no dog shows yet, the type and size of the toy spaniels bred by the Dukes of Marlborough varied. In the mid-19th century, however, English breeders started holding dog shows and trying to refine different dog breeds. By that time, the toy spaniel was accepted as having a flat face, undershot jaw, domed skull and large, round, front-facing eyes. The King Charles Spaniels depicted in paintings from earlier centuries were almost extinct.In the 1920s, an American named Roswell Eldridge started searching in England for toy spaniels that resembled those in the old paintings. He searched for more than five years, even taking his search to the Crufts Dog Show, where he persuaded the Kennel Club (England's equivalent to the American Kennel Club) to allow him to offer 25 pounds sterling — a huge sum at the time — for the best dog and best bitch of the type seen in King Charles II's reign. He offered this prize for five years.In 1928, Miss Mostyn Walker presented a dog named Ann's Son for evaluation and was awarded the 25-pound prize. Roswell Eldridge didn't live to see the prize claimed, as he had died just one month before Crufts. Interest in the breed revived, and a breed club was formed. The name Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was chosen to differentiate the breed from the flat-faced King Charles Spaniel (known as the English Toy Spaniel in the United States).The club held its first meeting on the second day of Crufts in 1928 and drew up a breed standard, a written description of how the breed should look. Ann's Son was presented as an example of the breed, and club members gathered up all of the copies of pictures of the old paintings that had little dogs of this type in them. One thing that all club members agreed upon from the start was that the Cavalier King Charles Spaniels would be kept as natural as possible and trimming and shaping of the dog for the show ring would be discouraged.The Kennel Club was reluctant to recognize the new breed, but finally, in 1945, after years of work by the breeders, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was recognized as a separate breed.In the 1940s, two male Cavaliers were imported into the U.S. from England — Robrull of Veren and Bertie of Rookerynook. It wasn't until 1952, however, that Cavaliers had their true beginnings in the U.S. In that year, Mrs. (Sally) Lyons Brown of Kentucky was given a black and tan bitch puppy named Psyche of Eyeworth by her English friend, Lady Mary Forwood. She fell in love with the breed and imported more.When she found that she couldn't register her dogs with the American Kennel Club, she started contacting people in the U.S. that had Cavaliers. At that time, there were fewer than a dozen. In 1954, she founded the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club, USA (CKCSC, USA), the official breed club and only registering body for Cavaliers in the United States for more than fifty years.During these years, the members of the CKCSC, USA decided against pushing for full recognition of the breed, feeling that the club's strict code of ethics prevented the breed from being commercially bred. They feared that too much recognition of the breed would lead to it becoming too popular and therefore too attractive for breeders who wouldn't maintain the standards they had established. Mostly, they kept the AKC Miscellaneous status so that members who wanted to show their dogs in obedience could do so.In 1992, the AKC invited the CKCSC, USA to become the parent club for the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. The membership said no. A small group of CKCSC, USA members formed the American Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club (ACKCSC) and applied to the AKC for parent-club status. This was granted, and the AKC officially recognized the breed was in March 1995.The CKCSC, USA is still an independent breed registry, but the ACKCSC is the parent club for the breed within the AKC.