Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a small dog breeds of Spaniel type, usually considered one of the toy dog breeds. It is a small spaniel with a substantial silky coat of moderate length, often with a mild wave, and long ears. Four colours (Blenheim, Tricolour, Black and Tan, and Ruby) are recognized. The breed originated in the 20th century but has its roots in the older King Charles Spaniel of the Restoration.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Appearance

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is perhaps the largest toy breed: though historically a lap dog, modern day fully-grown adults tend to fill a lap rather amply. It is nonetheless quite small for a spaniel, with fully-grown Cavaliers roughly comparable in size to adolescents of more conventional spaniel breeds. Breed standards call for a height between 30 and 33cm (12–13 inches) with a proportionate weight between 6 and 10kg (10 and 18 lb). Unlike most other spaniels, the Cavalier has a full-length tail, well-feathered with long hair, which is usually not docked, which is typically standards call for it to be free from curl, with a slight wave permissible. In adulthood, Cavaliers grow lengthy feathering on their ears, chest, legs, feet and tail; breed standards demand this be kept long, with the feathering on the feet cited as a particularly important feature of the breed.

A Cavalier's coat may be beautiful, but, because it can be long, it is very important to keep it well groomed. Daily brushing is recommended to ensure that the coat does not get matted and that foreign objects, such as burrs and sticks, do not become entangled in the feathering. They do shed mildly. It also should not be bathed more than twice a week otherwise it may cause skin irritation.Fur on the feet and on the hind legs should be trimmed regularly. In hot climates, the ears should be thinned. They get ear-mites quite often if there is hair hanging around the ears.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Colour

The dog breeds has four recognized colors:

• Red and White (Blenheim) (rich chestnut on pearly white background)
• Tricolour (Prince Charles) (black and white with tan markings on cheeks, inside ears, on eyebrows, inside legs, and on underside of tail)
• Black and Tan (King Charles)(black with tan markings)
• Red (Ruby) (rich reddish-brown all over)

Parti-colours are the colours that include white: Blenheim and Tricolour. Whole-colours have no white: Black and Tan, and Ruby. The Blenheim is the most common colour.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Temperament

The dog breed is highly affectionate, they are playful, extremely patient and eager to please. As such, dogs of the breed are good with children and other dogs. Cavaliers will not be shy about socializing with much larger dogs. Cavaliers will adapt quickly to almost any environment, family, and location. Their ability to bond with larger and smaller dogs make them ideal in houses with more than one dog breeds as long as the other dog is trained. Cavaliers are great with people of all ages, from children to seniors, making them a very versatile dog. They rank 44th in Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs, being of average working/obedience intelligence.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Personality

The extremely social nature of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel means that they require almost constant companionship from humans or other dogs, and are not suited to spending long periods of time on their own. (Even though they will be very patient and obedient) This breed is one of the friendliest of the toy group. It is important for Cavaliers to have a hand-reared puppyhood to ensure security and friendliness. When they greet somebody they tend to lick them on the hand. They connect with their owners almost immediately, but are rarely a little delayed with strangers. They are very playful.

Some Cavalier King Charles Spaniel have been known to exhibit traits in common with cats, such as perching in high places (the tops of couches, the highest pillow, etc), cleaning their own paws and can also show some birding qualities. Cavaliers have been seen to catch small birds in mid-flight that are flying too close to the ground. Such behaviour is a result of their earlier use as a hunting dog, and as such, they can develop habits that predispose them to chase small animals such as chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, birds etc.