Toy Spaniels of England
The Toy Spaniels of England were created for benefit of the English aristocracy. The canons of Canute established Forest Laws in 1014 AD, reserving large areas of country for hunting for 'the King's princely delight and pleasure'. The 'middle class' was only allowed to keep a dog which was small enough to creep through a 7 inch gauge like the one pictured below, because then the Spaniel was considered too small to hunt[1]. This created the Toy Spaniels in England.
In 1536 AD Dr Johannes Caius wrote a description of the 'Spaniel Gentle' or 'Comforter' that developed as a result of this forced miniaturization of the English Spaniel.
The King Charles Spaniel
Originally called the English Toy Spaniel, the King Charles Spaniel or 'Charlie' as he is affectionately known was a great favourite of King Charles the Second in the 1600's. Different from the modern King Charles Spaniels in that they had a longer muzzle and a flatter head, they were mostly coloured red and white, these were the first Blenheim Spaniels mentioned in the First English Stud Book separately from the King Charles Spaniels which are listed separately and included other colours like black and tan.
In 1848 it was written:
"The King Charles breed of the present day is materially altered for the worse. The muzzle is almost as short and the forehead as ugly and prominent, as the veriest bull-dog. The eye is increased to double its former size, and has an expression of stupidity with which the character of the dog too accurately responds. Still there is the long ear, and the silky coat, and the beautiful colour of the hair, and for these dealers do not scruple to ask twenty, thirty or even fifty guineas."[2]
The King Charles Spaniel Today
Today the Charlie retains the large domed skull and shortened foreface with a slightly undershot mouth. Although it shares the same 4 colour combinations pictured here and elaborated upon in the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel below, the modern Charlie is somewhat smaller than the Cavalier weighing just 3.6-6.3 kg or 8 - 14 pounds.
The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
The most popular modern Toy Spaniel developed in Britain is the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. A comparatively modern breed, the Cavalier was developed from the King Charles Spaniel. This was the result of an American, Roswell Eldridge donating a sum of money to each winner of especially created classes at the famous Crufts Dog Show of London in 1926. The classes were for toy spaniels of the old-fashioned type exhibiting long faces and flat skulls. Today, we have two distinctly separate breeds of King Charles Spaniels; the old-fashioned type King Charles named after Charles 11, and the more modern Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
Differences
Today the head on the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel differs from that of the King Charles Spaniel in three ways:
- The skull is somewhat flatter that that of the Charlie
- The foreface has definite length, about one and a half inches, rather than the shortened foreface of the Charlie.
- The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel should have a normal scissors bite rather than the undershot bite of the Charlie.
The weight of Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a little more than the Charlie, the Cavalier being five and a half to just over eight kilos (12 - 18 pounds), compared to the Charlie's 8 - 14 pounds.
Common Colours
However, both the King Charles Spaniel and the Cavalier retain the original 4 distinct colour patterns as pictured above:
- Black and tan
- Whole coloured rich red
- Tri-colour
- Blenheim - a colour confined to the Cavalier and historically the original colour and the most common. It consists of rich chestnut markings in patches on pearly white background. These markings should be evenly divided on head, leaving room between the ears for a spot, a unique characteristic of the breed. This spot of red in the middle of the forehead is so prized it is commonly known as 'the kiss of Buddha'.
References and Further Reading
Jane Harvey - DVD "Spaniels (Toy)" (Rangeaire Vision), Victoria Australia 2010
[1] Robert Leighton "The Book of the Dog" published circa 1905 Subscriber's Edition, The Waverley Book Co. Ltd. Pages 554 - 555 (written by Walter S. Glynn in a Chapter called 'The Dog and the Law')
[2] William Youatt 'The Dog" published 1848 London Charles Knight Fleet Street (under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.) Varieties of the Dog - Second Division Chapter 1 Page 45