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In 1926, the Kennel Club was persuaded to allow a rich American to offer prizes for the best bitch or dogs of the Blenheim variety as seen in King Charles II's reign, after he had exhausted his search throughout in England. As a result of this new fashion, the King Charles Spaniel, of the type seen in the early paintings, became almost extinct. This brought a new fashion to the Toy Spaniel - dogs with the completely flat face, undershot jaw, domed skull with long, low set ears and large, round frontal eyes of the modern King Charles Spaniel (also called "Charlies" and known in the United States today as the English Toy Spaniel). Many breeds were developed and others altered. By the mid-nineteenth century, England took up dog breeding and dog showing seriously. Long ago, there were no dog shows and no recognized breed standard, so both type and size varied. Dash features prominently in early episodes of the excellent PBS series "Victoria". Young Queen Victoria had beloved tri-color spaniel called "Dash". (Image: Future Queen Victoria with her dog, Dash - 1833) One exception was the strain of red and white Toy Spaniels that was bred at Blenheim Palace by various Dukes of Marlborough. (This decree is still in existence today in England.) As time went by, and with the coming of the Dutch Court, Toy Spaniels went out of fashion and were replaced in popularity by the Pug. He was so fond of his little dogs, that he wrote a decree that the King Charles Spaniel should be accepted in any public place, even in the Houses of Parliament. King Charles II was seldom seen without 2 or 3 spaniels at his heels. During Tudor times, Toy Spaniels were quite common as ladies' pets, but it was under the Stuarts that they were given the royal title of King Charles Spaniels. These paintings show small spaniels with flat heads, high set ears, almond eyes, and rather pointed noses. Today’s Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is descended from the small Toy Spaniels depicted in so many sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth century paintings. (Image: Future King Charles II, circa 1635) We accepted, and oh, what a wonderful decision we made! I have heard from many folks that Cavaliers are like potato chips: “You can’t have just one!” My degree is in music and I studied and sang opera, so we named them Bella Donna (Italian for beautiful lady) and Bianca Donna (white lady). Before we had chosen which of the pups we wanted, the breeder had to move back East, and made us an offer to take both girls. He considered both to have show potential. I found a reputable breeder who had two female litter-mates. (Note: We now have three grandsons: Leopold, born in 2009, Maxwell 2011, and Theodric 2013!)Ĭavalier King Charles Spaniel was the breed we chose. And, finally, we needed to be assured that the dog would be good with children. Since we planned to take the dog to work with us (we own the company), it would need to be “people-friendly”. I also looked at how much they shed, bark and how aggressive they are. We wanted a small dog that was smart and didn’t require a great deal of exercise. I began researching the breeds to see if “the perfect dog” for us existed.
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