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The cavalier King Charles spaniel, recognized by the American
and British kennel clubs, is the subject of this article.
In addition, it is arguably the only dog to which Newton's Third
Law applies. (If anyone asks what that is, just say smugly,
"For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.")
The cavalier was created in reaction to the 19th-century trend
to breed King Charles spaniels with faces retreating into their
heads and eyes bulging out of them. The cavalier weighs between
12 and 18 pounds. It has eyes where nature intended them to
be, a flatter head and a distinctly longer nose than the King
Charles spaniel.
Pretty as a Picture
The popularity
of dogs is forever wedded, for better or for worse, to the
tastes of royalty. Thus, in 17th-century England spaniels
similar to the modern-day cavalier King Charles spaniel enjoyed
great cachet because King Charles II, who reigned from 1660
to 1685, was exceedingly fond of them. Indeed, one might say
the king was a bit dotty about these handsome little dogs,
who were invariably black and tan and who graced the paintings
of Titian, Van Dyck and other artists. Charles was rarely
seen, even in his bedchamber, without two or three spaniels
nearby; he allegedly spent more time playing with them than
he did attending to matters of state; and he decreed that
they be allowed in any public building in the land, including
Parliament, from which dogs had previously been prohibited.
That decree, we are told, remains in effect in England to
this day.
When
in Rome
Although
Charles' fondness for small spaniels put them on the lap,
they pre-existed him by at least 100 years in England and
Scotland, and by many hundreds of years in the world at large.
As long ago as the days of the Roman Empire (31 B.C. - 476
A.D.), small, spaniel-type dogs abetted hunters by driving
game birds into nets. The more tractable and sweet-tempered
of these dogs often spent as much time, if not more, with
the hunters' families. Naturally, hunters selected for a placid
temperament when they arranged their dogs' unions, and a civilized
personality became standard equipment among spaniels.
Reversal
of Fortune
The Roman
Empire's trade routes -- the information superhighway of that
time -- extended as far as China. They were the means by which
cross-cultural pollination in commerce and fashion occurred.
Whether directly or by way of China and the Far East, the
spaniels that hunted with their Roman masters were eventually
introduced in England. They reached their peak of influence
during the reign of Charles II and continued to be highly
regarded during the tenure of James II, who succeeded Charles,
but that tenure lasted only four years. Not long after the
black-and-tan dogs that Charles so loved had come to be called
King Charles spaniels in his memory, their fortunes began
to change.
In 1689
James II was replaced by the Dutch prince William III of Orange
and his wife, Mary. When they arrived in England, William
and Mary were accompanied by a number of pug dogs. The pug
was the Dutch national dog, and soon it became a national
sensation in England.
Taking
a Nosedive
Because
whims do not become fashions with immediate and surgical precision,
the ascendency of the pug did not result in any sudden change
in the King Charles spaniel. Dogs similar in appearance to
that spaniel can be found in the works of 18th-century artists
such as Gainsborough, Reynolds and Stubbs. By the middle of
the 19th century, however, when breeding and exhibiting dogs
became formalized pursuits in Great Britain, King Charles
spaniels had been redesigned, and the look that we see in
these dogs today had replaced the look with which Charles
II had been so smitten.
An
American Revolution
In 1926
an American named Roswell Eldridge, who bred King Charles
spaniels, traveled to England in search of dogs to add to
his kennel. Eldridge, 68, was dismayed to find that his dogs,
which resembled those in the paintings of Gainsborough, et
al., looked nothing like the ones then being shown in England.
Thinking, perhaps, about Newton's Third Law, Eldridge asked
the officials of the Crufts dog show, the show of shows in
England, if he might offer a prize at their next five gatherings.
That prize, in the amount of 25 pounds, would be awarded to
the owners of the male and the female Blenheim King Charles
spaniel that best resembled the old-fashioned type of dog
Eldridge was breeding at his home on Long Island. (Blenheim
refers to red-and-white King Charles spaniels, one of four
colors in which the breed occurs.) The Cruft's catalog for
1926 described the kind of dog Eldridge wanted: "As shown
in the pictures of King Charles II's time, long face, no stop,
flat skull, not inclined to be domed and with the spot [of
red] in the centre of the skull."
More
Is Better
Breeders,
many of whom resist change as fiercely as entrenched dictators
do, did not rush to claim Eldridge' prize, considerable as
it was in its time. There were, however, enough retrograde
spirits on hand on the second day of the Crufts show in 1928
to form a club whose mission was the reinvention of the old-style
spaniel. Consulting all the reproductions of 16th-, 17th-
and 18th-century paintings they could muster, they drew up
a standard for their breed, a standard that has changed little
in the meantime. They also added the word cavalier to the
breed's name. A dog called Ann's Son, owned by Miss Mostyn
Walker, won the Eldridge prize; but Eldridge, who had died
a month before the show opened, was not on hand to present
the award.
Having
seen what the caprice of fashion had done to the King Charles
spaniel, cavalier breeders were determined that this should
not happen again. Their breed standard insisted, therefore,
that the cavalier be shown in its natural state, i.e., without
the trimming, primping, crimping, stripping and other manifestations
of the hair dresser's art that are practiced on so many breeds.
Though
they were swimming against the tide of popular opinion, cavalier
fanciers had an easy time of it genetically. They had long-faced,
pet-quality stock from King Charles spaniel breeders with
which to work -- not to mention the law of regression toward
the mean. They achieved their desired goal with such rapidity
that they were often accused of using other breeds in their
breeding programs, but this practice was not endorsed by the
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club.
Cavalier
breeders also achieved their material goal rather quickly.
In 1944 The Kennel Club admitted the cavalier King Charles
spaniel to the ranks of officially recognized pedigreed dogs.
Their
Old Kentucky Home
As it
had been in England, the snub-nosed version of the small spaniel
was the first to be accepted for championship competition
in this country. In 1886 the English toy spaniel (which is
what the King Charles spaniel is called here) was accepted
by the AKC.
For its
part the cavalier King Charles spaniel did not begin to attract
disciples until the middle of the present century in the United
States. Then in 1956 a group of cavalier owners formed the
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club, USA (CKCSC, USA). This
group, which eventually grew into a single-breed registry,
kept stud books, organized shows and promoted the preservation
of the cavalier breed. In 1960 cavalier fanciers gathered
in Prospect, Kentucky, for the first cavalier King Charles
spaniel show in America. By then 118 dogs had been registered,
68 of them born in this country.
Cavalier
King Charles spaniels were accepted in the American Kennel
Club's (AKC) miscellaneous classes not long after the CKCSC,
USA had been founded, but most members of that group were
diametrically opposed to seeking full AKC recognition for
their breed. They worried that show-ring exposure would lead
to increased popularity, which would lead to unfortunate changes
in the cavalier. Despite their protectiveness toward their
breed, its association with certain persons of high profile
-- Ronald Reagan, to name one -- continually threatened to
turn it into a mass-market success anyway. In March 1986 a
headline in the Chicago Tribune declared: "May I Show
You This Year's Dog?" That kind of folderol is enough to make
any reasonable person cringe. Imagine, then, the dismay of
cavalier breeders who read: "Chances are, your dog is 'out'
unless you own a SharPei, chow or cavalier King Charles spaniel.
The dread
of such publicity and, in the words of one observer, "increasing
pressure by the AKC to move out of the miscellaneous class"
led to a schism among cavalier breeders. That split widened
in 1993 when the CKCSC, USA voted not to accept AKC's invitation
to become the official parent club of the cavalier breed.
Following an uncivil war, members of CKCSC, USA who were in
favor of accepting AKC's bid formed the American Cavalier
King Charles Club (ACKCC) the following year. By January 1,
1996, the group was able to celebrate both the new year and
the cavalier's debut as the 140th breed recognized by the
AKC.
The CKCSC,
USA, its ranks thinned by the defection of some of its members,
continues to hold regional shows and a national specialty
show each year. In addition, cavaliers are eligible to compete
in events sanctioned by the United Kennel Club, which has
recognized cavaliers since 1980.
By
the Numbers
During
the cavalier King Charles spaniel's first full year of AKC
recognition, 1,329 cavaliers were enrolled, and the breed
ranked 75th out of 143 breeds in overall registrations. This
total placed the cavalier 14th among the 19 toy breeds recognized
by AKC. In England the cavalier, once thought to be on the
verge of extinction, is the most popular toy breed. Somewhere
Roswell Eldridge must be smiling, for in the great game show
of life, he who laughs last usually finishes first.
Hairs
of the Dog
The lovely
coat of the cavalier King Charles spaniel lends much to the
beauty of the breed. The coat is moderately long, silky, and
free from curl, though it may be a bit wavy. The cavalier's
feet, legs, tail, chest and ears are decorated with long hair,
called feathering. Most owners trim the hair growing between
the pads on the underside of the feet in order to keep the
cavalier from leaving dusty or muddy footprints around the
house, but that is the only area of the dog that can be trimmed
if he or she is going to compete in shows. Overall the cavalier's
coat is not a high-maintenance project, but it does require
a thorough brushing twice a week in order to remain clean,
tidy-looking and free of mats.
Docking
the cavalier's tail was considered fashionable at one time,
but this operation is not required in order to show the dog.
If the tail must be docked, the breed standard dictates that
no more than one third of the tail may be removed. Since a
beautiful, plumed tail is very much a part of the cavalier's
appeal, few breeders dock at all.
Coats
of Many Colors
The cavalier
King Charles spaniel can be found in one of four colors: Blenheim,
tricolor, ruby, and black and tan. Blenheims are chestnut
and white, with chestnut ears and a white blaze between the
eyes and ears. The ideal Blenheim has a chestnut lozenge or
"Blenheim spot" on the forehead. Tricolors are jet-black and
white, with black ears, a white blaze between the eyes, and
rich, tan markings over the eyes, on the cheeks, inside the
ears and on the underside of the tail. Rubies are a solid,
rich red throughout. Black and tans are jet-black with vibrant
tan markings over the eyes, on the cheeks, the inside of the
ears, the chest, legs and underside of the tail.
In
the "Comforte" Zone
Before
the invention of central heating, people whose misfortune
it was to live in large, drafty castles used small dogs as
foot and lap warmers. These dogs were known as "comforte"
dogs, and one of the most comfortable of all was the tiny
spaniel that was the ancestor of today's cavalier King Charles
spaniel.
Cavaliers
have lost none of their "comforte"-ability over the years.
That is no small part of their charm. In fact, they get along
well with just about everyone and everything. If introduced
early enough, the cavalier can even get along famously with
cats, rabbits or the largest dogs. Both male and female cavaliers
make equally devoted and trainable companions. "They live
not just to be with you but near you," says cavalier breeder
and judge Meredith Johnson Snyder. "They will usually lay
on your feet or snuggled up next to you with their bodies
pressed against yours."
Prospective
owners should also be pleased to know that cavaliers excel
at house training. "I've had two entire litters trained to
go outdoors at nine or 10 weeks of age," says cavalier breeder
Carol Williams. "It's quite a sight to see seven or eight
little tykes trooping out the door like grownups,"
Though
cavaliers are happy to be pampered by doting owners, they
have not entirely forgotten their hunting-spaniel heritage.
"Our Nonnie can hardly be kept indoors if our flock of Muscovy
ducks ventures too near the house," says cavalier owner Sharon
Newcomb. "She's broken through the screen door twice to have
duck for lunch, and I think she would have succeeded if it
wasn't for the fact that the ducks are much bigger than she
is."
Notes
of Caution
Although
cavalier King Charles spaniel breeders have sought to keep
their breed as natural looking as possible, they have not
been altogether successful in keeping it free of the genetic
difficulties that naturally shadow pedigreed dogs. Chief among
those is mitral heart disease, which, according to some estimates,
occurs in as many as 50 percent of all cavaliers in North
America. Moreover, it affects cavaliers at a rate unknown
in any other breed.
The mitral
valve, located between the left atrium (upper chamber)
and left ventricle (lower chamber) of the heart, consists
of two flaps or leaflets that normally open and shut in concert
to allow blood to flow in one direction only -- from the atrium
to the ventricle. In dogs with mitral valve disease, one or
both of the flaps are enlarged, and their supporting muscles
are too long. Therefore, instead of closing evenly, one or
both flaps collapse or bulge into the atrium, sometimes allowing
small amounts of blood to flow backward into the atrium. This
disease can lead to a compromised quality of life or, in some
cases, death.
Responsible
breeders have their dogs checked by a cardiologist each year
and use only dogs with sound hearts in their breeding programs.
These breeders will provide buyers with a statement certifying
that this testing has been done within the last year on a
puppy's parents. Any breeder not willing to provide this documentation
or not willing to discuss the problems that exist in the breed
should be avoided. Nor should a person put much stock in published
breed descriptions that do not mention genetic difficulties
in a breed.
The cavalier
is also subject to luxating patella, hip dysplasia, cataracts
and retinal dysplasia. Luxating patella is a dislocation
of the small, flat, moveable bone at the front of the knee.
An inherited tendency, luxating patella can be aggravated
by excess weight. The condition can be corrected by surgery.
Hip
dysplasia is a malformation of the hip joint resulting
in a unthrifty fit between the head of the femur bone and
the hip socket, in which the femoral head normally lies. This
condition, which is no walk in the park, can be alleviated
by surgery.
Progressive
retinal atrophy (PRA) is the wasting away of the vessels
in the retina. Initially manifested as night blindness in
young dogs, as PRA progresses, its victims become totally
blind.
Rick
Beauchamp is a freelance writer who resides in Cambria,
California. He is the author of numerous books on canine breeds
and is a judge licensed with the American Kennel Club and
the United Kennel Club.
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