Cavalier King Charles Spaniel | Dog Breed | Information,Health and Pictures

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a small spaniel classed as a toy dog by The Kennel Club and the American Kennel Club.It originated in the United Kingdom and is one of the more popular breeds in many countries. Since 2000, it has grown in popularity in the United States and ranks as the 18th most popular pure-breed in the United States (2013 Registration Statistics).It has a silky, smooth coat and commonly a smooth undocked tail. The breed standard recognizes four colours: Blenheim (chestnut and white), Tricolour (black/white/tan), Black and Tan, and Ruby.The breed is generally friendly, affectionate and good with both children and other animals; however, they require a lot of human interaction. Since they are a family dog, it is recommended to not leave them alone for long periods at a time. The expected average lifespan of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is under ten years.

The Cavalier King Charles changed dramatically in the late 17th century, when it was interbred with flat-nosed breeds. Until the 1920s, the Cavalier shared the same history as the smaller King Charles Spaniel. Breeders attempted to recreate what they considered to be the original configuration of the breed, a dog resembling Charles II's King Charles Spaniel of the Restoration. Various health issues affect this particular breed.

History

During the early part of the 18th century, John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, kept red and white King Charles type spaniels for hunting. The duke recorded that they were able to keep up with a trotting horse. His estate was named Blenheim in honour of his victory at the Battle of Blenheim. Because of this influence, the red and white variety of the King Charles Spaniel and thus the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel became known as the Blenheim.

Attempts were made to recreate the original Cavalier King Charles Spaniel as early as the turn of the 20th century, using the now extinct Toy Trawler Spaniels. These attempts were documented by Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth, in the book "Toy Dogs and Their Ancestors Including the History And Management of Toy Spaniels, Pekingese, Japanese and Pomeranians" published under the name of the "Hon. Mrs Neville Lytton" in 1911.

Description

Historically the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was a lap dog and is small for a spaniel, with fully grown adults comparable in size to adolescents of other larger spaniel breeds. Breed standards state that height of a Cavalier should be between 12 to 13 inches (30 to 33 cm) with a proportionate weight between 13 to 18 pounds (5.9 to 8.2 kg). The tail is usually not docked,and the Cavalier should have a silky coat of moderate length. Standards state that it should be free from curl, although a slight wave is allowed. Feathering can grow on their ears, feet, legs and tail in adulthood. Standards require this be kept long, with the feathering on the feet a particularly important aspect of the breed's features.

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and the English Toy Spaniel can be often confused with each other. In the United Kingdom, the English Toy Spaniel is called the King Charles Spaniel while in the United States, one of the colours of the Toy Spaniel is known as King Charles. The two breeds share similar history and only diverged from each other about 100 years ago. There are several major differences between the two breeds, with the primary difference being the size. While the Cavalier weighs on average between 13 to 18 pounds (5.9 to 8.2 kg), the King Charles is smaller at 9 to 15 pounds (4.1 to 6.8 kg). In addition their facial features while similar, are different; the Cavalier's ears are set higher and its skull is flat while the King Charles's is domed. Finally the muzzle length of the Cavalier tends to be longer than that of its King Charles cousin.

Colour

The breed has four recognized colours. Cavaliers which have rich chestnut markings on a pearly white background are known as Blenheim in honour of Blenheim Palace, where John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, raised the predecessors to the Cavalier breed in this particular colour. In some dogs there is a chestnut spot in the middle of the forehead: this is called the "Blenheim" spot.The Blenheim spot is also known as the mark of the "Duchess Thumb Print", based on the legend that Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough while awaiting news of her husband's safe return from the Battle of Blenheim, pressed the head of an expecting dam with her thumb, resulting in five puppies bearing the lucky mark after news that the battle had been won.Black and Tan are dogs with black bodies with tan highlights, particularly eyebrows, cheeks, legs and beneath the tail.Black and Tan is referred to as "King Charles" in the King Charles Spaniel.Ruby Cavaliers should be entirely chestnut all over,although some can have some white in their coats which is considered a fault under American Kennel Club conformation show rules.The fourth colour is known as Tricolour, which is black and white with tan markings on cheeks, inside ears, on eyebrows, inside legs, and on underside of tail.This colour is referred to as "Prince Charles" in the King Charles Spaniel.

Popularity

According to statistics released by The Kennel Club, Cavaliers were the sixth most popular dog in the United Kingdom in 2007 with 11,422 registrations in a single year. Labrador Retrievers were the most popular with 45,079 registrations in that year.Their popularity is on the rise in America; in 1998 they were the 56th most popular breed but in both 2007 and 2008 they were the 25th most popular.They ranked higher in some individual US cities in the 2008 statistics, being eighth in both Nashville and Minneapolis-St.Paul,seventh in Boston, Atlanta and Washington D.C.,and sixth in both New York City and San Francisco.The breed's popularity has continued to grow, ranking in 18th place in 2013.In 2009, the Cavalier was the fourth most popular breed in Australia with 3,196 registrations behind only Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherd Dogs and Staffordshire Bull Terriers.In addition, there are also national breed clubs in Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain and Sweden.

Temperament

The breed is highly affectionate, playful, extremely patient and eager to please. As such, dogs of the breed are good with children and other dogs.Cavaliers are not shy about socialising with much larger dogs.They will adapt quickly to almost any environment, family, and location and suit city and country life.Their ability to bond with larger and smaller dogs makes them ideal in houses with more than one breed of dog as long as the other dog is trained. Cavaliers rank 44th in Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs, being of average intelligence in working or obedience. Cavaliers are naturally curious and playful, but also enjoy simply cuddling up on a cushion or lap, making them excellent companion or lap dogs for medical patients and the elderly.

Cavaliers are active and sporting. Cavaliers are successful in conformation shows, obedience and agility and they also make wonderful therapy dogs due to their sweet, gentle natures.The breed is adaptable in their need for exercise, happy with either sleeping on the couch or taking long walks.

They have an instinct to chase most things that move including vehicles on busy streets, and so most Cavaliers will never become "street-wise".As they tend to regard all strangers as friends, members of the breed will usually not make good guard dogs. Spaniels have a strong hunting instinct and may endanger birds and small animals. However, owners have reported that through training their Cavaliers live happily with a variety of small animals including hamsters and gerbils.

The Cavalier's coat requires weekly brushing, but no trimming.However, some owners prefer to trim their Cavalier's long feathers and slippers which can become very dirty when walking or playing outside.

Health

Cavaliers can notably be prone to mitral valve disease, which leads to heart failure. This appears in many Cavaliers at some point in their lives and is the most common cause of death. Some serious genetic health problems, including early-onset mitral valve disease (MVD), the potentially severely painful syringomyelia (SM), hip dysplasia, luxating patellas, and certain vision and hearing disorders are health problems for this breed.As today's Cavaliers all descend from only six dogs, any inheritable disease present in at least one of the original founding dogs can be passed on to a significant proportion of future generations. This is known as the founder effect and is the likely cause of the prevalence of MVD in the breed.The health problems shared with this breed include mitral valve disease, luxating patella, and hereditary eye issues such as cataracts and retinal dysplasia.Cavaliers are also affected by ear problems, a common health problem among spaniels of various types, and they can have such other general conditions as hip dysplasia, which are common across many types of dog breeds.

Eye Problems

A disorder commonly found in Cavaliers is keratoconjunctivitis sicca, colloquially known as "dry eye". The usual cause of this condition is an autoimmune reaction against the dog's lacrimal gland (tear gland), reducing the production of tears. According to the Canine Inherited Disorders Database, the condition requires continual treatment and if untreated may result in partial or total blindness.This disorder can decrease or heal over time.

A 1999 study of Cavaliers conducted by the Canine Eye Registration Foundation showed that an average of 30% of all Cavalier King Charles Spaniels evaluated had eye problems.They include hereditary cataracts, corneal dystrophy, distichiasis, entropion, microphthalmia, progressive retinal atrophy, and retinal dysplasia.

Ear Disorders

Primary Secretory Otitis Media (PSOM), also known as glue ear, consists of a highly viscous mucus plug which fills the dog's middle ear and may cause the tympanic membrane to bulge. PSOM has been reported almost exclusively in Cavaliers, and it may affect over half of them. Because the pain and other sensations in the head and neck areas, resulting from PSOM, are similar to some symptoms caused by syringomyelia (SM), some examining veterinarians have mis-diagnosed SM in Cavaliers which actually have PSOM and not SM.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniels may be predisposed to a form of congenital deafness, which is present at birth, due to a lack of formation or early degeneration of receptors in the inner ear, although this is relatively rare. In addition, more recent studies have found Cavaliers that develop a progressive hearing loss, which usually begins during puppyhood and progresses until the dog is completely deaf, usually between the ages of three and five years. The progressive nature of this form of deafness in Cavaliers is believed to be caused by degeneration of the hearing nerve rather than the lack of formation or early degeneration of the inner ear receptors.

source: Wiki