Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
History
For many centuries,
small breeds of spaniels have been popular in the United
Kingdom. In the eleventh century,
in the reign of King Canute, it was illegal to hunt with
any dog that could not fit through a gauge that was eleven
inches in diameter. Hence, the "birth" of the
Toy Spaniel in the United Kingdom. Some centuries later,
Toy Spaniels became popular as pets, especially as pets
of the royal family. In fact, the King Charles Spaniel
was so named because a Blenheim-coated spaniel was the
children's pet in the household of Charles I. King Charles
II went so far as to issue a decree that the King Charles
Spaniel could not be forbidden entrance to any public place,
including the Houses of Parliament. Such spaniels can be
seen in many paintings of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
These early spaniels had longer, pointier snouts and thinner-boned
limbs than today's.
Over time, the toy spaniels were replaced in popularity
by short-snouted, dome-headed dogs of Asian descent, such
as the Pug and Japanese Chin. The King Charles Spaniel
was bred with these dogs, resulting in the similar-shaped
head of today's English Toy Spaniel breed. The King Charles
Spaniel remained popular at Blenheim Palace, home to the
Dukes of Marlborough, where the brown and white version
was the most popular - resulting in the name Blenheim for
that color combination.
In the 1920s,
an American named Roswell Eldrige offered twenty-five
pounds as a prize for any King Charles Spaniel "of
the old-fashioned type" with a longer nose, flat skull,
and a lozenge (spot) in the middle of the crown of the
head, sometimes called "the kiss of Buddha," "Blenheim
Spot," or "Kissing Spot". So, the breed
was developed by selective breeding of short-snouted Spaniels.
The result was a dog that resembled the boyhood pet of
the future Charles II of England ("Cavalier King Charles"),
whence the breed derives its name.
Two breed clubs/registries are found in the United States:
the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club (CKCSC) USA and
the American Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club. The latter
club is the breed club of the American Kennel Club.
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