Cavalier King Charles Spaniels have a very long heritage, though they have undergone changes throughout the generations. During the times of the Roman Empire small spaniels were chosen to assist hunters drive small birds inside their nets. Those little spaniels with good dispositions attracted the hunters families, who bred them as much for companion pets as for hunting dogs. Throughout the times of Roman conquest the dogs were brought to the British Isles.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Rescue

The Cavaliers were nearly a lost breed it the early 1920’s. American Roswell Eldridge went to England trying to find a Cavalier coming from the English paintings. He could not locate a single pup and presented an incentive to breeders to find one. Early breeders used rejects from the variety of English Toy Spaniels to copy the canines from the paintings. The breed was saved from near extinction. The first reported Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was brought into the United States in 1946. The black and tan pup was a gift from Lady Mary Forwood of England to Mrs. Harold Whitman of New York. In 1952 only 5 Cavaliers were known to exist in United States. The American Kennel Club accepted the breed in 1996, becoming the AKC’s 140th recognized breed. The Cavaliers are classified as the largest canine in the toy group.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Information

While many dog breeds have origins which are cloaked in hot debate, those from the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel are cloaked in confusion. So let’s clear it up for you:

To start , you should recognize that there indeed does exist a type recognized as Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. There as well exists a breed recognized as King Charles Spaniels. To further confuse the issue, both varieties are strikingly similar in appearance. So identical in fact, that some countries lump both together under a regular brand of English Toy Spaniels.

And like that weren’t enough, we must also add that despite the fact that considered spaniels, they are not gun dogs; neither are they classed in the sporting group.

To begin searching our way out of this confusion we must begin by accepting the fact that the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and the King Charles Spaniel were originally 1 and the same. Spaniels have always been a favorite of aristocratic families of Europe.

King Charles II was 1 who was so enamored by the tiny spaniels that the court’s diary keeper noted: “They had access to all parts of Whitehall, even on state occasions.

The diarist goes on to write:

All I observed there was the stillness of the king playing with his dogs all the while and not minding to his business.
Mary, Queen of Scots had an entire pack of small spaniels. Just prior to she was executed, 1 from the spaniels crept under her clothing, hung on tight and had to be removed by force. Toy spaniels appear in paintings by Gainsborough, Rubens, and even Rembrandt.

The tiny spaniels became so popular that over the years their pattern and characteristics changed. They developed diminutive characters, much more similar to the Pekingese than to the miniature Springer Spaniel types. They eventually evolved as the spaniels King Charles love so much.

In 1920, an American living on Long Island in New York was reported to have set up some pretty interesting prize cash at the famous Crufts Dog Show in England, for any breeder who could come up with a revival of the old type spaniel from the king’s era. The British breeders accepted the challenge and started from the bottom.

They reconstructed the spaniel over the period of just a few generations, and finally produced the original-looking King Charles Spaniel. But herein lies the problem – instead of getting to wear the original title (which they truly deserved since they were replicas from the originals), they were called Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. The addition of the name ‘Cavalier’ would therefore distinguish them from what had evolved into the King Charles Spaniel of our present era.

From about the year 1926 until the present day, you will find two separate breeds. The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (most likely akin towards the original King Charles Spaniel) and also the King Charles Spaniel (far removed from what he was originally).

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel on Wikipedia