King Charles Spaniel

The King Charles Spaniel (also known as the English Toy Spaniel) is a small dog breed of the spaniel type. In 1903, the Kennel Club combined four separate toy spaniel breeds under this single title. The other varieties merged into this breed were the Blenheim, Ruby and Prince Charles Spaniels, each of which contributed one of the four colours available in the breed. Thought to have originated in East Asia, toy spaniels were first seen in Europe during the 16th century. They were made famous by their association with King Charles II of Great Britain and Ireland (1630–1685) and have been linked with British royalty since the time of Queen Mary I (1516–1558). Members of the breed were owned by Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. The King Charles Spaniel and the other types of toy spaniels were crossbred with the Pug in the early 19th century to reduce the size of the nose, as was the style of the day. The 20th century saw attempts to restore lines of King Charles Spaniels to the breed of Charles II's time. These included the unsuccessful Toy Trawler Spaniel and the now popular Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. The Cavalier is slightly larger, with a flat head and a longer nose, while the King Charles is smaller, with a domed head and a flat face. Historically the breeds that were merged into the King Charles Spaniel were used for hunting; due to their stature they were not well suited. They have kept their hunting instincts, but do not exhibit high energy and are better suited to being lapdogs. The modern breed is prone to several health problems, including cardiac conditions and a range of eye problems. It is thought that the toy spaniels that eventually became the King Charles Spaniel originated in East Asia, primarily Japan. They may share a common ancestry with the Pekingese and Japanese Chin. Toy spaniels were given as gifts to European royalty. The red and white variety of toy spaniel was first seen in paintings by Titian, including the Venus of Urbino (1538), where a small dog is used as a symbol of female seductiveness. Further paintings featuring these toy spaniels were created by Palma Vecchio and Paolo Veronese during the 16th century. These dogs already had high domed heads with short noses, although the muzzles were more pointed than they are today. These Italian toy spaniels may have been crossed with local small dogs such as the Maltese and also with imported Chinese dogs. The Papillon is the continental descendant of similar toy-sized spaniels. The earliest recorded appearance of a toy spaniel in England was in a painting of Queen Mary I and King Philip. Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587), was also fond of small toy dogs, including spaniels, showing the fondness of the British royalty for these types of dogs before Charles II. King Henry III of France (1551–1589) owned a number of small spaniels, which were called Damarets. Although one of the translations of John Caius' 1570 Latin work De Canibus Britannicis talks of 'a new type of Spaniel brought out of France, rare, strange, and hard to get', this was an addition in a later translation, and was not in the original text. Caius did discuss the 'Spainel-gentle, or Comforter' though, which he classified as a delicate thoroughbred. This spaniel was thought to originate from Malta and was sought out only as a lapdog for 'daintie dames'.