The King Charles Spaniel - A Complete Anthology of the Dog

By Vintage Dog Books

The King Charles Spaniel - A Complete Anthology of the Dog gathers together all the best early writing on the breed from our library of scarce, out-of-print antiquarian books and documents and reprints it in a quality, modern edition. This anthology includes chapters taken from a comprehensive range of books, many of them now rare and much sought-after works, all of them written by renowned breed experts of their day. These books are treasure troves of information about the breed - The physical points, temperaments, and special abilities are given; celebrated dogs are discussed and pictured; and the history of the breed and pedigrees of famous champions are also provided. The contents were well illustrated with numerous photographs of leading and famous dogs of that era and these are all reproduced to the highest quality. Books used include: My Dog And I by H. W. Huntington (1897), Dogs Of The World by Arthur Craven (1931), The Book Of Dogs by Stanley West (1935) and many others.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vintage Dog Books
• Release date: Jun 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781528762960

Book preview

On velvet couch with Royalty reclines,

And with the Queen and heir presumptive dines.

KING CHARLES SPANIEL.

THE KING CHARLES AND BLENHEIM SPANIELS.

THE King Charles and Blenheim Spaniels have respectively received their names, the former from the patronage afforded to them by the Merry Monarch, and the latter from that of the Marlborough family, among whom at Blenheim they have been pets for many generations. In each case, however, the modern prize winner is of a very different type from the original breed.

In considering the several points of the dogs hitherto described, I have been guided to a considerable extent by the uses to which they are usually put; but in the toy dog no such line can be drawn, nor is it possible to compare the modern Blenheim or King Charles and their original breeds with any pretension to arrive at their respective values, except by an appeal to the fashion of the day, which at present settles the question in favour of modern show form. According to Vandyke the pets of King Charles II. were liver and white in colour, and of a shape varying greatly from that of Mr. Forder’s Young Jumbo, who represents the modern type extremely well. According to the authority of the great painter, who is no doubt thoroughly dependable, their noses were comparatively long and sharp, and their ears no larger than those of the Chinese dog now commonly imported into England, which are more like those of a fox terrier than of a modern prize King Charles or Blenheim spaniel. Until the early part of the present century these little spaniels, not exceeding 5lb. or 6lb. in weight, were the fashionable pet dogs; but about fifty years ago the taste of the day changed in favour either of the Oxfordshire Blenheim—a little red and white dog resembling the Cocker Spaniel in miniature—or of the then existing King Charles, which was usually of a black tan and white colour, and might be regarded as the Gordon setter reduced in scale, being like that dog not only in colour, which was, as in that breed, black and tan with or without white, but also in shape of body and head; and in this form both breeds have been placed on canvas by Sir Edwin Landseer. But soon after this date the London fancy seem to have become discontented with the beautiful natural shapes of their pets, and set to work to import the short faces and upturned noses of the Chinese spaniel, while at the same time they selected puppies with still greater length of feather on ears, feet, and legs than before. It is said that the bulldog, pug, and Chinese spaniel crosses have been used for this purpose; but this is not admitted by the breeders, who declare that the alterations have been effected by selection alone. The modus operandi is, however, of little consequence; all that we have to do with is the result, which is embodied in the following description of the points of the modern pet spaniel. The strongest argument in support of the adoption of some cross such as those mentioned above, is, that nearly all of the modern breed have lost the low carriage of the tail, which is a peculiar feature in all true spaniels, and which was formerly insisted on as a point of great importance in the toy spaniel, but is now abandoned by modern judges, simply because it is rarely met with among those specimens that come up to their standard in other respects. In order to show the difference between the two types, I have obtained a sketch of Mr. Julius’s Blenheim Spot, which is, I believe, descended from the Woodstock strain, and exhibits the old-fashioned shape of head and face in perfection. Contrasting him with Mrs. J. W. Berrie’s prize winner, The Earl, my readers can judge for themselves whether the latter could have descended from ancestors like the former, without any cross with extraneous blood. Knowing full well what extraordinary things can be done in this way by judicious selection, I am still sceptical on this point, and must regard the stop, upturned nose, short face, and round skull as fresh importations, not developments. Still I must beg Mrs. Berrie, Mr. Forder, and other successful modern breeders to understand that I do not deny the merits of their pets, since I believe that in all fancy dogs Fashion has an undisputed right to be heard; and, as this omnipotent authority chooses to decide that an artificially short, upturned nose is more beautiful than that form of the organ which nature originally gave to the English spaniel, I am quite ready to accept the fiat. The following is the

SCALE OF POINTS GENERALLY ACCEPTED.

TOY SPANIELS.—MR. J. W. BERRIE’S MODERN BLENHEIM THE EARL, MR. JULIUS’S OLD BLENHEIM SPOT, MR. FORDER’S KING CHARLES YOUNG JUMBO.

1. The head (value 10) should be well domed, and in good specimens is absolutely semi-globular, sometimes even extending beyond the half-circle, and absolutely projecting over the eyes, so as nearly to meet the upturned nose. This globular shape of skull is well shown by Mr. Baker in Young Jumbo.

2. The "stop" (value 10), or hollow between the eyes, is as well marked as in the bulldog, or even more so; some good specimens exhibiting a hollow deep enough to bury a small marble.

3. The nose (value 10) must be short, and well turned up between the eyes, without any indication of artificial displacement afforded by a deviation to either side. The colour of the end should be black; and it should be both deep and wide, with large open nostrils.

4. The lower jaw (value 5) must be wide between its branches, leaving plenty of space for the tongue and for the attachment of the lower lips, which should completely conceal the teeth. It should also be turned up or finished, so as to allow of its meeting the end of the upper-jaw, turned up in a similar way as above described.

5. The ears (value 10) must be long, so as to approach the ground. In an average sized dog they measure 20in. from tip to tip, and some reach to 22in., or even a trifle more. They should be set low on the head, and be heavily feathered. In this respect the King Charles is expected to exceed the Blenheim, and his ears occasionally extended to 24in.

6. The eyes (value 5) are set wide apart, with the eyelids square to the line of face, not oblique or fox-like. The eyes themselves are large, lustrous, and very dark in colour, so as to