Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
General Appearance
The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is an active, graceful, well-balanced toy spaniel, very gay and free in action; fearless and sporting in character, yet at the same time gentle and affectionate. It is this typical gay temperament, combined with true elegance and royal appearance which are of paramount importance in the breed. Natural appearance with no trimming, sculpting nor artificial alteration is essential to breed type.
Size, Proportion, Substance
Size - Height 12 to 13 inches at the withers; weight proportionate to height, between 13 and 18 pounds. A small, well balanced dog within these weights is desirable, but these are ideal heights and weights and slight variations are permissible.
Proportion - The body approaches squareness, yet if measured from the point of the shoulder to the point of the buttock, it is slightly longer than the height at the withers. The height from the withers to the elbow is approximately equal to the height from the elbow to the ground.
Substance - Bone moderate in proportion to size. Weedy and coarse specimens are to be equally penalized.
Head
Proportionate to size of dog, appearing neither too large nor too small for the body.
Expression - The sweet, gentle, melting expression is an important breed characteristic.
Eyes - Large, round, but not prominent and set well apart; color a warm, very dark brown giving a lustrous, limpid look. Rims dark. There should be cushioning under the eyes which contributes to soft expression. Faults - small, almond shaped, prominent, or light eyes; white surrounding ring.
Ears - Set high, but not close, on top of the head. Leather long with plenty of feathering and wide enough so that when the dog is alert, the ears fan slightly forward to frame the face.
Skull - Slightly rounded, but without dome or peak; it should appear flat because of the high placement of the ears. Stop is moderate, neither filled nor deep.
Muzzle - Full muzzle, slightly tapered. Length from base of stop to tip of nose about 1 1/2 inches. Face well filled below eyes. Any tendency towards snippiness undesirable. Nose pigment uniformly black without flesh marks and nostrils well developed. Lips well developed, but not pendulous, giving a clean finish. Faults - Sharp of pointed muzzles.
Bite - A perfect, regular and complete scissors bite is preferred, i.e. the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square into the jaw. Faults - Undershot bite, weak or crooked teeth, crooked jaws.
Neck, Topline, Body
Neck - Fairly long, without throatiness, well enough muscled to form a slight arch at the crest. Set smoothly into nicely sloping shoulders to give an elegant look.
Topline - Level both when moving and when standing.
Body - Short-coupled with ribs well sprung, but not barreled. Chest moderately deep, expanding to elbows, allowing ample heart room. Slightly less body at the flank than at the last rib, but with no tucked-up appearance.
Tail - Well set on, carried happily, but never much above the level of the back, and in constant characteristic motion when the dog is in action. Docking is optional. If docked, no more than 1/3rd to be removed.
Forequarters
Shoulders well laid back. Forelegs straight and well under the dog with elbows close to the sides. Pasterns strong and feet compact with well-cushioned pads. Dewclaws may be removed.
Hindquarters
The hindquarters construction should come down from a good broad pelvis, moderately muscled, stifles well turned and hocks well let down. The hind legs, when viewed from the rear, should parallel each other from the hock to the heel. Faults - cow or sickle hocks.
Coat
Of moderate length, silky, free from curl. Slight wave permissible. Feathering on ears, chest, legs and tail should be long, and the feathering on the feet is a feature of the breed. No trimming of the dog is permitted. Specimens where the coat has been altered by trimming, clipping, or by artificial means shall be so severely penalized as to be effectively eliminated from competition. Hair growing on the underside of the feet may be trimmed.
Color
Blenheim - Rich chestnut markings well broken up on a clear, pearly white ground. The ears must be chestnut and the color evenly spaced on the head and surrounding both eyes with a white blaze between the eyes and ears, in the center of which may be the lozenge or "Blenheim spot". The lozenge is a unique and desirable, though not essential characteristic of the Blenheim.
Tricolor - Jet black markings well broken up on clear white ground with rich, bright tan markings over the eyes, on the cheeks, inside the ears, on the chest, legs and underside of the tail.
Ruby - Whole colored, rich red (chestnut) all over.
Black & Tan - Jet black all over with rich, bright tan markings over the eyes, on the cheeks, inside the ears, on the chest, legs and underside of the tail.
Faults - Heavy ticking on Blenheims or Tricolors, white marks on the Ruby or Black & Tan dogs.
Gait
Free moving and elegant in action, with good reach in front and sound, driving rear action. When viewed from the side, the movement exhibits a good length of stride, and viewed from the front or rear, it is straight and true, resulting from straight-boned fronts and proper made and muscled hindquarters.
Temperament
Gay, friendly, non-aggressive with no tendency towards nervousness or shyness. Bad temper, shyness and meanness are not to be tolerated and are to be so severely penalized as to effectively remove the specimen from competition.
Approved : January 10, 1995
Effective : April 10, 1995
**This standard is reproduced here as it was taken from the ACKCSC web site
Breed Standard.
Dixie going BOB in Manassas under
judge Garth Morgan-Jones
