Cavalier King Charles Spaniel - TOP 10 Intereseting Facts

1) Origin
Small toy spaniels, that looked similar to Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are painted on many painting from 16th and 17th century all over the northern Europe. It is believed that Cavalier King Charles spaniel is descendant of this small dog. They were often times painted next to the royalty, mostly princesses and queens.

2) Professional Lap dog
Most dogs were bred to be guards, hunters or herders. This is not the case of Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. The reason, why they were bred was to be the best companions and lap dogs. A prescription written for the Queen of England says, that she should get a comfort dog on her lap to treat a cold. Cavaliers quickly become an amazing pets for royal ladies.

3) King Charles II
It was the King Charles II who gave them their name. He just loved this breed, and it was said that he would not go anywhere without at least two or three Cavaliers with him. The King Charles was also known as the Cavalier King, which is where the breed got the rest of its name.

4) Fleas
Being a great lap dog was not the only purpose they had, but the other purpose was definitely not so cute. Royalty often took these little dogs to the bed with them, so they would attract fleas and be bitten instead of their owners. The fleas were a big problem back than, because they transmitted bubonic plague.

5) Four Colors
Cavalier King Charles Spaniels come in four different colors. The interesting part is, that every color has its special name. The tri-color is called Prince Charles, the black and tan is called King Charles, the mahagony is called Ruby and the chestnut and white is called Blenheim.

6) Chasing
They were bred to be the best lap dogs, but they still have the spaniel blood. Which means, they might be chasing small animals like rabbits or birds. That is why it is recomended to keep Cavaliers on leash when you are not in fenced area.

7) Toy dogs
But even though they have surprisingly high prey drive, they are not registered as spaniels. It is probably because they were never officially used for hunting and they would probably not be that good at it. Since they were lap dogs all their history, it makes a lot of sense that they are registered in the Toy group rather than sporting group like other spaniels.

8) Popularity
Cavalier King Charles spaniel is one of the most popular dogs worldwide and in the Usa they are in TOP 20 most registered dog breeds for the year 2017. And their popularity is raising, they are more and more popular according to the AKC statistics.

9) Celebrities
Many people all around the world fall in love with the Cavalier King Charles spaniel and the celebrities are no exception. The most famous people who owned this breed were Ronald Reagan during his time in the White house, Jerry o´connel, Claire Danes, Teri Hatcher, Mischa Barton and Diane Sawyer

10) Size
Cavalier King Charles spaniel is small but sturdy dog breed that should be 12-13 inches tall which is 30-33 cm and their weight should be between 13-18 pounds which is 6-8 kg. Surprisingly, there is no big size difference between the males and females.