The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a small British companion spaniel with a long, silky coat and long, feathered ears. The FCI describes it as active, graceful and well balanced, with a gentle expression.[1]
The breed standard
The FCI standard sets a weight of 5.4–8 kg and gives no height. The coat is long and silky, free from curl, with plenty of feathering and no trimming. Exactly four colours are allowed: Black and Tan, Ruby (a whole rich red), Blenheim (chestnut markings on a pearly white ground) and Tricolour.[1] The standard calls the “lozenge” spot between the ears on a Blenheim a unique characteristic of the breed. It describes the temperament as sporting, affectionate and fearless, friendly and non-aggressive.[1] It also says that only functionally and clinically healthy dogs, with breed-typical conformation, should be used for breeding.[1]
Name and origin
The FCI standard has no history section. The Royal Kennel Club says toy spaniels can be traced back to at least the 16th century, and that it did not recognise the Cavalier as a separate breed until 1945.[2] The American Kennel Club’s history article credits Roswell Eldridge with a prize offered at Crufts in 1926 for spaniels of the old type, which started the effort to recreate them.[3]
Health and lifespan
In a life-table study of UK veterinary records, life expectancy at birth was 10.45 years, and remaining life expectancy fell to 1.5 years at age 11–12.[4]
Mitral valve disease, a thickening and leaking of the heart valve, is common in older dogs of many breeds, but the Royal Kennel Club says it starts earlier in the Cavalier. It also names syringomyelia, in which fluid-filled cavities form in the spinal cord and which is diagnosed by MRI.[2] In a study of 126 Cavaliers aged 8 years or older, all had signs of the disease on heart ultrasound and 89% had a heart murmur, though only 19% showed clinical signs. Because the dogs were recruited for being old, this is not a figure for the whole breed.[5] In Denmark, the odds of a murmur fell by 73% between 2002–2003 and 2010–2011, after a breeding scheme with restrictions was introduced.[6]
Popularity
The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel ranked 12th on the American Kennel Club’s list of most popular breeds in 2025.[7]
Sources
- FCI breed standard 136, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
- Royal Kennel Club, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel breed page
- American Kennel Club, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel history
- Teng et al. 2022, Scientific Reports 12 (life tables by breed, UK veterinary records)
- Prieto Ramos et al. 2021, Animals 11(4): 949 (mitral valve disease in older Cavaliers)
- Birkegard et al. 2016, Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 30(1): 63–68 (Danish breeding scheme)
- American Kennel Club, most popular dog breeds of 2025