Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Breed Standard

GENERAL APPEARANCE – Active, graceful and well balanced, with gentle expression

CHARACTERISTICS – Sporting, affectionate, absolutely fearless.

TEMPERAMENT – Gay, friendly, non-aggressive, no tendency towards nervousness

HEAD AND SKULL – Skull almost flat between ears. Stop shallow. Length from base of stop to tip of nose about 3.8cm (1½ins.) Nostrils black and well developed without flesh marks, muzzle well tapered. Lips well developed but not pendulous. Face well filled below eyes. Any tendency towards snipiness undesirable.

EYES – Large, dark, round but not prominent; spaced well apart.

EARS – Long, set high, with plenty of feather.

MOUTH – Jaws strong, with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower
teeth and set square to the jaws.

NECK – Moderate length, slightly arched.

FOREQUARTERS – Chest moderate, shoulders well laid back; straight legs, moderately boned

BODY – Short-coupled with good spring of rib. Level back.

HINDQUARTERS – Legs with moderate bone; well turned stifle – no tendency to cow or sickle hocks

FEET – Compact, cushioned and well feathered

TAIL – Length of tail in balance with body, well set on, carried happily but never much above the level of the back. Docking optional. If docked, no more than one-third to be removed.

GAIT/MOVEMENT – Free moving and elegant in action, plenty of drive from behind. Fore and hind legs move parallel
when viewed from in front and behind.

COAT – Long, silky, free from curl. Slight wave permissible. Plenty of feathering. Totally free from trimming.

COLOUR – Recognised colours are:
Black and Tan – Raven black with tan markings above the eyes, on cheeks, inside ears, on chest and legs and underside of tail. Tan should be bright. White marks undesirable.

Ruby – Whole coloured rich red. White markings undesirable.

Blenheim – Rich chestnut markings well broken up on pearly white ground. Markings evenly divided on head, leaving room between ears for much valued lozenge mark or spot (a unique characteristic of the breed).

Tricolour – Black and white well spaced, broken up, with tan markings over eyes, cheeks, inside ears, inside legs and on underside of tail.

Any other colour or combination of colours highly undesirable.

SIZE – Weight: 5.4 – 8.2 kg. (12-18 lbs)

A small well balanced dog well within these weights desirable.

FAULTS – Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.