Performing and Toy Breeds (Continued)

toy spaniels—king charles—prince charles—blenheim—ruby—japanese

I now come to another group of undoubted pets and companions, I mean the Toy Spaniels, and a charming lot they are. I will briefly notice them in their usually accepted order, taking our old friend, the King Charles, first. I am afraid I shall be thought "laudator temporis acti," and old-fashioned, but hardened "all-round dog lover" as I am, and have been, ever since I knew one end of a dog from another, I must say, I dearly love a good "King Charles," and, as I always go through the classes for them, at all the big shows, even when I have nothing, judicially, to do with them, I am grieved to see such small entries of these beautiful dogs, and so few good enough to "fill the eye" of a critical fancier. It is not so much of the size, or colours I complain, as the coats, which are so, very often, curly, a bad fault, in my opinion, and many of them are "smutty" and dark in their tan. Of course there are notable exceptions, but I greatly fear that other dog breeds, which have been warmly "pushed" of late years, in every possible way, and, generally, by interested parties, have disheartened the breeders of some of the Toy Spaniels, or, we should see more good ones coming out! The points of the breed to be desired are large round skull, with well defined "stop," large, lustrous eyes, short, turned-up muzzle, long pendulous ears, well-feathered; fairly long neck, short and compact back, short straight fore-legs, feet large, soft, profuse coat, quite straight, without tendency to curl, colour glossy, unbroken black, and rich mahogany tan. Weight not to exceed twelve pounds, as much less as possible, with quality.

The Blenheim Spaniel.—The next of this charming group to be considered, is the Blenheim Spaniel, with which, its having been the favourite breed of my dear mother, and her mother, I have been more associated than with some of the others; the points of a perfect specimen are almost entirely the same as in the King Charles, except that the colours are red and white, with more of the latter than the former, and it is very desirable to have a distinct mark of red about the size of a shilling or florin, on the upper part of the skull, which is termed "the spot" and is a recognised peculiarity of this variety.

The Prince Charles Spaniel.—Another variety is known as the Prince Charles, and the points of this again are the same as of the King Charles, except in colour, which is white with a good deal of black and tan markings. When evenly marked, and well formed in other ways, they are very attractive little fellows. I have noticed a tendency, particularly with these, to get specimens too large; in my opinion, they should be under the maximum weight allowed (twelve pounds) as the intention is, they should be not too heavy for a lady to pick up, and carry her little companion, when out with it, if so disposed. So that, from six to ten pounds would be a more suitable weight, and such as you may see in numbers of Yorkshire Terriers, Griffons, Pomeranians and Japanese Spaniels, some of the keenest rivals of the native Toy Spaniels. In fact many of all those varieties can be obtained well under five pounds weight, or even less if desired.

The Ruby Toy Spaniel.—Another very beautiful variety, is the Ruby Spaniel, something the colour of its larger cousin, the Sussex Spaniel, but richer, and brighter in tone. I am afraid these are not being so much bred as they were some years since, but all true dog lovers, would regret their becoming extinct, on account of their great beauty and aristocratic appearance; to be correct, the colour should be quite free from white, as rich and bright as possible, and the points same as King Charles and without legginess, which seems to affect these more than the other varieties; I suppose, there is little doubt the native breeds of Toy Spaniels have been much interbred, and I have been told by breeders they have had in one litter a specimen of all four breeds. I cannot vouch for the truth of this, as it has not happened within my own experience, but if true, it confirms the idea of how much they have been interbred.

The Japanese Spaniel.—The last of the Toy Spaniel family to be noticed is the Japanese Spaniel, and, at the present time, I think, it enjoys the most popularity, and is kept by ladies of high rank, as well as by their humbler fellow-creatures. In point of colour, they most resemble the Prince Charlies, and they are sometimes, but not often, seen almost the colours of a Blenheim. They are not so high, or domed in skull, but much wider, both in head and face, with very short nose, fairly large, pendulous ears, large, dark, full eyes, rather short on legs, cobby in body, and with tail curled over back, something in the way of the Maltese Terrier. They have a very quaint, old-fashioned look about them, even when puppies, and, unless they have been bred in this country, or, until they get acclimatized, are certainly delicate, and the mortality amongst the imported specimens has been very great. It is now sometime since I had any of the breed, and, at that time, larger specimens were in vogue than now appear at our shows; but no doubt, as ladies' pets, they are better, not exceeding eight or nine pounds. I may mention, to prove how these pretty little creatures have come forward of late years, I was present at a large London show, where a Japanese Spaniel, belonging to a friend of mine, a well-known lady-exhibitor, was awarded the first prize (a seventy-guinea silver cup in which the winner might have been hidden!) as the "Champion of champions," in a class composed of all the specimens of all kinds of dogs, that had been awarded a championship at that show, and the gratified owner had the honour of receiving the splendid prize from H. R. H. the Princess of Wales, who was also an exhibitor at the show, and is, we all know, a keen admirer of dogs in general.

The portrait of this beautiful specimen illustrates this variety.