This means you avoid reactions like diarrhoea and stomach upsets. You should definitely still use this for a time and when you wish to change to a different food, the transition needs to be cautious and carried out in several stages, with you gradually mixing more and more of the new food into the current one. If you have bought a puppy from a responsible breeder, they will generally give a small supply of the food the puppy is used to. Grain should feature in as small a quantity as possible or not at all. There are even special “Cavalier King Charles” foods in specialist stores with a biscuit size adapted to the breed, but you should mainly take care to ensure an appropriate food composition. With this in mind, you should ensure that meat is the main ingredient when purchasing food, regardless of whether it be wet, dry or both. Your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel's digestive system is ideally geared for processing meat. The dog owner then has a robust Cavalier King Charles Spaniel that generally only requires one annual check-up and injections and that can live to the age of 15 years. A good breeder is the best prevention to avoid hereditary diseases. The breed can also be affected by heart disease and neurologically-based syringomyelia (SM). Since there are now DNA tests for hereditary diseases, most can be excluded through targeted selection. Unfortunately affected animals more often than not have to be put down. Curly coat syndrome often emerges too only amongst dogs suffering from dry eye syndrome shortly after they are born, manifesting itself in the form of extremely curly fur, which is later followed by fatty and painfully inflamed skin. Dry eye syndrome tends to affect Cavalier King Charles Spaniels more often and involves chronic dryness of the eyes, which requires constant treatment to prevent the cornea from becoming inflamed. The cramps don't usually cause pain and can be treated – however, they are frequently confused with epilepsy. This entails the dog suffering from exertion or stress with muscle cramps, which can lead to immobility and accidents. This multiple award-winning male is considered the founding father of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel breed, which was added to the Kennel Club's stud book as an independent breed in 1945.Ī disease that exclusively affects Cavalier King Charles Spaniels is neurologically-based episodic falling syndrome, EFS for short. The most famous winner of this henceforth annual competition was Ann's Son, who came in first place from 1928 to 1930. At an exhibition, he offered more prize money for a long-nosed spaniel. In 1926, the long-nosed spaniel experienced a renaissance, since the American Roswell Eldridge made out to search for spaniels belonging to the old type. When the King Charles Spaniel breed was entered in the British Kennel Club stud book for the first time in 1892, the dogs had shorter noses in comparison to their ancestors, since most breeders had crossed them with shorter-nosed breeds like pugs due to the fashion trends at the time. The ancestors of the breed also enjoyed greater popularity with the ladies of the nobility as society and lapdogs.

For instance, the painter Anthonis van Dyck's work “The Children of Charles I” eternalised not just the royal offspring, but also two spaniels that very closely resemble today's Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. They can be admired in numerous paintings from this time period and works of art even transmit their fondness of children.

The two British kings Charles I (1600-1649) and his son Charles II (1630-1685) were the godfathers of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and were followed at every turn by their beloved spaniels. Toy Spaniels have been popular society dogs for the European nobility for centuries and were bred from hunting spaniels.

Types of king charles cavalier spaniels