Cavalier King Charles Spaniel - Dog Breeds

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a small dog with aeither mitral valve disease and syringomyelia, both
very long name. As the name implies it does have its'very severe and very common. It is important to
roots in King Charles resurrection of Spain, evenbuy this breed from reliable breeders than screen the
though the breed originates from the 20th century.dogs for these two diseases before sale. The leading
Small spaniel breeds have always been popular in thecause of death for this breed is Mitral valve, a
United Kingdom, and just a few centuries ago Toydisease that affects the heart and eventually causes
Spaniels (the group that the Cavalier King Charlesit to fail. It is because of this that the breeds
Spaniel is in) gained immense popularity and was evenaverage lifespan is as low as 7 to 10 years. The
soon accepted into the royal family. The breedother sever condition, syringomyelia, is one that
received its' name thanks to the current king, whoaffects brain and spine, causing great discomfort, pain
even formed laws for his dog, a regular spaniel, toand occasionally even paralysis. A few other less
not be forbidden into any entrance. It was during theserious health issues include luxating patella, cataracts,
1920th century that a new breed was developedMVD and retinal disorders.
that so resembled the one King Charles had that itThe Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a great family
received his name. It is now the most popular of alldog, and gets along nicely with both children and
toy dogs and has spread around the globe. Theother pets, both dogs and cats. They will however
breed was registered with the AKC as early as 1996.sometimes chase after smaller birds. The Cavalier
The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a veryKing Charles Spaniel is a to most people beautiful dog,
affectionate dog, but it is also very attention cravingwith large round eyes, silky fur, large ears and an
and needs almost constantly either a human or a dogoverall very innocent appearance. The average
to be with. It's very friendly, obedient, social andweight lies between 13 to 20 pounds (5 to 8 kg) and
cheerful and seems to have nothing but godthe average height between 12 to 13 inches (30 to
characteristics. They can however suffer from a33 cm).
number of severe genetic defects. These being