- • 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.
- Undesirable: White marks. • Ruby: Whole coloured rich red
- Undesirable: White markings. • 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.
- Undesirable: Any other colour or combination of colours highly
About the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Origin: Great Britain
- Typical life span
- 12-15 years
- Size
- Small — from its typical weight
- Weight
- 6-8 kg
- Height
- 30-33 cm
- FCI status
- Recognised by FCI
- FCI groupFCI divides this breed into varieties, and our sources don’t record which one a breeder works. Ask them which variety their line is.
- Companion and Toy Dogs
- Origin
- Great Britain
- Known hereditary risks
- 5 documented conditions, with the test for each
About
What is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel?
Small, elegant toy spaniel with silky coat, large expressive eyes, and noble appearance, known for its gentle expression and affectionate temperament, equally at home as a lap dog or active companion
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel history and origins
Named after King Charles II who favored the breed, descended from toy spaniels depicted in 16th-18th century British court paintings. The modern breed was revived in the 1920s by enthusiasts seeking to restore the longer-nosed type seen in old portraits
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel appearance and size
Typically 6-8 kg and 30-33 cm at the shoulder — published as one range rather than separately for males and females.
What the breed standard says
- Bred for
- Companion and Toy
- Behaviour and temperament
“Sporting, affectionate, absolutely fearless. Gay, friendly, non-aggressive; no tendency towards nervousness”
Quoted from FCI standard n°136. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Breed reference from The Dog API.
Characteristics
- Size
- Small
- Exercise needsRead from what the breed was bred to do, in the registry’s own words: “Companion and Toy” That is a working purpose, not a measured exercise requirement — an individual dog’s needs depend on its age, health and household.
- 2 of 5
- Easy to train
- —
- Amount of shedding
- —
- Grooming needs
- 5 of 5
- Good with children
- —
- Cost to keep
- —
- Tolerates being alone
- —
- Intelligence
- —
- Health of breed
- 5 conditions documented
Pros & cons
Pros & cons for the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
What you get with the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
- Purpose stated in the standard: “Companion and Toy”
- The standard describes the breed as: “Sporting, affectionate, absolutely fearless. Gay, friendly, non-aggressive; no tendency towards nervousness”
What you are taking on
- 5 serious inherited conditions are documented, mainly in brain & nerves and heart & circulation. The health guide tab has the test to ask for on each.
- High grooming needs — the standard’s own description is “Plenty of feathering. Totally free from trimming”
Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. FCI breed standard; cavalierhealth.org / MVD Breeding Protocol for Cavalier Breeders to Follow. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.
Characteristics
FCI standard · Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Coat and colour
As the FCI standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording, tagged undesirable.
Coat
Slight wave permissible.
Plenty of feathering.
Totally free from trimming
- Long
- Silky
- Free from curl
Colour
- Preferred
- Permissible
- Undesirable
- Disqualifying
Preferred, permissible, undesirable and disqualifying are FCI’s own words about the breed. They describe what the standard asks for — not an assessment of any individual dog, and not ours.
Shortened from FCI standard n°136 — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
FCI varieties
FCI divides the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel into these varieties, listed in the registry's own words. Depending on the breed they separate colour, coat, size or line — they are not a full list of colours, which no registry we hold publishes. Ask a breeder which variety their line is.
- BLACK AND TAN
- RUBY
- BLENHEIM
- TRICOLOUR
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel in general; any individual animal can differ.
Health guide
Health & screening guide for the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Known hereditary risks for the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.
5 conditions documentedThis is breed-level literature, not veterinary advice about an individual animal — your vet knows the animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Heart & circulation
Mitral valve disease (MVD)
Serious
Degeneration of the mitral heart valve leading to a leaking murmur, and in many dogs eventually to congestive heart failure; it appears earlier and far more often in this breed than in any other. There are no recognised varieties in this breed, so this applies breed-wide.
What to ask for
A current cardiac auscultation result from a boarded veterinary cardiologist for both parents, following the age-linked MVD breeding protocol (clear of a murmur past 2.5 years, ideally with parents and grandparents clear at 5)
Bones & joints
Chondrodystrophy-linked intervertebral disc disease (IVDD)
Serious
A raised risk of premature disc degeneration from the same FGF4 retrogene insertion (CDDY) implicated in Dachshunds; testing-lab data show it at very high frequency in this breed (allele frequency around 99.6%), and a 2025 study of 43,517 US dogs found Cavaliers at four times the odds of owner-reported IVDD compared with mixed-breed dogs.
What to ask for
A CDDY/IVDD-risk DNA test on both parents
Brain & nerves
Chiari-like malformation and syringomyelia (CM/SM)
SeriousInherent to the breed
A mismatch between the skull and brain causes fluid-filled cavities to form in the spinal cord, producing neck pain, scratching at the neck/shoulder without contact, and in severe cases partial paralysis. The Kennel Club and British Veterinary Association run a dedicated joint screening scheme for this breed because of how closely it relates to the breed's skull conformation.
What to ask for
An MRI grading under the BVA/Kennel Club Chiari-like Malformation and Syringomyelia scheme for both parents
Episodic falling syndrome (EFS)
Serious
An inherited disorder of muscle control, usually appearing in the first year of life, in which exercise, excitement or frustration triggers rigid muscles and collapse. A DNA test has existed since the causal mutation was identified, so no dog need be bred that can produce an affected puppy.
What to ask for
An episodic falling syndrome DNA test on both parents
Eyes
Curly coat / dry eye syndrome
Serious
An inherited disorder in which affected dogs produce no tears, leaving the eyes chronically sore, alongside dry, flaky skin that can make standing and walking painful.
What to ask for
A curly coat/dry eye syndrome DNA test on both parents
How long the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel lives, in the records
Median survival 11.8 years
95% confidence interval 11.7–11.9 years, from 6,879 recorded deaths among 13,866 dogs
Mortality hazard 1.07 (1.04, 1.09) relative to crossbred dogs, whose median is 12.0 years.
Measured in the United Kingdom from 584,734 dogs. Median survival is not a prediction for an individual dog.
McMillan, K.M., Bielby, J., Williams, C.L., Upjohn, M.M., Casey, R.A. & Christley, R.M. (2024) Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death. Scientific Reports 14, 531.
Gallery
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Puppies
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