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Why is my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Taller than Others?

Jessii: Why is my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel taller than others?
My Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is only 3 years old but he is taller than others. I was told by the breeder that he was a pure breed and he looks like one just much taller. Anyone got the same problem or does anyone know why he is taller than most others?
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel portrait
Photo Credit: austinpaulwhite/Flickr CC

Answers and Views:

Answer by abbyful
Some dogs just grow taller. My dog ended up taller than both her parents and is just barely within the breed standard for size.
And some dogs don't grow as big as they were expected. My parents have a tiny toy poodle that wasn't expected to be as small as she turned out.

Answer by Paul W
Cavaliers vary in size quite a bit. The first one I owned (1984-96) was quite large for the breed. I don’t recall what he weighed. I owned another fairly large one up to a couple of years ago – he was over 10 kilos (22 pounds) and he wasn’t fat. That’s quite a bit bigger than the breed standard, but my first one was quite a bit bigger still – probably as big as a Cocker in fact, but he was a purebred Cavalier according to his papers. The biggest Cavaliers are quite literally twice the size of the smallest ones. It isn’t a problem, just natural variation.

Answer by zoo
Genetics….
It is the result of the breeder's breeding program…. or if your dog is over the AKC standard, lack of breeding program.
To produce top examples of any breed requires extensive research and careful planning. Unfortunately, there are far more people that are in it for the money and are not paying attention to what is good for the breed. Even those who are doing all the right things can get caught up in the fad of the moment which is why you see changes in a breed over the years. For example, Golden Retrievers were not originally the large blonde big-boned dogs you see today. They were smaller boned, darker golden and much less coat. Somewhere along the way, the heavier coated blonde dogs started winning in the show ring and that is the direction the breed went.

Any breed or kennel club's registry is only as good as the integrity of its members and unfortunately, very few registries regulate their membership. Most just collect the money from registrations.
Bottom line is deal with a breeder who is experienced, has done all the proper research, health checks and you should be in good hands.
Regardless of your dog's height, love him and cherish him. He does not know he is taller than what you think he should be.

Answer by anthony
My CKCS is 1.5 years old Nov 2018. Charlie is huge compared to normal CKCS; she weighs in at 33 pounds recently. The vet said about 30 is an ideal weight for Charlie. We were on vacation and saw another CKCS and put her next to Charlie, they looked identical almost, but Charlie towers over her. Like I said the vet said her ideal weights around 20lbs. Foso, she is on a diet, but she’s a beast. Straight up a hunter, she holla’s at everything and everyone that don’t wanna say hello to her. Straight up Diva.

Answer by Billy B
I have a Cavalier King Charles of 2 1/2. Does it depend on how many inches he is? Mine comes up from my middle finger to my elbow at the top of his head (I don't' have a measuring tape handy..lol) I would say approximately 15 inches or thereabouts to the top of his head. He is a purebred. You should have gotten the appropriate purebred papers to go with him as I did. All dogs have some genetics to them. What height is he at?

Answer by Karuna
Here’s my experience:

My CKC Spaniel is a purebred. I went to a reputable, AKC-certified breeder and saw him & his parents when he was 2 weeks old. His mother is 13 pounds. His father was a bit bigger but, like all her breeding pairs on the premises, within AKC “toy” standards.

Kingsley is now 4 years old, 15 3/4 inches at the withers and 23 pounds. He has long legs, is perfectly proportioned, and is pure muscle (read: NOT fat). He is an agility star (jumps 16″ in AKC & CPE while other CKC Spaniels jump 8″-12″).

Remember, these dogs were sometimes used for hunting “back in the day.” My dog somehow picked up some old CKC DNA string as he has hunting instincts and behaviors.

He’s also extremely intelligent and knows “right” from “left,” for example. So I take umbrage with replies of a bigger dog “polluting” the breed or my dog’s heritage — let alone my research on breeders — being questioned. The joy of genetics is that nice, recessive surprises are produced.
Know better? Give your own answer to this question!

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Tagged With: cavalier

Reader Interactions

Comments ( 18 )

  1. Simonne says

    Wonderful to read the above as my cavvy is a bit task as well. Great comments and as he’s only 10 months old I’m sure the criticsms will come. Now I’m prepared for the answers. Thanks to all of you.

    Reply
    • RussianDog says

      Thanks to you for your nice words. Good luck with your pup!

      Reply
  2. Helen Allison says

    Our 2 year old cavalier is 33lbs she is not fat but looks chunky like a cocker but also has a longer nose ,thing is we have had 2 DNA tests from 2 different companies and have both said 100% cavalier. She is a beautiful girl with a perfect personality and wouldn’t want her anyother way , just don’t understand why she is so big ?

    Reply
  3. Catherine Christensen says

    my Regan is almost three and I am always hearing how “fat” he is. He is not the breed standard Cavalier and yes he came from a very reputable breeder. He is a bigger dog, very healthy and weighs in around 27 lbs – though he has been getting daily Advent calendar treats lately – and I am so tired of “breeding snobs” who feel that every pure bred dog must adhere to the standard Cavalier, or the animal is suspect or he is somehow being mistreated and overfed. He is his own beautiful self and a happy puppy. Do people really think Cavvy owners are so irresponsible or stupid ?

    Reply
    • Andrew says

      Our cavalier was twice the size of the other puppies in the litter, he is a true cavalier.
      He is 17 inches at the withers, 31 inches long from nose to base of tail and 9 inches across his shoulders. He weighs 21 kilograms or 46 pounds, he is very active and stronger than a Labrador

      Reply
  4. Martha Sanford says

    I once dreaded going to our ex-vet as she was so critical of how big my CKCS, Sandy, was. Sandy’s parents were both show dogs. The vet put her on a starvation prescription diet to get her down to size. Luckily, we dumped that doctor, and our current vet just laughed and said Sandy was perfectly fine and healthy – and quite beautiful! Sometimes nature just does her thing.

    Reply
    • Susan Pink says

      Hi my cavalier is two and weights 15 kg long legs slim body very athletic a very handsome dog but I get other cavalier King Charles owners saying he must me crossed with a spaniel but he is pure bred just a big lad I wouldn’t swap him for the world

      Reply
  5. Ying Xu says

    My 1.5-year old boy Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is quite big for his breed too. He weighs 25lbs and is just over 15 inches tall at the withers. He’s purebred with papers going back 6 generations. His dad is almost 20lbs, mother is small, 13-14lbs, but he’s bigger than both of them and probably all his siblings.

    Reply
  6. anthony says

    The comment has been moved into the body of the post.

    Reply
  7. Paul W says

    The comment has been moved into the body of the post.

    Reply
  8. chris says

    I have a 10 month old cavalier king charles named snoopy. He is 14 kilos all muscle and similar size to a cocker spaniel. Didn’t ask for papers. Parent were smaller than him. He is very active friendly. Alot of people comment he is big but i wouldn’t change a thing about him and has a very healthy snout size compared to the average cavalier that retains tbe shorter ‘king charles’ snout. I believe the size has more to do with diet and exercise than cross breeding as he has all cavalier traits other than his larger frame.

    Reply
    • Grace says

      We too have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who is of a similar weight to your dog and also has a longer muzzle. We were so uncertain of her breeding because of her height and muzzle that we had a DNA test done. It came back as 100% purebred. After doing much research it would appear she is from the original breed of CKCS before they were bred with pugs which gave them the shorter snout and smaller size. Like your dog, she has all the CKCS traits. She gets lots of remarks from people and I regard her as very unique and we love her to bits.

      Reply
      • Helen says

        My CKCS will be 1 on 10 July 2018. He weighs 27.7 lbs and according to his vet he is in the normal weight for his size. He is a big boy, bigger than most cockers. So much for wanting a petite lap dog, this guy hogs up most of the bed and for sure doesn’t fit on my lap! I wouldn’t trade him for the world tho, he is the sweetest boy. Sometimes God gives you what you need, not what you want.

        Reply
        • anthony disalvo says

          My CKCS is 1.5 years old Nov 2018. Charlie is huge compared to normal CKCS; she weighs in at 33 pounds recently. The vet said about 30 is ideal wait for Charlie. We were on vacation and saw another CKCS and put her next to Charlie, they looked identical almost, but Charlie towers over her. Like I said the vet said her ideal weights around 20lbs. Foso, she is on a diet, but she’s a beast. Straight up hunter, she holla’s at everything and everyone that don’t wanna say hello to her. Straight up Diva.

          Reply
  9. ladyquesteur says

    Reputable breeders are careful to breed to the "breed standard". This dictates, size, color, markings, temperament, etc.

    They choose the best matings by looking at the genetic propensities (probabilities) of each animal and putting them together to accentuate the positive and to balance the flaws. This is done by careful evaluation of their pedigrees and the lines.

    Due to unknowable genetic variables, some animals do not meet the standard and are sold as "pet quality" to be sterilized so they do not further pollute the breed's gene pool.

    "Back yard breeders" refers to the people that simply put any 2 purebreds together to make puppies. Some even cross in another breed, veritably making the rest of the line "mix breeds". "Puppy mills" care nothing about improving the breed, only making money and will use fraud to that end.

    With all that said… your pet may be "purebred" but not "well bred". Only you can decide if your breeder was ethical.

    Go to akc.org and check your pet against the standard. If he does not meet the requirements then he should definitely be neutered. He will be happier and healthier for it, and will not add to the over population problem.

    You can read his pedigree (papers) and see what ancestors have proven themselves in conformation and if he has champions in his lineage. They are designated by CH next to their names.

    Reply
    • Mr Cutsteel says

      I wouldn’t call syringomyelia or mitral valve disorder ‘improving the breed’, yet both conditions seem to be becoming more and more prevalent among so-called ‘well bred’ Cavaliers. Truth is, a lot of ‘reputable’ breeders are doing things that are damaging to the health of the dogs because all they are interested in is achieving a certain look instead of a healthy animal. A bit of crossbreeding with another breed of spaniel would probably be the best thing that could happen to the Cavalier at this point.

      Reply
    • Phil says

      You are pure evil to think that a dog’s worth is determined by being measured against ‘our’ perception of what is acceptable for their breed. A dog is a living entity, jut like us; and we come in all shapes, sizes and colours. You should be ashamed for suggesting neutering as a way forward.
      I pity any dogs you own; I hope the majority of owners on this feed love their dogs for what they bring to their lives

      Reply
      • Michelle says

        well said!

        Reply

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