WELCOME TO TOY SPANIELS By Sue Jackson Originally published in SHOWSIGHT Magazine, September 2012
Sue Jackson passed away in 2020. Top Notch Toys is reprinting this ar- ticle on “Charlies” in honor of Sue’s devotion to the breed. W elcome to Toy Spaniels, sweet, charming, a bit bull headed and super smart. Charlies, our nickname, in honor of King Charles II, have been constant com- panions of royalty for centuries. They can be a little aloof, but have always felt that they came by that naturally. Many breeds say that they are a head breed, but we truly are. Our standard says “The important characteris- tics of the breed are exemplified by the head”. Without this very distinct head we could just be another small spaniel. The Charlie head is one of soft curves, not angles. There is a straight line from the corner of the eye across the nose and onto the cor- ner of the other eye, but that is it!! All else is curves. The dome or top skull is a curve. Ann Clark used to say that it should have the shape of the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral. This dome should ex- tend slightly out over the eyes. You don’t want the top skull to go straight back or be flat, it must be curved. An old standard said “absolutely semi globular, sometimes even extending beyond the half circle, and projecting over the eyes so as to nearly meet the upturned nose”. The ears are set low, about half-way down toward the corner of the eye. They should be long and heavily feathered framing the face.
Blenheim Your Bitch. Very Pretty. Courtesy of Loretta Dingus.
Ch. Dreamridger Dear Charles – bred by Sue Jackson, owned by Tom O’Neal and shown by Ron Fabis. Charlie was the first all-breed BIS dog in the Breed; two of the shows being Santa Barbara and the Chicago International.
Ch. Dreamridge Dear Jeffery – bred and owned by Tom O’Neal, and shown by Ron Fabis. ETSCA National (first broken color to do so) and BIS awards.
T op N otch T oys , N ovember 2022 • 45
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