It is regretted by some of the admirers of these dogs that custom has ordained that their tails should be docked.  As portrayed in early pictures of the King Charles and the Blenheim varieties, the tails are long, well flagged, and inclined to curve gracefully over the back, and in none of the pictures of the supposed ancestors of our present Toy Spaniels—­even so recent as those painted by Sir Edwin Landseer—­do we find an absence of the long tail.

If left intact, the tail would take two or three years to attain perfection, but the same may be said of the dog generally, which improves very much with age, and is not at its best until it is three years old, and even then continues to improve.

Although the Toy Spaniels are unquestionably true aristocrats by nature, birth, and breeding, and are most at home in a drawing-room or on a well-kept lawn, they are by no means deficient in sporting proclivities, and, in spite of their short noses, their scent is very keen.  They thoroughly enjoy a good scamper, and are all the better for not being too much pampered.  They are very good house-dogs, intelligent and affectionate, and have sympathetic, coaxing little ways.  One point in their favour is the fact that they are not noisy, and do not yap continually when strangers go into a room where they are, or at other times, as is the habit with some breeds of toy dogs.

Those who have once had King Charles Spaniels as pets seldom care to replace them by any other variety of dog, fearing lest they might not find in another breed such engaging little friends and companions, “gentle” as of yore and also “comforters.”

Although these dogs need care, they possess great powers of endurance.  They appreciate warmth and comfort, but do not thrive so well in either extreme heat or intense cold.  One thing to be avoided is the wetting of their feathered feet, or, should this happen, allowing them to remain so; and, as in the case of all dogs with long ears, the interior of the ears should be carefully kept dry to avoid the risk of canker.

In going back to a period long before the last century was half-way through, we find that a great number of these ornamental pets were in the hands of working men living in the East End of London, and the competition among them to own the best was very keen.  They held miniature dog shows at small taverns, and paraded their dogs on the sanded floor of tap-rooms, their owners sitting around smoking long church-warden pipes.  The value of good specimens in those early days appears to have been from P5 to P250, which latter sum is said to have been refused by a comparatively poor man for a small black and tan with very long ears, and a nose much too long for our present-day fancy.  Among the names of some old prominent breeders and exhibitors may be mentioned those of C. Aistrop, J. Garwood, J. A. Buggs, and Mrs. Forder.