FCI-Standard N° 77 / 06. 04. 1998 / GB
CONTINENTAL TOY SPANIEL
(Epagneul nain continental)
TRANSLATION: Mrs Peggy Davis.
ORIGIN: France, Belgium.
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD: 17.09.1990.
UTILIZATION: Toy.
CLASSIFICATION FCI: Group 9 Companion and Toy Dogs.
Section 9 Continental Toy Spaniels.
Without working trial.
GENERAL APPEARANCE: Small de luxe Toy spaniel, of a normal and harmonious build, with long hair, moderately long muzzle shorter than the skull, lively personality, graceful yet robust, proud carriage with an easy and elegant gait. His body is somewhat longer than high.
HEAD: In normal proportion to the body and proportionately lighter and shorter than in the Spaniel of large or medium size.
CRANIAL REGION:
Skull: Not too rounded neither in profile nor from the front, sometimes showing a slight trace of medial furrow.
Stop: Depression sufficiently accentuate. In the heavier dogs, this depression is less evident yet still defined; in the very small dogs it is clearly marked without ever showing sudden break.
FACIAL REGION:
Nose: Small, black and round, but slightly flattened on top.
Muzzle: Shorter than the skull, fine, pointed and not too hollow on the sides; must not be turned up.
Nasal bridge: Straight.
Lips: Strongly pigmented, thin and tight.
Jaws/Teeth: Quite strong, closing well and normally.
Tongue: Must not be visible; the fact that it is constantly visible or not drawn in when touched by the finger is a fault.
Eyes: Rather large, well open, in the shape of a large almond, not prominent, set rather low in the head, the inner corner is at the intersection of the skull and the muzzle. Dark in colour and very expressive; eyelid strongly pigmented.
Ears: Quite fine but firm. Whether it is the oblique ear or the hanging ear, when examined by hand, the cartilage must not end in too sharp a point. The ears are set on rather far back on the head, sufficiently apart one from the other, so as to reveal the slightly rounded shape of the skull.
· Variety with hanging ears, called: PHALENE.
The ear at rest is set high, considerably higher than the eye line, carried hanging and yet quite mobile. Garnished with wavy hair which may reach quite a length which gives the dog a pretty appearance.
· Variety with erect ears, called: PAPILLON.
The ear is set on high, the auricle (external ear) well open and turned to the side; the inner edge of the auricle forming an angle of approx. 45° with the horizontal. In no case must the ear point upwards, which would be like a Spitz type ear and must definitely be rejected. The inside of the auricle is covered with fine hairs, also wavy. The longest hairs extending slightly beyond the edge of the ear; the outer face, on the contrary, is covered with long hair forming hanging fringes extending well beyond the edges of the ear. Cross-breeding of the two varieties often produces semi-erect ears, with drooping tip; this mixed form of ear carriage is a serious fault.
NECK: Of moderate length, a little arched at the nape.
BODY:
Topline: Neither too short or arched, nor saddled, without however being flat.
Loin: Solid and slightly arched.
Chest: Wide, fairly well let down. The circumference of the thorax taken between the past two ribs must be approximately equivalent to the height at the withers. Ribs well arched.
Belly: Slightly drawn up.
TAIL: Set quite high, rather long, abundant fringe forming a lovely plume. When the dog is in action, it is carried raised along the line of the back and curved, the extreme tip may touch the back; never should it curl or lie flat on the back.
LIMBS: Legs straight, firm, fine. The dog must not seem to be raised up; seen either from the front or from back, the legs are parallel.
FOREQUARTERS:
Shoulders: Well developed, well attached to the body.
Arm: Of equal length as the shoulder-blade, normally angulated and well joined with it, well attached to the body.
Pastern: Apparent in profile.
HINDQUARTERS:
Hockjoint: Normally angulated.
FEET: Rather long, called « hare feet » resting evenly on their pads. Strong nails, preferably black, lighter in the dogs with brown or white coats (the white nails in white dogs or in dogs with white legs do not constitute a fault if the dog is otherwise well pigmented). The toes are strong with a tough pad, well furnished in between with fine hair extending beyond the tip of the foot and forming a point.
GAIT / MOVEMENT: Proud, free, easy and elegant.
COAT
HAIR: The coat, without undercoat, is abundant, glossy, wavy (not to be confused with curly), not soft but slightly resistant to the touch, with silky reflections. The hairs are inserted flat; they are quite fine, slightly curved by the wave. The appearance of the coat is similar to that of the English Toy Spaniels, but it differs definitely from that of the Pekingese Spaniel; at the same time it should not have any resemblance to the coat of the Spitz. The hair is short on the face, the muzzle, the front of the legs and the underneath part of the hock.
Of medium length on the body, it gets longer on the neck to form a ruff and jabot, descending in waves on the chest; forming fringes at the ears and at the back of the forelegs; at the back of the thighs, an ample culotte with soft hair. There may be small tufts of hair between the toes and may even extend slightly beyond providing they do not give a heavy appearance to the foot, but rather give it a finer appearance by lengthening it. Certain dogs in good coat condition have hair 7,5 cm long at the withers and fringes of 15 cm on the tail.
COLOURS: All colours are admitted on a coat with a white background. On the body and legs, the white must be dominant in relation to the colour. The white on the head preferably extended by a more or less wide blaze. A white marking is admitted on the lower part of the head, but dominant white on the head constitutes a fault. In all cases, the lips, the eyelids and principally the nose must be pigmented.
SIZE AND WEIGHT:
Height at the withers: About 28 cm.
Weight: two categories:
1) Less than 2,5 kg for dogs and bitches.
2) From 2,5 kg to 4,5 kg for dogs, from 2,5 kg to 5kg for bitches.
Minimum weight 1,5 kg.
FAULTS: Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.
Skull flat, apple-shaded and bulging as in the small English Toy Spaniels.
Stop too much or insufficiently accentuated.
Nose not black.
Muzzle arched or hollow.
Depigmentation of the lips.
Overshot and especially undershot mouth.
Eye small, too round, prominent; light in colour; showing white when the dog looks straight ahead.
Depigmentation on the edges of the eyelids.
Roach- or saddle back.
Tail curly, resting on the back; falling on the side (that is the bone and not the fringes which, because of their length, fall in locks).
Forelegs bowed.
Pastern joints knotty.
Hindquarters weak.
Hindquarters, which, seen from the back, are out of the vertical at the stifle, the hocks and the feet.
Single or double dewclaws on the hind legs are undesirable and constitute a beauty fault. Their removal is therefore advisable.
Feet turning inwards or outwards.
Nails not touching the ground.
Coat poor, soft or blown (puffed up); hair planted straight or itself straight; woolly hair; undercoat indicating cross-breading with the Spitz.
ELIMINATING FAULTS:
Aggresive or overly shy.
Pink or pink spotted nose.
Excessive prognathism, overshot or undershot to the point where the incisors do not touch anymore.
Tongue paralysed or constantly visible.
Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.
N.B.: Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
Description
A Papillon is referred to as a small dog related to a spaniel, which has a long, silky coat and a bushy tail that curves over its back. It\'s large, flaring ears are its trademark, which are shaped like the wings of a butterfly, but there is a variety of Papillon that has drooping ears. The tail of the Papillon is long and plumed, curled over its back which gave an earlier name the "Squirrel Dog." Considered to be a small and dainty dog, it is elegant and of a fine-boned structure with a build that is slightly longer than it is tall. A small dog with a quick gate, it is easy and graceful with an abundant coat of hair that is very straight, silky, and flowing.Also known as the American Papillon, the breed called "Phalenes" (a French word pronounced fah-LEN\' whereas the American pronunciation is \'FAY-leen) is a dog that has mobile ears, and are placed in a dropped position--but the dog can still lift them up at the base. In the United States, this breed is still recognized as a Papillon instead of a Phalenes--even though it is seeing a resurgence in its own breed lately even though many judges will not accept them in the show rings. There are long-time Phalene breeders located in Sweden and France that consider them a separate breed of their since their earliest origin, and are considered the forerunner of the Papillon.
Coat Description
Besides the butterfly ears, the trademark of the little Papillon is the coat of hair. To tell a good quality Papillon coat is to take the hand and run it backwards against the dog\'s hair. Quality hair will fall right back into place, and its maintenance will be a breeze as the hair is simple and straight normally. Many breeders of Papillons say that Papillon hair has the "flexibility of nylon but feels like \'peau d\'ange\', " which is French for angel\'s skin, or a wonderful type of satin.The colors of the Papillon is white with patches of any color except liver. If the breed is colored with a color other than white, it should cover both eyes and both back ears to the front. Called a classic tri-color, a Papillon is one that is white and black on the body, with black on the face. Brown spots are above each eye, and also on the cheek. As a puppy, sometimes the brown spots do not show up until later on.
History
Written history of the hunting and working dogs go back to the Dark Ages, while during the dawn of Classical Greece and Rome the toy breeds developed that had a spitz type of background. With the disappearance of these dogs, it was not until the Renaissance that many different types of toy breeds began to develop--toy greyhounds, dwarf barbets, Cayenne dogs, and crosses of assorted breeds. None of those earlier toys had the body type or personality of the little Papillon, or toy spaniel.Several early theories state the toy spaniel may have come from China because of Venetian trade over the centuries. History says that the Chinese actually did have such a breed--a parti-colored, long-coated dog similar to the toy spaniel of those early days, in addition to resembling the modern day Pekingese which was very popular with nobility. Some other earlier theories say that eventually, the early lines of the toy spaniel developed out of Spain, with the word spaniel referring to "dog of Spain." Others rebut this theory as the Continental Toy Spaniel did not develop as the "butterfly dog" until two-and-a-half centuries after the Conquest. But regardless, the little dog remained popular in court circles with the nobility, providing a successful market for the breed. Many pictures with royalty and nobility were painted by famous court painters of the little spaniel, with the drooped ears of the Phalene--later developing into the present day Papillon.
Temperament
The Papillon is the number one dog in dog shows, excelling in obedience or agility sports, which should say a lot about the personality of this courageous little dog. An entertaining sort of dog, they are considered to be a hardy yet dainty little dog with a long life line, they are very devoted to their owners along with being a very high-spirited dog with a happy and livelily personality. One would think they are the classical lap dog, and that this little "butterfly" of a dog would seem to be the type of pretty little dog that is content to sit on its owner\'s lap and idly watch the world around them drift by. Not so.On the contrary, as small as it is--the Papillon loves to hunt and flush out butterflies, moths, and mice--little things within its size range! But it cannot be used in field trials as it is too fine-boned and dainty, even though that is where the Papillon\'s little heart is. The basic field trials, usually involving the stronger and more durable hunting dogs like the hounds, spaniels, Labrador, retrievers, etc., involves participating in a sport that definitely would do damage to this little dog that has more courage than having some old-fashioned common sense. So it has to "make do" with being a small little watch dog, setting off the alarm whenever a bird flies over-or-a mouse quickly scuttles across the field before the brave little canine hunter finds it.
This particular breed requires socialization of the puppies before their eyes open due to the nature. Many Papillons are reported to be "fear biters" unless handled correctly when they are bred and raised by a reputable breeder. The puppies need to begin developing a calm and trusting nature when young. If raised properly, the breed will be very curious about their surroundings while being calm and assertive, without being so afraid they develop a "bitiness" to anything new. They get along well with other pets and animals, attempting to bring them into play with them.
Health Problems
Health problems for the Papillon are like any other breed--they each have their own particular types. Major concerns for the Papillon is none, with several minor concerns: Progressive Retinal Atrophy and Patellar Luxation. Testing should be done on the knee and eye areas. The patella in the hind legs, in particular, can occur but can be treated with surgery.Grooming
Grooming a Papillon is not like grooming most other dogs. The Papillon tri\'s, black and whites, and deep sables require a shampoo that is clear, blue, or white shampoos only--some purples are out there, but it is wise to use it before ever showing the Papillon or taking the little dog over to Grandma\'s Sunday dinner with the entire family waiting to see the new little dog. The other shampoos will eventually yellow the coat.Rinsing is extremely important as a slightly "bluish or purplish" tinge has been known to remain in the dog\'s coat if not rinsed well. Many dog breeders use human shampoos for Platinum Blondes or for silver hair successfully, or there are dog shampoos similar in style. The whitening shampoos, if used, do not drain any color off the tri\'s, black hair, or deep sables. Good dog shampoos never "leach" the color when used, so make sure they work--especially on the red color. Whitening shampoos used on the red hair will wash out the red color of the hair with prolonged use.
A good Papillon never requires a cream rinse as their hair is so silky. BUT, for those who do have Papillons with red or sable colors, a slight bit of the cream rinse never hurts as their hair tends to be a bit drier than the other colors, explaining why red Papillons grow less fringe. Cream rinse used on other colors may have a tendency to look oily and stringy, according to professional dog groomers. But do pay special attention to the ear areas, using a de-greasing detergent in that area if needed due to an "oily" look and feel.
Drying the hair of a Papillon depends on the type of hair. To dry more quickly, the hair can be blown against the grain if the dog has perfect Pap hair. Otherwise, blow it with the grain, drying the whole body not just here and there. When brushing the Papillon, never use a slicker brush as it will break the silky hair, while leaving split ends. That particular brush should be used on Pomeranians and Poodles. Use a comb, but never use it on the wet hair of a Papillon--and use it properly. This is not a tool to be used with lack of experience.
Exercise
As small as the Papillon is, they still need an average amount of exercise, due to their high-energy nature. They are low on the level of exercise, but need to still be exercised enough to keep them calm when inside or not exercising.Training
The Papillon is highly intelligent and easily trainable, due to a strong love of their owner and a desire to please. Highly affectionate, this adds to the ease of the training routine for the breed. All breeds were developed for some purpose or another, and the Papillon was raised to be a companion to people--inseparable and within close proximities at all time. A Papillon will never make it with an owner who has little time for the dog, requiring only a moderately demanding companion. They thrive on stimulation, obedience work, agility trials, dog therapy, trick performance, and anything that allows them to use their intelligence and still be close to their human owners--particularly the males as the females have a tendency to be slightly "aloof."Many novice trainers confuse a dog\'s intelligence level and their ability to be trained. A trainer who is very inconsistent will not achieve consistent results, even teaching basic command teaching. The Papillon has the highest aptitude for learning, and has the ability to learn from everything around them--one experience after another--without any particular form of training. Forced training does badly with this breed, due to their high response rate for positive reinforcements.