Meet Lady Juliet
Looking for the Perfect Dog
By the time I had turned age 65, I had said good-bye to our beloved 15-year-old Black Labrador, Magnolia. "No more dogs," my wife and I agreed.
But, true dog lovers at heart, we began stopping to pet every dog we saw. Then, our daughter and her husband began working on us as well.
Now, we faced a dilemma. We knew that we did not want another large, rambunctious dog. Also, we had always turned up our noses at small dogs that yipped and barked. So we embarked on a research project—looking for a small, friendly dog capable of long walks in the woods and not a hyper, nervous, barking watchdog. Would we find such a critter in a small dog?
We could, and we did—Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.
Cavalier King Charles Spaniels
A fully grown Cavalier measures 10 to 12 inches at the shoulder and weighs between 12 and 18 pounds. The fur is moderately long and silky. Cavaliers come in four color patterns:
- Ruby - chestnut brown
- Blenheim - chestnut brown and white
- Black and Tan - black with chestnut brown markings
- Tricolor - black and white with chestnut brown markings
Lady Juliet is a typical tricolor Cavalier.
Cavaliers are lap dogs, once favored by royalty—Cavalier King Charles in the seventeenth Century. They are considered toy dogs, but are quite sturdy. At 6 months, Lady Juliet was able to walk with me for as long as six hours at temperatures below freezing. She loves winter walks in the woods.
Best of all, Cavaliers don't bark. In fact, they are not watchdogs at all. Nor do they have to take long walks every day. Their favorite activity is curling up on the couch, preferably on your lap.
A good reference book is "Cavalier King Charles Spaniel" by Norma Moffat.
Photos
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