Breed Priorities – The Papillon

By Nikki Riggsbee

The Papillon is named for its ears which resemble a butterfly – “Papillon” is the French word for “butterfly.” Its origin is considered to be the Continental Toy Spaniel seen in paintings beginning around 1500. There are two types which are based on ear carriage. The erect-eared Papillons resemble the spread wings of the butterfly. The drop-eared dog is called Pha- lene (pronounced fal?n), or “moth-eared.” At AKC shows, both ear types are shown together, although they are usually separated in the open classes at specialties. In FCI countries, the Phalene is considered a separate breed.

We invited fifteen breeder-judges and twenty-four other men- tors to participate in a survey on their breed’s priorities. Twenty- eight said they would, and in the end, twenty surveys were received. The experts average almost twenty-nine years in the breed, and those who judge have been doing so over sixteen years on average.

Papillon Virtues

The experts were asked to prioritize a list of virtues taken from the Papillon standard. The list below is in sequence by the average of the rankings, with 1 being the most important.

1. Elegant toy dog of fine-boned structure
2. Butterfly-like ears
3. Happy, alert, friendly
4. Body slightly longer than height at withers 5. Backline straight and level
6. Nose, eye rims, and lips well-pigmented black
7. Color other than white extending from ears over both eyes
8. Gait free, quick, easy, graceful
9. Well-defined stop where muzzle joins skull
10. Tail long, set high, carried well-arched over body
11. Muzzle length one-third length of head
12. Coat abundant, long, fine, silky, flowing, flat
13. Eyes dark, round, medium-sized
14. Hindquarters well-angulated
15. Scissors bite
16. Feet hare-like

Short URL: http://caninechronicle.com/?p=112275

Posted by Alex on May 16 2020. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.