Thank you so much for inviting me to judge the cavaliers in Iceland. It’s always such an honour to judge at a club show. It was so well organised and you all did your very best to make my stay so memorable. 

I would also like to thank everyone who entered their dogs under me and a very special thanks to my ring stewards and Soley and Annika for showing me around and made me experience The Blue Lagoon. 

You asked me to write a few words about the breed and the importance of breeding it.  

In my opinion we may never lose breed type. We must think carefully about, heads, eyes, expression, size, proportions, coats and of course general anatomy. 

As we all know, the cavalier is a small happy outgoing dog who loves everyone. Let me get back to the words small and toy dog. We  must not left them get too big. I have seen that they are getting bigger and longer and we as breeders have to be aware of size. Remember it is a toy breed. 

If we loose too many of the head details we lose the cavalier. The expression and eyes are so important.  Remember that the standard asks for large, round and dark eyes worth a soft expression. If we accept small almond shaped eyes we lose the correct expression. A dog showing too much white in the eye, looses the correct expression. The eyes cannot get too round, too dark or too big. The expression is so important, the softness and sweetness that makes you love them instantly as you look into their eyes. 

The muzzle must not be too thin and they must be filled under the eye. They should not have too much lip so the head appears heavy. 

Remember proportions, They are 9/10 which means slightly longer. Many of the cavaliers are too long. They must have a level top line and the croup should not be too steep or too flat. The tail is carried as an extension of the topline, wagging. 

The coat is silky. 

They move freely and sound, and please don’t move them too fast. It doesn’t do them any favours, it does the complete opposite and the movement is all of a sudden not effortless. To move with drive doesn’t equal run like you are about to miss the bus. 

With all this said please do not lose breed type, eyes and expression. Without the typical head, large round eyes and soft beautiful expression, the cavalier is not a cavalier but just another dog. 

Thank you 

Joel Lantz 

Síðastliðið fimmtudagskvöld 9. febrúar fórum við saman út að borða á vetingastaðnum 20&Sjö Mathús, til þess að heiðra stigahæstu hunda og ræktendur síðasta árs. Við þökkum öllum sem sáu sér fært að mæta fyrir frábæra samverustund og sérstakar þakkir fær Dýrabær fyrir veglegar gjafir til vinningshafa.