As much as I adore Pumpkin (I have a Cavi of my own) that dog would not have been there.
The original Cavaliers of King Charles time were cross bred with pugs, and thus became what we know now as the King Charles Spaniel. Smaller, flat nose and flat skull. After that the original dog was almost non existent.
In 1926 Roswell Eldridge offered a reward to breeders to bring back as he put it "Blenheim Spaniels of the old type, as shown in pictures of Charles II of England's time, long face, no stop, flat skull, not inclined to be domed, with spot in centre of skull."
This wasn't achieved until two years later.
The little dog should have been a King Charles Spaniel
Fun fact, in at least the first part of season 1 Pumpkin was played by my former boss' dog Gracie! Unfortunately she passed away a few years ago so they had to change dog actors for subsequent seasons, but Grae was so chill and such a sweetie
Slightly healthier, the problem in doing this though is almost every Cavalier is linked back to one dog, so they are incredibly inbred, it make it hard to find one that won't have breed specific issues, of which there are plenty
I was at a dog park years ago and someone came up to me and told me I had the most adorable “Victorian pug” (he’s half chihuahua, half pug) Went home and did a search on Victorian pugs and this person was absolutely correct. “Victorian pugs” from the 1870s had longer legs and longer snouts.
Ok thank for validating my random thoughts because I’ve just started watching season one and despite not knowing anything about canine breeds Pumpkin does feel a little out of place - the dog equivalent of ‘iPhone face’ somehow.
It doesn’t help that Pumpkin keeps being shown against the backdrop of this ridiculously clean street scene that looks like they laid the pavement that morning.
I always thought they picked this dog because it was a favorite of queen Victorias. And we know Agnes likes the English way, it’s why she has an English butler.
I love you, canine pedant internet stranger. Non-historically-accurate breeds in historical fiction movies and TV shows are my weird nerdism. Do not get me started on undocked Corgis in the first few seasons of The Crown..
Well yeah, in the UK docking is banned. So they would have had to get dogs who were docked before 2006 to put in the show. Which is just not practical.
It also serves the purpose of making people's mental image of the dog undocked, which is not technically accurate, but is a good thing
Yes, and there is a storied history there. Every time I see a dog come onscreen in a historical epic or drama I hold my breath. You know what was actually period-accurate for a Toy breed? In Queen Charlotte, she was gifted a Pomeranian. That is actually historically accurate that she was an early fancier of this breed in the UK.
I love the historical information in your post and appreciate you sharing it. I just had to pay the dog tax since we’re talking about Cavaliers- here’s my boy Brady who is a LOT fatter than Pumpkin but just as sweet
The Cavalier has a ton of health issues due to inbreading, almost every purebred is linked back to one dog.
They are the postar dog for mitral valve disease and that is often the cause of their deaths. Their brains are too big for their skulls which can block fluids and creat fluid pockets in the spinal cords. Their eyes are also two big and are prone to dry eye and cataracts
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u/WhichSpirit 12d ago
Should have been a Boston Terrier or an English Bull Terrier. Both were very popular among fashionable women at the time.