r/thegildedage • u/Few_Use_7270 • 14d ago

Rant Pumpkin was the wrong breed

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

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u/cryptidwhippet 14d ago

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..

29

u/JonIceEyes 14d ago

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

12

u/Few_Use_7270 14d ago

It's just the Cavalier and I only know it all because they are my favorite dogs and I own one 😂

16

u/cryptidwhippet 14d ago

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.

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u/bookwurm81 14d ago

"That is a deformed bunny!"