Color: Black and white, or red and white. The term red includes all
shades of sable, brindle, lemon and orange, but the brighter and clearer
the red the better. The white should be clear white and whatever color
the patches are they should be evenly distributed over the body, cheeks
and ears.
This is a lively, highly bred little dog, of dainty, smart appearance,
compact carriage, profuse coat, and very stylish in movement. The head
should be large, broad, and slightly rounded, with strong and wide
muzzle, very short from eyes to nose. The under-jaw should be slightly
turned up, but the teeth should not be shown. The nose should be wide
and open, and must be the color of the dog’s markings. The eyes are
large, dark, lustrous, prominent and set wide apart. Ears small, nicely
feathered and set high on the head. The body is very compact and
squarely built with short cobby back. In fact the length of the dog
should be about equal to his total height. The tail is carried in a
tight curl over the back and should be profusely feathered, so as to
give the appearance of a beautiful plume.
During the last thirty years the popular taste for the Japanese Spaniel
has called for smaller and smaller specimens, until now the more
diminutive they are the more valuable have they become. In Japan they
are affected by the ladies as “sleeve” dogs, such being almost
priceless. It is not now uncommon to find them 2½ lbs. weight, though
fully matured. These small specimens are now also freely bred in
England, the climate of which country appears to suit them very well.