Papillons Are More Than Parts & Pieces

This article was originally published in Showsight Magazine, April 2017 issue.

Papillons Are More Than Parts & Pieces

Papillon people like to say that the Papillon is a do-it-all dog. Papillons are gregarious, elegant, smart, and athletic dogs. They are happy in the show ring, performance ring, and in the homes and hearts of their owners.

They can be trained to do all kinds of things. They will go with you on a 5-mile walk, play fetch, or cuddle on the couch for hours and snuggle in bed at night. They love their comfort. As a companion dog, they certainly excel.

When judges come to this breed in the Toy group and are learning about it, they will get various opinions on the “essence” of the breed. Hopefully, the list they get will be long and detailed but will also indicate that this is a breed that is a whole dog—beautifully typey, sound in all ways, and temperamentally exceptional. The goal is the whole dog, but the pieces and parts need to be correct as well.

Type Points

Papillons have a number of distinctive type points. These are the lovely details that distinguish the breed and, when appearing in one dog, tell the world it is a Papillon. Papillons are dainty and fine-boned. You will not find a lot of breeds asking for these traits. They are dainty and fine-boned, but not fragile. This is the ballet dancer of dogdom. The daintiness and fineness contribute to the breed’s elegance.

Papillons have hare feet, another part of being dainty and fine. The majority of breeds have round or oval feet. The hare foot is a bit longer, with the center toes advanced. Papillons are distinguished by their large, butterfly-like fringed ears. Papillon ears are large, broad at the base, round at the tips, and set at a 45-degree angle, like the spread wings of a butterfly. The ears may be erect or dropped, but they are still set at 45 degrees to the head.

In Europe, the breed is called Epagneul Nain Continental or Continental Toy Spaniel. The erect ear is the papillon (butterfly), and the drop ear is the phalene (drop-winged night moth). In the US, butterflies and moths are all Papillons and judged together as one breed.

Papillon ears are fringed with silky coat. So, with ears, we want size, shape, set, and fringe. The Papillon skull is somewhat small for the size of the dog and somewhat rounded on top. The muzzle is fine and tapered, and it is one-third the length of the skull with a well-defined stop. The nose is black, and the bite is scissored. Another type point is the tail, which should be long, set high, and well-arched over the back. The tail is an indicator of happiness, and Papillons tend to register high on the happiness scale.

Papillon coat is single, something not all that common in dog breeds. The coat should be silky, fine, resilient, and somewhat long without covering the dog’s outline. Tails are well plumed with long, silky hair. Hair can grow over the toes and be trimmed to a point to exaggerate the longer hare feet.

Temperament

Temperament is very much a part of type. Papillons tend to think a lot of themselves. They like showing off, and they like people. They are lovely dogs to live with and they like other Papillons. One is nice; several are better. We say they are like potato chips—hard to have just one.

Soundness & Balance

Every breed has a distinctive outline. The Papillon outline is slightly longer than tall—never square or cobby, but also not long or low. The standard calls for a neck of medium length. It does not say short. As an elegant, fine-boned dog, the Papillon needs enough neck properly set to, in fact, be elegant. It should not be stuffy-necked or ewe-necked.

The front and rear are well-angulated, the topline is level, and the legs are straight. Straight legs front and rear mean not east/west, not out at elbows, not cow-hocked or spraddle-hocked. Sound is sound. Papillons are great stars in agility because of their basic soundness and trainability.

Papillon gait is free. In Europe, as a Continental Toy Spaniel, the movement is light, free, and not restricted. Now we have considered the long list of traits we want in our lovely Papillon. Please realize we are quite greedy here. We want it all—a beautiful, well-balanced, sound, graceful, elegant, and fine-boned dog with all the lovely type points of head, ears, coat, tail, and feet. We insist on the wonderful temperament, character, intelligence, and ability to be a superb companion. We want the whole dog. Dear judges, do your best to pick the best whole dog.