Standard

                                                                   Standard

      The Papillon is a small, friendly, elegant toy dog of fine-boned structure, light, dainty and of lively action; distinguished from other breeds by its beautiful butterfly-like ears.

        Their coat is abundant, long, fine, silky, flowing, straight with resilient quality, flat on back and sides of body. A profuse frill on chest. There is no undercoat. Hair is short and close on skull, muzzle, front of forlegs, and from hind feet to hocks. Ears well fringed with the inside covered with silken hair of medium length. Backs of the forelegs are covered with feathersdiminishing to the pasterns. Hind legs are covered to the hocks with abundant breeches (culottes). Tail is long, well fringed, set on high, arched over back with fringes falling to side to form plume. Tail is covered with a long flowering plume. Hair on feet is short,but fine tufts may appear over toes and grow beyond them, forming a point.

Color is White with patches of any color . Tricolour are black & white with tan spots over the eyes, inside cheeks, and under root of tail. Among the colors there is no preference, provided nose,eye rims and lips are well pigmented black.

Height is 8-11 inches,   anything over 11 inches being a fault and over 12 inches a disqualification. Proportion Body must be slightly longer than the height at withers. It is not a cobby dog. Weight is in proportion to height. Substance - of finebone structure

my Papillon lives in my home,my bed and travel everywhere with me.

                                                             Some History

        The papillon, Known in the 16th century as the Dwarf Spaniel, is the modern development of those little dogs often seen pictured in rare old paintings and tapestries.   Rubens, Watteau, Fragonard, and Boucher all depicted them and their popularity was so great that noble ladies of the day did not consider their portraits complete unless one of these elegant little dogswas pictured with them. Madame de Pompadour was the proud possessor of two, " Inez" and "Mimi" by name.   Marie Antoinette was another ardent admire, while as early as 1545 there is record of one having been sold to a lady who later ascended the throne of Poland.
           It is Spain that we have to thank for the Papillon's primary rise to fame, though Italy, particulary Bologna, probably developed the largest trade. Many were sold to the court of Louis XIV, who had his choice among those brought to France. Prices ran high, and the chief trader, a Bolognese named Filipponi, developed a large business with the court of France and elsewhere. Most of the dogs were transferred from one country to the other upon the backs of mules.
        AS time went on, a change developed in the dwarf spaniel which gave rise to the present-day name, Papillon. During the days of Louis the Great, the dwarf spaniel possessed large, drooping ears, but gradually there came into being an erect-eared type, the ears being set obliquely on the head and so fringed as to resemble the wings of a butterfly. ( Papillon is the French word for Butterfly.) The cause of this change remain largely the oretical, but whatever they may be, we now have a Toy dog whose type of body and coat is about the same as that of the original dwaft spaniel ofspain and Italy, but whose ears may be either erect or drooping. Both types may, and often do, appear in the same litter. In continental Europe, as well as Great Britain, the drop-eared variety is called Phalene,   although the breed as a whole carries the nomenclature of Papillon. as it does in this country. Here both types are judged together and with equality.
           Another change concerns color. Originally , almost all were of solid color. Today, White predominates as a ground color, with patches of other colors, and solid-colored dogs are disqualified.
             Papallions are hardy dogs. It is unnecessary to coddle them in the winter ; and they do not suffer particularlly in severe hot weather. They delight in country activities and are equally contented in apartments. As ratters, they are extremly useful. Too small to kill a rat outright, they will worrie it untill it is exhausted, then dispatch it quickly. As a rule, the bitches whelp easily and give little trouble when rearing puppies.
                Although the have been exhibited for many years in the United States, it was not untill 1935 that Papillons were represented in the American Kennel Club by their own breed club, The papillon Club of America.