Body on the Charlie is short and cobby, well nibbed up i.e. the ribs reach well back in the body.Chest wide and deep down to the elbow with a short broad level back, loins short and strong. In a well-balanced mature dog, the depth from the top of the shoulder to the brisket should be about the same as the length of the foreleg, and the length from the shoulder to the root of the tail about the same as from the shoulder to the ground.

The hindquarters are well boned with sufficient muscle to give positive driving movement, stifles well bent, hocks well let down and defined, straight and sound, turning neither in nor out. Hind feet are somewhat smaller than the forefeet. There is profuse feathering on the back hind legs.Movement, very distinctive. Gay free and lively, straight and true. Front and back elbows and feet the same distances apart when approached, and hocks not too close together or far apart when going away.

Cow hocks, bowed hocks and slipping patellas are all serious faults.

In profile, movement should have a good length of stride, drive from the hocks with a proud carriage of the head, no dip-ping of the top-line (Back-line) or hindquarters.

The tail is straight and fine, well feathered, set on slightly below the line of the back as in all spaniels, and carried gaily but not above the line of the back. It should wag ceaselessly on the move. Docking is optional, but if docked the length should be in balance with the length of the body. Faults Any departure from the above to be considered a fault, the seriousness of the fault to be in exact proportion to its degree. Faults of conformation, soundness and temperament are far more im-portant than a few wrong coloured hairs or an unfortunate marking.

Now having studied the Standard, what does the ideal dog look like? To comply with cobbiness a dog must have a rounded rib, a deep brisket, and above all a short level back. The ideal body view from the side would be one, which measured the same from ground to shoulder, as from the top of shoulder to the root of the tail. A long cast body detracts immediately from this ideal, and is seen far too often today, and however attractive these specimens are it is going away from the Standard. We have in mind this lovely well-sprung, short-backed little body which is carried between four legs, which must give free active and elegant movement. To do this the construction of the limbs must be perfect. Perfect action once seen never forgotten. The steps are small but incredibly quick, giving a general impression of lightness, and ease, and an overall impression of great elegance. The forelegs should be straight, well-boned to pasterns, set into well laid shoulder, and must not be out at elbow nor placed under the body; the hind legs, with well muscled thighs, nicely bent at stifle, hocks bent, neither turned in nor out. If the dog is perfectly built in limbs, the hind legs will have the correct im-petus for covering the ground smoothly, and together with the good forelegs will complete the movement picture. A straight stifle - a common fault - although active will give a stiff bustling movement; lack of muscle causing the patella to slip in and out of the socket, will give a lame action; a straight shoulder will give an effect of goose-stepping, a jerky action and quite wrong. Although the King Charles is a Toy dog, efforts should be made to improve action; the patella disease is a breed problem, and not just a post-war one. Much can be done by breeding from good quality stock in this point.