Papillon, todays featured dog breed

The Papillon is a small, friendly, elegant toy dog of fine-boned structure, distinguished from other breeds by its butterfly-like ears. The Papillon is one of the oldest of the toy breeds. Papillons were bred for companionship, and make excellent watch dogs. Papillons ['pæp i ,jɑn] are white with markings of any color. Tricolors and black and white are common colors.The most distinctive aspect of the Papillon is its large ears, which are well fringed with colored (not white) silky hair. The color covers both eyes and the front and back of the ears to give the ideal butterfly look. A white blaze and noseband on the face is preferred. Tricolours should be black and white, with tan spots over eyes, inside ears and under the tail. As puppies they begin to grow more hair on and in ears, on and around their tail, and their feet.There are two ear variations of this breed, the completely upright ears of the more common Papillon, and the dropped spaniel-like ears of the Phalène. The AKC considers the Phalène and the Papillon the same breed. Countries whose breed clubs follow the FCI standard consider Papillons and Phalènes two separate breeds.The Papillon coat is abundant, long, and silky. There is no undercoat. Ears are well-fringed with the inside covered with silken hair of medium length. Tail is long, well-fringed, set on high, arched over back with fringes falling to side to form plume. The head is slightly rounded between the ears, and the muzzle is fine, tapering, and narrower than the skull with an abrupt stop.The accepted standard size varies slightly among different organizations' breed standards, but it generally ranges from 8 inches (20 cm) to 11 inches (28 cm) at the withers. papillons usually weigh from 6 to 10 pounds (3-5kg).