On the outskirts of Randfontein lives a furry royal family whose bloodline dates back to the 13th century.
Some of their ancestors once sat in the lap of Marie Antoinette.
This royal family lives on a farm in Tarlton and its members are known as Papillon dogs. They also are called the Continental Toy Spaniel. Michael Patricio breeds these dogs for shows and to sell.
The dogs originate from Europe and were popular among European royal families, especially with Marie Antoinette who was said to have left her dog to her chambermaid before she was sent to the gallows.
Michael has been breeding Papillons for eight years. He first fell in love with the breed when his son decided to buy a show dog.
I fell in love with the breed. They’re not just dogs to me, they’re my kids,” he said.
Michael enters his dogs into dog shows, which he explained to the Herald to be “basically like the Miss South Africa competition, but for dogs. It’s like a beauty pageant where you get to show off your dogs.”
Michael owns 19 Papillon dogs of which 14 are championship dogs. They are a small breed or in show terms a ‘toy breed.’
He explained breeder do not breed dogs as they please as it is a scientific process. Bloodlines have to be checked and the dogs’ physical appearance taken into account to determine whether or not it would make a good breeding dog.
The Papillon breed comes in different colours:
• Black and white
• Red sable (red ears with a tinge of black)
• Red (also appears brown)
• Tri-colour (the three colours red, black and white)
Another strain of the Papillon breed is the Phalene, which has hanging ears instead of ‘butterfly ears’.
The process of breeding entails much more than putting a male and female together, Michael said.
A bitch goes in heat twice a year when she ‘spots’, which means she discharges small spots of blood. We separate the males and females when they’re in heat to prevent accidents. Once separated, we’ll introduce a male. The bitch chooses her male – if she doesn’t want to mate with him we try another male until we find one that’s suitable.
“To decide who should be mating with whom, we look at the bloodline. For example, we started noticing the Papillons’ ears became smaller than the large butterfly ears they originally had. We subsequently imported a breed with that trait and started breeding him into the line to strengthen the trait again.”
Michael said gestation is about 63 days. When the dogs are about to give birth, he stays with them. If he sees the female struggling, he takes her to the vet for a Caesarian because of her being small.
Papillons also do not have litters the size other dog breeds have. They have between one and four puppies at a time.
The Papillon breed holds true to its history with European royalty as well as being a show breed; they laze around Michael’s house and stand chest out for a pat, competing for attention.
They also have a keen interest in cameras and jumped towards the lens every time they could when the Herald photographed them.
