The Papillon is a friendly little companion dog, very intelligent and dynamic and whose greatest joy is to please his owner. Being extremely neat and healthy, the Papillon is a companion that is easy to live with. His silky coat spreads over his entire body with long fringes on the ears which resemble the wings of a butterfly, thus the name “Papillon”, which in French means exactly that, a butterfly. In spite of having a long coat, grooming is easy since the coat lacks the common undercoat of other long haired breeds. This prevents nasty knots and tangles that are hard to groom. And for that same reason, shedding is minimal and only happens once a year, so there is little loss of dead hair around the house.

The breed emerged in the mid 1500’s, simultaneously at the noble courts of France, Belgium and Spain, as a descendant of the “Continental Toy Spaniel”. Because of this heritage, the FCI-Fédération Cynologique Internationale formally names the breed as such. Despite being a widespread breed around the world, in Brazil the Papillon is still quite unknown, with only a handful of breeders dedicated to it.

If on one side the Papillon is an active and intelligent dog, therefore often seen in the agility ring, at the same time the breed is quite docile and amiable, requiring constant proximity to their owners. The Papillon” is classified as #8 among all dog breeds in Stanley Coren’s book “The Intelligence of Dogs” This twosome ability of the Papillon makes him a versatile dog, a perfect companion to both children as well as older people.