05/09/2025
It is time to sit down, Papillon School is in session.
You’ve probably never given much thought as to the history of the Papillon. They are an old breed and paintings of Papillon-type dogs have appeared in art from around the 15th century.
Now we all love a foot picture and Leroy has an exemplary example of one of the important breed features. To quote our breed standard, the foot should be fine and fairly long as in the hare. Their toes have a slight arch but they should never be cat-like.
The second aspect to their feet is the hair, they should have tufts of hair which extend beyond the toes. As you can see here, Leroy does have profuse hair, I’ve literally never trimmed his feet. You’ll see that they also grow hair under their paws too.
All these little details served a very important historical purpose - Papillons were the company of courtiers, kings and queens. Marie Antoinette is said to have gone to the gallows clutching a basket full of Papillons!
Papillons roamed castles and castles had slippery floors. Their feet and the hair underneath were for grip and protecting them from the cold stone, there were no modern comforts in the castles of old.
These days when we show, we tend to sculpt the feet to accentuate the shape of the foot and stop those errant hairs which will point up, down and side to side. A lot of people shave the pad too as modern homes do tend to have slippery floors too and having the bare paw pads able to touch the surface can assist with traction.
