Welcome to Avenue K9's Starter Kit! To help get you started, please select the choice that best describes you: 
Top Ten Playful Dog Breeds
The Labrador Retriever is loved and respected world-wide for contributions as war dogs, police dogs, and guides for the blind. Exceptional patience, intelligence and gentleness make Labradors prized pets the world over. A truly exceptional breed, and one of the top 10 most intelligent dogs.
2- Irish Setter
Energetic and tenacious, the Irish Setter has a keen mind, and is eager to please. Be sure to exercise your Irish regularly, or they can become frustrated, even neurotic. They are an incredibly friendly family dog, but because of their unbridled enthusiasm in showing affection, may not be the best choice if you have small children.
3- Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever
The highly energetic Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever was developed in the early 19th century in, surprisingly enough, Nova Scotia. Like many of the retriever breeds, they are gentle, eager to please, and show enthusiastic affection for just about everyone.
4: Bichon Frise
The Bichon Frise is very popular in Italy, France, Great Britain, and North America. This playful powder-puff charms everyone with its tricks and lively, almost human expression. They simply love everyone, but be warned – they tend to bark a lot, and may be hard to house-train.
5- Papillon
The vivacious and charming Papillon is the epitome of elegance and among the most dignified of breeds. Like the Japanese Chin, the breed was popular with royalty as a “lap” or “companion” dog for centuries. Tireless in play, it delights its admirers with its amusing antics.
6- Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
The King Charles Spaniel is believed to have originated in China or Japan centuries ago. The Cavalier variety, which originated in England in the 1920′s, are incredibly gentle, sweet, and eager to please.
7- English Springer Spaniel
The English Springer Spaniel does everything with gusto, and can be overly enthusiastic unless given plenty of exercise (since they originally served as game retrievers, this is understandable!). Overall they are a cheerful, energetic, and playful breed.
8- Vizsla
A hard-working hunting dog originating from Hungary, the Vizsla has a keen sense of smell, is calm, sensitive, and easy to train. You should avoid adopting a Vizsla if you live in the city – they have tremendous energy that needs to be burned off regularly.
9- Japanese Chin
Once the favorite of the Japanese Imperial Court, the Japanese Chin plays boisterously and continuously until it literally drops from exhaustion! The Chin really is the perfect pet – intelligent, full of charm, very gentle and clean.
10- Brittany Spaniel
The Brittany Spaniel is the most popular of the French spaniels, used extensively by bird hunters as a pointer/retriever. But the hunters, and millions of families worldwide, have discovered they make an excellent companion at home, too. The good-natured Brittany should be walked several times a day.
Source: listofdogbreeds.com
AvenueK9.com is the premier destination for all things canine-related, featuring trustworthy product reviews, helpful dog tips, compelling dog diaries and much more. In short, we're crazy about dogs!More posts from this author (708) | Elsewhere online
Go cavvies! I am a huge fan of this breed ( I own 2)
Cavaliers are related to the small toy spaniels featured in painting in the 16,17th and 18th centuries in Europe (NOt China or Japan). They became the King Charles spainels when the Stuarts come into power in England. When the staurts fell from power the Pugs came into fashion and the longer muzzed toy spaniels gave way to a flat nosed variety. In the 1920′s an Anmerican (Roswell Eldridge) went to England in search of the longer muzzeld toy spaniels featured in the old paintings. he even offerd prize money at Crufts for a male and female longer muzzeld spaniel.
However your information is a tad misleading. While my information is from http://www.ckcs.org I have paraphrased in the interest of space
To summerize the longer muzzled style was brought back and became the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel while the shorter (almost pug like faced spaniel) Stayed the King Charles Spaniel (in America they are know as a Toy Spaniel)
Thank you!
Actually, King Charles Spaniels are hypothesized to have originated partly from Japanese Chins, which are one of the oldest breeds around. Since Chinese and Japanese civilizations have been around for 5,000-plus centuries, this may be why they are said to have come from these countries – they were probably there before they showed up in Europe.