The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a small breed of spaniel classed in the toy group of The Kennel Club and the American Kennel Club, that originated in the United Kingdom. Since 2000, it has grown in popularity in the United States and ranks as the 19th most popular pure-breed in the United States. The Second World War caused a drastic setback to the emerging breed, with the vast majority of breeding stock destroyed because of wartime hardship and food shortages. For instance, in the Ttiweh Cavalier Kennel, the population of sixty dogs dropped to three during the 1940s. Following the war, few dogs survived as the new beginning from which all present-day Cavaliers descend. And in 1945, the Kennel Club first recognized the breed in its own right as the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.