Kennel Club registered English Springer Spaniels

The English Springer Spaniel, is one of the most loved breeds of dogs, their character and obedience is matched by very few other breeds, unfortunately they do have a reputation of being totally mad, it has to be said they really are, and this does put a lot of people of owning what is undoubtedly one of the most loyal and intelligent breeds of dogs you could ever wish to meet, to have one as a companion is truly a rewarding experience and we would certainly not be with out ours.

They probably represent what is the largest divergence between working and show lines of any breed of dog, sometimes the difference between a field-bred dog and a show-bred dog makes them appear to be totally different breeds, but they are registered together as one. In fact, the gene pools are almost completely segregated and have probably been for at least 80-90 years. Sadly a dog bred for the field would not be even considered for inclusion in a modern dog show, and a dog that has been bred for showing would be very unlikely, although with this breed not totally discountable, to have the physic, speed or stamina to be considered useful in the working environment or succeed in a field trial.


	Traditionally dogs bred for the field, tend to be smaller and have shorter, coarser coats than those that are bred for showing, their ears are less pendulous to avoid the inevitable tangles, field dogs are normally selected for hunting ability, and response to training rather than appearance. Although their behaviour can be different as well the look of a show dog is certainly more for appearance than anything else, for a start higher shoulders, longer fur, more pendant ears, dewlaps and dangling flews, their tail, up until recently was almost always docked to a short stub, although this is now, thankfully, illegal in the UK and in some other countries, in our opinion this is a step in the right direction by adding to the appearance and the general happy character of the breed. It also has to be said that they are in general more thickly boned and heavier than field-bred Springers and without a doubt can be, like many show bred dogs, more temperamental than their field friends.

In the past tails of the field dog's have also been docked by a short amount to provide a "flag" for the hunter in dense vegetation, this docking was thought to prevent or reduce laceration and injury to the tail during their characteristic hunting activities, opinions vary on whether this helped or not but this procedure, as mentioned above, is now illegal unless a very good practical reason can be provided, and then only if you can find a vet that will perform the operation.

We actually only have one Springer with a docked tail and that's because we didn't ask before we see her and once we did...well you know how it is.

On the left is Misty having just gone for a swim and below some of our other girls.