[anangelsdemon]

Just curious if anyone would be interested in joining a group for Spaniel owners/lovers? I was looking through the groups and I found ones for specific breeds (Cockers, Brittanys, King Charles, etc.), or hunting dogs in general, but none specifically for Spaniels. If I were to create one, would anyone be interested in joining? Or if there already is a Spaniel group, could somebody point me to it?

 

[Laurelin]

I don;t think people really use the group features much. Most the time people just make a thread.

 

[elrohwen]

I agree with Laurelin. Though I'm a spaniel lover and always willing to talk about them!

 

[anangelsdemon]

Alright, well in that case did anyone want to make this thread a place to talk about Spaniels? Sorry, it's just that there are very few Spaniels that live in my neighborhood. Most people we meet while walking don't know what kind of dog he is until I tell them, and some have never even heard of a Springer! Granted, they're not exactly common, it's just kind of annoying.

 

[Spirit_of_Cotons]

If I'm remembering correctly the Brittany is no longer classified as a spaniel anymore. I always forgot why. Umm...can I have it explained to me please?

 

[elrohwen]

I'll talk about spaniels! I think we need a pic of yours though. I assume he's an ESS? I'm surprised nobody in your area knows what he is, since everybody who meets Watson asks if he's a "springer". Sure, they don't know what a Welsh springer spaniel is, but they know springers in general. ESS aren't super common in my area either, but I have met some and overall they are pretty common. The AKC has them as their 29th most registered breed. Welshies are all the way down at 125th.

 

[elrohwen]

If I'm remembering correctly the Brittany is no longer classified as a spaniel anymore. I always forgot why. Umm...can I have it explained to me please?

The hunting dog designations are related to how the dog hunts. Brittanies hunt like a pointer, not a spaniel, so the "spaniel" designation was dropped.

A spaniel hunts by sniffing out and then flushing game, while a pointer will point the bird and hold it until the hunter arrives (then they will flush it or continue to hold it as required). Both pointers and spaniels will retrieve the bird after it is shot. So spaniels are used for close in hunting, where the dog never gets out of gun range. A pointer can range huge distances, and then the hunter follows (sometimes with a GPS tracker).

 

[LittleFr0g]

Just curious if anyone would be interested in joining a group for Spaniel owners/lovers? I was looking through the groups and I found ones for specific breeds (Cockers, Brittanys, King Charles, etc.), or hunting dogs in general, but none specifically for Spaniels. If I were to create one, would anyone be interested in joining? Or if there already is a Spaniel group, could somebody point me to it?

Given that it is against forum rules to post links to other forums, I would highly advise against promoting any such group here.

 

[Crantastic]

I think the OP meant the group feature here: http://www.dogforums.com/groups/

Nobody ever uses that, though.

 

[anangelsdemon]

I own an English Springer, yeah. When we first started looking for a dog, we were looking for a Welsh Springer, but there weren't any breeders in the area. We had to go to a town 4 hours away to find the nearest ESS breeder!

Most of the dogs around here are mixes or Retrievers. A lot of people actually assume Max (my dog) is a Brittany when they first meet him, which is odd because I've always thought he was a little on the tall side for a Springer. Here' are some pictures of him in our backyard:

 

[elrohwen]

What a cutie! I love that sweet spaniel expression in the second pic. Is he field or bench bred? I can't quite tell from the pics.

Most dogs around here seem to be retriever mixes, purebred labs, GSDs, and some huskies, plus a bunch of little dogs of various breeds and mixes. So purebred dogs of any other breed aren't super common, but people seem to at least get in the ballpark. I do get brittany sometimes, especially because of the color, but by their tone of voice they seem to realize it's not right, but the closest guess they have. "Is that a brittany? Or a springer? Or ... "

Welshies definitely aren't common, but there are a couple breeders in New Jersey and one in western Connecticut, so within 3 hours there are a handful. I would bet that there are a good number of ESS breeders.

Watson is my first spaniel (first non-schnauzer, actually) and he just has the best temperament. Welsh can tend towards being reserved and even timid, but he is such a social butterfly.

 

[LittleFr0g]

I think the OP meant the group feature here: http://www.dogforums.com/groups/

Ah, fair enough, lol. Don't think I've ever seen that feature used in the six years I've been a member here, lol.

 

[elrohwen]

Ah, fair enough, lol. Don't think I've ever seen that feature used in the six years I've been a member here, lol.

I wouldn't have known what it was except that Laurelin mentioned it, and then I went hunting around.

 

[anangelsdemon]

I know his mother was a field Springer, and I think his father was also field bred, but he might have been show bred.

Maybe the people around here just aren't as into dogs? They generally guess that he's a Spaniel, but usually the only people who correctly guess 'Springer' have owned one at some point.

I live in a small city in British Columbia. There are actually a few Springer breeders (none near my town, of course), so it's strange that there aren't more Springers around. When I was younger, there was an ESS that lived up the street. He was so well trained that he would sit outside on their porch with no fence or leash all day. If he knew you and you called him, he would bark once to let his owners know, and then he would come greet you. I think that was probably what made us want a Springer. The only other Springer I can remember seeing in town was a little ESS that we saw when we were hiking one day. The lady who owned her was just as surprised as I was to see another Springer! How many Springers do you see where you live?

 

[elrohwen]

Hmm, I can't think of one I've seen recently in my neighborhood, but I have had a number of people stop me and tell me they have one, or used to have one. I have seen a couple American and English cockers though, and a close friend has an ESS (she lives 1.5 hours north).

At shows, there are a ton of ESS. The other spaniels will have a couple entries, and the ESS will have 20.

 

[Laurelin]

I have the smallest, weirdest spaniel breed.

 

[Avie]

I grew up with an English cocker spaniel, she's 9,5 years old now. This is what she looked like when she was younger:

And this is what she looks like now:

Unfortunately she doesn't come from a reputable breeder and she suffers from many conditions, including going partially deaf and blind at a young age, bad joints, and currently her arthritis is so bad that last Sunday she couldn't get up anymore, so now she's on pain meds and it's going a little better each day.

Anangelsdemon: I'm wondering, is your dog neutered/spayed? I'm wondering, because her coat kind of looks like our spaniel's nowadays.

 

[Kayota]

I think the OP meant the group feature here: http://www.dogforums.com/groups/

Nobody ever uses that, though.

I didn't know it even existed, honestly.

 

[anangelsdemon]

Laurelin: What breed do you have?

Avie: I love tri-colored Spaniels. She's really cute, I've always liked the look of English Cockers over the American version. As for the coat color thing, Max was neutered when he was a puppy, so he's never been bred.

elrohwen: There are a few Cockers around here. The woman who lives across the street from us has a black American Cocker named Hailey. She's a really sweet dog, although she's a bit of an escape artist. I've come home more than once to find her sniffing around in my yard, lol. I worry about her a little because the street down from ours is really busy and I don't want her to get run over. There's also a few golden English Cockers around here.
I've noticed that at the few dog shows I've been to. It's strange, but I just don't see a lot of people who have Springers as normal, household pets. I've NEVER seen a Welsh Springer around here. It's unfortunate, because I think Springers are really good pets. They're not so big that you feel guilty about having a smaller yard, but they're big enough that I feel comfortable walking him after dark. They also have lovely temperaments (what Spaniel doesn't?). The only downside to them is that they have a RIDICULOUS amount of energy. I take him to the park every afternoon and throw the ball for him (which he chases at top speed) for 30-45 mins, and he still wants to play at night!

 

[Laurelin]

Laurelin: What breed do you have?

Papillons. They are known as continental toy spaniels in many other countries. People always forget them when they talk spaniel breeds for some reasons but they are closely related to cavaliers (the foundation dog of the cavalier breed was 1/2 papillon(phalene) by most records)

I think most people forget about them because of their erect ears but the phalenes have drop ears and are the older of the two varieites. They look quite a bit more like a spaniel.