Tell me about springer spaniels General Chat

I am considering getting a ESS and would like it if you could tell me all the minus points as well as the plus points to owning one.

Also is there a difference, prestige wise, to owning a tri colour ESS as opposed to a black/white liver/white ESS?

Thank you

The KC standard allows for liver and white, black and white and either of these colours with tan markings.

There is no "prestige" attached to any of the colours.

Thanks for that, I was told that Tri Colour are highly sought after and rare, prestige was probably not the right word I was looking for. Thanks again

When people make these statements I often find it fascinating to ask them WHY a particular colour is sought after!

Minus points are that it will probably be cleverer and quicker than you are---which is also a plus point!

Learns wrong things fast----also learns right things fast.

Loves water (usually) loves dirt. Have been known to swim out to sea---also have been known to jump off cliffs while chasing birds/rabbits etc.

Very easy to teach to want a ball/toy----minus point to that is that they then guard said toy!

Can guard owner/owners bag/sofa/bed/fridge----everything is theirs!

Love cuddles and human contact. When treated and trained properly I think they are the best and cleverest breed.

All the above are generalisations!

rune

The wonderful thing about Springers
Is Springers are wonderful things
Their tops are made out of rubber
Their bottoms are made out of springs
They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy
Fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN!
But the most wonderful thing about Springers
Is they're the only one

The wonderful thing about Springers
Is Springers are wonderful chaps
They're loaded with vim and with vigor
They love to leap in your laps
They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy pouncy
Fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN
But the most wonderful thing about Springers
Is they're the only one.

Springers are wonderful fellahs.
Springers are awfully sweet.
Everyone elses is jealous,
And thats why I repeat...

The wonderful thing about Springers
Are Springers are wonderful things
Their tops are made out of rubber
Their bottoms are made out of springs
They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy
Fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN!
But the most wonderful thing about Springers
Is they're the only one.
Yes, they're the only one
(GRRrrrrrr...) ooOOoooOOooooOOOO!!!

Love it!

I havent yet found a down side of having springers, but then not been a dog owner for long, but did go back for a second! They do moult even with brushing so you dont have to mind hairs!

They do need to be trusted off lead and to have plenty of this, along with a chance to use their noses, finding balls thrown in long grass, running out in woods and fields, they do love mud etc.

So far ours dont chase birds or furries etc, but they are ball obsessed, but so far no guarding issues.

Ours is a working type and unfortunately not the sharpest pencil in the box He takes an age to learn new things, but he does keep his attention on you for as long as you want it.

He likes to roam a lot and recall can be an issue when there are nice smells around.

He is a lovely lad and loves cuddles and is very sweet. He loves his toys when in the house but can be a bit guardy of me when I am on the bed and of his toys.

Oh and apart from features are there any differences between working and show ESS. The ESS would only be a family pet.

Like a lot of the more popular dog breeds, Springers have a very defined split between the working types and the show types. Choosing the 'type' of dog (working, show, mix of the two, etc.) that is best suited to you is obviously very important, because beyond the physical differences they tend to have fairly different attitudes.

Very generally speaking you can expect the working types to be smaller, leaner, busier, energetic and more driven than their show type counterparts. The show types generally have more coat and substance and are not as racy.

So for a family pet it may be better to have a show ESS???

Yes......... a working one would drive you BANANAS!

I would say both types make good family pets, but it depends on what you want from the dog as to which is better suited to you. For example if you are very active, want to get involved in training, want a busy dog with a lot of energy, etc., then you may prefer the attitude of a working Springer. If you want a slightly more toned down dog, then maybe a show type is more suitable.

There are a lot of young, adolescent working type Springers in rescue because people underestimate them. People are often recommended Spaniels as first time dogs, then purchase a cute little puppy from a working background and then it all goes belly up when the dog hits the 'teenage' phase and is out of control. This, of course, isn't exclusive to Springers (there are a lot of young working type Labs, Collies, etc., in rescue for the same reasons) but is something to consider.

Oh and another question.....

Can you request that a dog is not docked, would you want it to be docked or not?

Only dogs that meet certain criteria are docked eg shotgun licence etc.

The majority of pet ESS eill not be docked, working ones will.

Ours are both working type, and come from a litter where the vast majority are used for working/trialling, yes they need exercising etc, but i dont agree they will drive you bananas.

Yes some individual dogs might, but i dont think it is easy to generalise, unless we have a huge shock coming our way, ours have been no harder than any other puppy i know that people have had, and so far a lot better to have in the house than a very good few.

I take from this that we have been lucky, and we do put time in for exercise and training, but we would do this with any dog.

Thank you for all your replies, I have found a breeder who has puppies and going to look tomorrow.

Thats a slippery slope!

Pictures would be nice.

rune

Good luck, please ensure that both sire and dam have undergone the relevant health tests which for ESS are:

eye tested for G, CPRA, GPRA, and MRD
hip scoring total should be less than 14
DNA for Fuco

If this is what half a springer can do I dread to think what he'd be like all springer!

Thats a pretty accurate description of my boy!

Now why did no one tell me that two years ago!