The most popular spaniel for working in the field, the English Springer Spaniel is a gundog par excellence and features inside the top 10 of the most popular dog breeds in the UK. Eager to work, fearless in flushing out the thickest of undergrowth, athletic, biddable and with bottomless stamina.
Besides their impressive professional role as sniffer dogs for the police and military, they also make a wonderful, devoted family dog, great with kids and other dogs. They love nothing better than a long walk with their gang, playing fetch and splashing around in any available water – or mud.
Judging by the name, it is likely that spaniels originated centuries ago in Spain and came to England via France, “hence espagnol”. Springer and cocker spaniels share a common ancestry among the “land spaniels”. The two now separate breeds were often born in the same litter, with size being the determinant. The little ones were used to hunt woodcock, hence cockers, while their larger littermates would “spring” game. However, generations of purposeful breeding has created the distinct breeds of spaniel (for instance, field, Sussex, Clumber) we now know today.
The name springer was confirmed at the turn of the 20th century. Springers earned this title because of their knack of springing forward to flush game into the hunters’ waiting nets. While they were originally bred to find and spring game for net, falcon or greyhound, they are still used today to find, flush and retrieve game for sport.
The Welsh Springer Spaniel is a distinct breed from the English Springer. It is less leggy, with shorter, less feathered ears.
(Image credit: Alamy Stock Photo)
It’s worth noting that the Welsh Springer is a separate and ancient breed, not a variety of the English Springer although there are certainly similarities. The ancestors of this breed have been chronicled in Welsh literature since medieval times. It only comes in a rich red and white colour, and is less leggy and more rectangular in body shape than its English counterpart, with smaller ears.
C73HND working english springer spaniel
(Image credit: Alamy Stock Photo)
English Springer Spaniel breed: fact file
Kennel Club breed group: gundog
Size: medium
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Daily exercise: more than two hours a day.
Coat: medium, shedding
Colours: black and white; black, white and tan; liver and white; liver, white and tan. Dark hazel or brown eyes.
Lifespan: more than 10 years.
Bark: not vocal. Many springers do not bark at all – they were not bred to guard and it’s not typically a natural instinct.
History: the breed has been developed over centuries as a versatile and athletic gundog, adept at flushing (springing) birds into the air for hunters to shoot – or net in the era before guns. Although they shared their bloodlines until the late 19th century with the cocker spaniel, they were developed into a distinct breed and recognised by the Kennel Club as such in 1902.
Distinctive features: compact, strong, and athletic with free, swinging and active gaits. Lobular, feathered ears, and a low-set, permanently wagging tail.
Temperament: friendly, happy and biddable.
Things to consider: Springers love to be kept busy. It’s worth tapping into their desire to please by teaching them to play fetch as the urge to retrieve gives them so much pleasure.
Like all dogs with floppy ears, springers can be prone to infections, so it’s worth learning how to clean ears.
Springers have boundless energy and love human company – how about running with your dog, to enjoy your exercise together? A good whistle is a must to nail that recall as they can get distracted.
Training: springers have been bred over generations to work closely with people and they aim to please – although their strong scenting ability can allow them to be distracted. They are natural explorers, whatever the terrain or vegetation, so need consistent attention and practice to keep them on task.
Thanks to their scenting abilities coupled with their trainability, they play a vital role as sniffer dogs, working in explosive, bomb and drug detection units.
They adore to work and are up for any challenge, particularly involving plenty of energy expenditure, so can become experts at flyball, agility and scent work as well as their natural role as brilliant gundogs.
For all their trainability, their boundless enthusiasm can get the better of them, so will need strict recall work and teaching how not to pull on the lead for them to be most rewarding and brilliant companion out and about.
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Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
