English Springer Spaniel

English Springer Spaniels live for the hunt. Originally bred to spend days out in the field, English Springers are active and alert, and what some would call the textbook sporting dog. Owners love them because they are easy to train. This breed’s double coat comes in a variety of colours and patterns, like black, tan or liver on white. With long, crimped ears and a glossy, soulful eyes, English Springers are quite the lookers. They live to please their humans, as they were originally bred to work closely with others. That’s why they’re also great with children and other pets—they crave constant companionship since they dread being left alone. English Springers love a long walk, retrieving balls and swimming on a hot day. 

Springer-like spaniels were first bred in England centuries ago, to work on upland game birds. These dogs would work in tandem with hunters, who took down their quarry using tools like nets, falcons and bows, since rifles weren’t yet invented. After the rifle became a thing, this breed’s job was to pinpoint game birds in high grass, flush them out from their cover and then retrieve them once they’d been shot. 

In recent times, Springer Spaniels have been used in detective work, thanks to their trainability, hard work and keen nose.

Did you know?

References to the English Springer Spaniel date back to 1576, when English physician Dr. John Caius described the breed in his book the Treatise of Englishe Dogs