Spaniels - Loving and Loyal Dogs for your family

Our Cavalier King Charles Cocker Spaniel mix, Guinevere

Spaniels are the devoted and "eager to please" section of the Sporting Dog Group.

There are nine breeds included in the American Kennel Club's Sporting Group that fall into this category.

These are the American Water Spaniel, Irish Water Spaniel, Clumber Spaniel, American Cocker Spaniel, English Cocker Spaniel, English Springer Spaniel, Welsh Springer Spaniel, Field Spaniel and Sussex Spaniel.

These dogs were bred to help the hunter by running ahead and scaring out ground birds into flight. They are bred to stay within a fairly close range to their hunting companion and come back to them after the birds are flushed out, which produced a dog that is generally loyal, compliant and eager to please. What results, when you find a good one, is a dog that is happy, social and friendly. Who could ask for more than that?!

Inbreeding problems due to puppy mill production of some of the most popular breeds from this group, particularly the Cocker and Springer Spaniel, have produced some dogs with aggression issues, and it is important to make absolutely sure that your dog does not have any issues with aggression. A few meetings with your intended dog, with some simple tests should indicate pretty quickly if you have an aggressive spaniel chosen, and you should not take it home with you.

Our family is a bit biased, in favor of the spaniel as a great family dog. We have had a total of five purebred and purebred mixes in our lives over the years- a cockapoo, a cocker mix (other half being a mystery!), a purebred cocker, a Cavalier King Charles Cocker Spaniel mix, and a purebred English Springer. They have all been wonderful dogs, with totally unique and different personalities and behavior. We have experienced some of the health issues that come along with the purebred Cocker Spaniel, who we learned later came from a puppy mill and had some genetic defaults. We have also been successful in turning around some fear-based aggression in our newest family member, Sofie, who was rescued thought the English Springer Rescue of America. When she first came to us, she hid a lot under the furniture and would show her teeth if we tried to pull her out from under our bed. Through time, she learned to trust us, and she is extremely gentle now.

In regards to care, spaniel grooming is a must. If you want your dog to look like a show dog, take him or her to a professional groomer who is well-versed with Cocker Spaniel grooming styles- mainly the Cocker Spaniel clip and other specialized spaniel cuts.

We don’t even try for the "show dog" look!!! We live in a hot climate, and clip our dogs short in the summer to keep them cool and make it easy for them to dry off after swims. We like them neat and clean, but find them fairly easy to groom ourselves, since we keep their coats pretty short. They love to romp and play in our fenced yard, and adore walks, car rides and trips to the dog park and dog beach, and keeping their coats shorter lets them run in the park as much as they want, and we don’t complain about brushing out the burrs, etc. that they pick up outside. We think it is a win-win solution for both the dogs and us!.

Recommended Spaniels

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