Breed Post: English Springer Spaniel

For this month’s breed post we have one of the most popular breeds in England, the playful and kind natured English Springer Spaniel. This handsome, lively and attentive breed has always been popular amongst hunters but their friendly and gentle nature also makes them great family dogs.

The English Springer Spaniel is the oldest of all the English hunting spaniels. This breed was considered the perfect companion for hunters during the 1700s. There was a game nicknamed ‘The Flushing Game’, in which the dog was expected to spring forward to surprise and drive birds out of nesting. Therefore the Springer Spaniel gained their name after the way they would ‘spring’ to action.

English Springer Spaniels are not only people pleasers but huge people lovers. With an affectionate, fun and happy-go-lucky nature, this breed truly thrives on human interaction and genuinely dislikes being left alone, or feeling left out. This also ties in to why they don’t make very good guard dogs. Although they will most likely bark to alert you if they hear an intruder or a knock at the door, once the person is in the house it’s a whole different story and they will revert back to their sweet nature – wanting every new human to be their best friend.

Going back to their hunting history, Springers have a noticeable and quite endless amount of energy. Anybody who has had the joy of going for a long run, or engaging in a hearty game of fetch with an English Springer Spaniel will tell you they’ll always be happy to keep going long after your feet are tired and you’re ready to call it a day.

Because of this, if you are a considering an English Springer Spaniel as your next pet, their energy levels are a hugely important factor to bear in mind. If they don’t receive the amount of daily exercise needed, they are sadly likely to become destructive, anxious and often quite vocal. Just to give you a rough idea, we think that the average Springer would probably need a good 2-3 hours of activity per day. A tired dog is a happy dog, and no breed demonstrates this better than an English Springer Spaniel.

Training, routine and structure is imperative from day one for an Springer to thrive as a content and well behaved member of the family. If they think you’re not the authority figure they’ll very quickly start to push boundaries to see what they can get away with.

It’s always best to keep your Springer on a lead in unknown or unprotected areas, as if a bird or squirrel catches their eye they may well decide to take off and spend a few hours hunting on their own.

Although the Springer loves exploring the outdoors, they are quite well suited to an urban environment and would be more than happy living in an apartment, providing their exercise needs are met.

To keep their silky coats in good condition they only require quite basic to minimal grooming, depending on the adventures they decide to take themselves on. If you happen to live anywhere near water you might want to make sure that you always have a towel handy by the front door, as English Springer Spaniels are known to enjoy a quick dip if they get the chance.

In short, life with a Springer will certainly never be dull. They’re always raring to go on new adventures and their love for squeezing every bit of fun out of each hour of the day will almost certainly be infectious. We all know there’s many valuable lessons that can be learned from dogs, and we think this is the one that they’d like us to remember.