English Springer Spaniel Breed Magazine - Showsight

THE FIELD-BRED ENGLISH SPRINGER SPANIEL

BIGGS Snake Draw

the field-bred

ENGLISH SPRINGER SPANIEL

H aving trained many different breeds of gundogs over the years, we still only reproduce one breed. That breed is the field-bred English Springer Spaniel. Knowing the nuances of the different breeds has always kept us solidified with produc- ing field-bred Springer Spaniels. People ask, “Why the Springer?” My answer has always been as follows: “The Springer Spaniel has a look in their eyes displaying a connectiveness with you and asking, ‘How can I please you today?’” Field-bred Springer Spaniels are active, need a job, and have a strong desire to do what is right. Granted, if allowed, they will make decisions on their own and, if not trained properly, those decisions will get them into trouble. Acquiring a Springer does not mean that you put it in a kennel and take it out for hunting. They thrive as house dogs and family friends, and they need training from the start. They need a job early on in life and they adapt well to all of the dog sports—not just for finding, flushing, and retrieving game birds as they were developed to do. The average size of a field-bred Springer is 35–50 pounds. They can be liver and white, black and white, and on occasion, tricolor. They thrive at working their way to the top of the hierarchy in a household, but are extremely easy to imprint; to guide and keep them in their family rank in the household. One needs to “parent” over them; not with a heavy hand, but showing them the boundaries, training the desired behaviors, and mak- ing the right things easy (and the wrong things difficult) for them to do. From the very beginning, Springers will be looking at you, sizing you up, checking you out, and learning your “tell.” Springers are very obser- vant of little body movements, actions, sounds, and twitches that you (con- sciously and unconsciously) do. A Springer will be “reading” you, so make sure that you send the right messages to develop a Springer into a happy, healthy family member.

BY MARK HAGLIN

Saturday training with Turner.

Etta Thompson

SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2021 | 295

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