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I’m seeing too many outline exaggerations, too straight fronts, over-angulated rears, sloping toplines, too much coat with excessive grooming. 5. What are your “must have” traits in this breed? What shortcomings are you will- ing to forgive? The “must haves” are proper size and shape in order to have the correct form and function enabling them to do their job as a sporting spaniel. I am willing to forgive any shortcoming which does not interfere with the breed’s original function. 6. While judging, do you see any trends you’d like to see continued or stopped? I feel ESS are better groomed and better behaved in the show rings than in the past, it is a difficult breed for a beginning amateur to do well in. I feel there is far too much emphasis placed on “cookie cutter markings”, excessive coat and hyped up showiness. 7. What, if any, are the traits breeders should focus on preserving? I feel too many breeders don’t pay enough attention to pedigrees and health clear- ances. There are too many breeders who just randomly breed to the current big winner, I think this is probably true in most breeds today. Too many breeds are becoming too exaggerated in order to have a more dramatic picture in the show ring. Any exaggeration will eventually cause great problems for any breed. 8. Has the breed improved from when you started judging? I don’t think present day Springers are better than those of the past, but they are definitely different. Springers are much more glamor- ous today, but I feel we’ve lost the sporting spaniel essence they had in the past. I’m seeing far too many undersized dogs/bitches with improper heads and high tail sets. 9. Are there aspects of the breed not in the standard that you nonetheless take into consideration because breeders consid- er them important? I feel we have a very good standard which breeders are not adhering to. I also think we need to be very aware of breeding for proper temperaments. 10. Can Judges Education on this breed be improved? I think our Judges Education committee realizes we all need to work together to improve breeder/judge education before our breed deviates even further from the written standard. Our JEC recently drafted a letter to all ESS judges to be aware of key elements in our standard. Also seminars are being offered besides just at the National. We are working on updating the illustrated standard.
the body coat, or any chopped, barbered or artificial effect is TO BE PENALIZED in the show ring, as is excessive feathering that destroys the clean outline desirable in a sporting dog.’ 8. As regards croups, tail sets and tail carriage: The English Spring- er Spaniel should never carry its tail directly off the back with no slope to the croup. The croup should slope gently to the set on of the tail, and the tail should ideally be carried at 2-3 o’clock. Every other ESS breed standard in the world, except the North American ones, still calls for the tail to be ‘set on low’. Tails in North America have gradually migrated upward in both set and carriage for many years, with the result that the pelvic slope has been drastically reduced, opening the angle of the pelvis and femur and creating structure that places the rear feet of the dog far out behind a line dropped from the point of the buttocks, instead of placing the rear toes just behind that line. The changes caused by this pelvic slope are not simply aes- thetic; instead the results are rear legs that are not placed under the body at the correct point to support the dogs center of gravity and a change in movement from long steps on the ground to short steps on the ground with a lot of incorrect ‘kick’ in the air behind the dog. 9. The ESS is an efficient trotting dog, capable of utilizing its legs at a trot for long periods of time on often difficult terrain when hunt- ing. An efficient trotting dog is one that keeps its legs on the ground for long periods of each stride. Feet only work when they are on the ground, propelling the body forward with power and ease. There is far too much lift and kick seen in the breed today. While it might LOOK fancy and long strided that sort of motion is totally incorrect because it expends far more energy than a stride that is long on the ground. The ESS should swing its front legs forward from the shoul- der blade, not pop them forward from the elbow. The only way this can be achieved is for the dog to have the correct length and angle of the bones of the front assembly. The hindquarter provides the forward propulsion, and the longer that the rear foot stays on the ground, accompanied by the forceful opening of the hip, stifle and hock joints, the easier and more efficient the gait will be. Correctly built and muscled English Springer Spaniels should move freely and easily in a gait that seems effortless. The fast, choppy, short step- ping motion, or the high lifting and kicking motion also all too often seen, are both incorrect. Springers should tend toward a center line as speed increases—when viewed from the front or rear, legs should not be parallel and should never be wider at the foot than at the attachment. 10. Numbers 1 through nine above all come together in num- ber 10, which is Silhouette and Proportion. These two things are critical in the English Springer Spaniel. A well proportioned dog, correctly built, properly angulated, free from exaggeration, with the right amount of bone and substance and the correct shape and length of head and neck, will present a clean, smooth, upstanding silhouette, combining the essential elements of both beauty and util- ity. The standard calls for “length of the body (measured from point of shoulder to point of buttocks) is slightly greater than the height at the withers”—and this proportion is of critical importance to the dog’s ground-covering ability and stamina in the field. The correct silhouette and proportion are what express the proper breed type of the individual dog. The breed should carry its correct, upstanding outline and proportion when it moves. The head will (and should be allowed to, by the handler) go somewhat forward to assist in bal- ance, but the dog should never sink to the ground or appear low in action. “At his best, he is endowed with style, symmetry, balance and enthusiasm, and is every inch a sporting dog of distinct spaniel char- acter, combining beauty and utility.”
288 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , A UGUST 2015
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