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Which is the best of the working spaniel breeds?

By Mark Whitehouse

Thursday, 21 April 2011

Working spaniel: I want to buy a working spaniel and don't know which to choose.

I beat and help pick-up on my local shoot and am envious of the fun the dog handlers are having with their charges.

I have noticed the English springer spaniel and the cocker spaniel are both very popular breeds.

Are there any other breeds of working spaniel, and which breed would you advise me to buy for my very first working gundog?

Mark Whitehouse says: Several breeds of working spaniel immediately come to mind; the field working spaniel, the Welsh springer spaniel, the Sussex spaniel and the Clumber spaniel.

Working spaniel large

The breed of working spaniel you choose is entire up to personal preference but don't be afraid to look further than the usual suspects.

The Working Clumber Spaniel Society have worked hard to keep this breed from near extinction as a working spaniel, and the working Clumber spaniel has become more athletic than its show counterpart.

They have been running in field trials alongside English springer spaniels and cocker spaniels, and gaining awards at novice standard.

They are handsome looking and work close at a steady pace.

I could be biased and say that my complete and ideal spaniel is an English springer spaniel, but for you, looking to start up for the first time with something different, I would say go and look at some working Clumber spaniels and compare the two breeds.

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Comments

Fiona Lucas

Tue, 26th Jul 2011 19:45:20

I am a Barbet owner and see another Barbet owner has got here ahead of me! I can only endorse her comments. I am afraid some of the comments by Sandie, the apparent Barbet fan are a little confused. Firstly the Barbet is NOT a French Water Spaniel but a French Water Dog (FCI Group 8 Water Dogs and Retrievers) Secondly I am afraid "TAN retrieval" is a meaningless phrase .. there is no such thing! Although the Barbet is classed as a Spaniel in 3 countries, there is no way it can be compared with the performance of any of the other spaniel breeds mentioned on here ... note again .. it is in FCI Group 8 !! My Barbet is trained to the gun and more information on training and on the breed can be found at the link already given www.barbetchasseurfrancais.info If you are looking for a flashy hot gundog don't look at the Barbet! Good luck with your search!

Yvonne

Tue, 26th Jul 2011 12:10:54

The barbet statement is enthusiastic, but not quite true! I have 2, one from a strong working line in Poland, and one bred here in the UK. There are approx 1200 worldwide, and maybe 25 in the UK. They were 'historically' good working dogs, but since they nearly died out, they were then infused with IWS, SWD, PWD and Standard poodle, so alot of original traits of the breed may well have been lost. I have trained mine with several other breeds, and though they are adorable pets, they are certainly not what you would call 'hot'. In Finland they are used successfully in blood tracking, in Poland with Hawkers, but over here, there is only one fully trained working barbet,in Wales, my boys litter sister, they mature slowly, and are not consistent. Look at www.barbetchasseurfrancais.info for a very honest picture of the breed. aurisstort@yahoo.com

Sandie

Wed, 22nd Jun 2011 20:29:49

Best gundog and TAN retrival is the Barbet the French Water Spaniel....take a look at the website Novaforesta.org.uk and Barbet.GB.co.uk....they are excellent...or go to Nick Ridleys website and see his recent events where he took all the fantastic photos of them....under Barbet GB events_pg_Inspire.Well worth an option.Good luck,Wendy Preston will help you so much on the Novaforesta site,she is a great advertisment for the breed with her own dogs.They recently appeared in this magazine in Jan 2011???Take a look.

Margaret Hughes

Fri, 10th Jun 2011 18:55:02

Having owned clumbers for over 10 years, dispite the fact that they are very strong willed, if you start training in all aspects, hunting and retrieving, in a playful way at a very early age, clumbers are as easy to manage as any other spaniel. However if anyone is considering getting a clumber this year, they must check the Kennel Club 'mate select' for the COI (co-efficient of inbreeding) and read all about it before they make a decision. Unfortunatly there are a lot of inbred clumbers that are having inbred litters, which is going to ruin the breed. Clumbers are the largest of the Spaniels, but because of this inbreeding they are loosing all their substance. There are however a few clumber breeders out there who still care and are not in it for financial rewards.

Kelsey Bamford

Thu, 19th May 2011 19:59:06

In the last shooting season my springer spanial has worked really well. She has continually progressed with her training including picking up. She works well with other spanials and they have all got along. At the shoots the cocker spanials do as equally as well as my springer which implies that they make a good team. Overall with my experiance i think that the best working spanials are the springer and cockers as they both have a unique ability. I have nothing against the other spaniels of the world, however these two breeds of spanial is all that i have worked with so far.

Patricia Huskins

Thu, 28th Apr 2011 19:27:01

Dear Sir I read your "plea" for the Working Clumber and would like to comment that I am extremely pleased that you are giving the Working Clumber, and deservedly so, attention. However it is not the most easiest of breeds to train as I as a first time (gun)dog Clumber owner discovered. They do not necessarily hunt close - my Clumber in fact can (and will if allowed) hunt fast and far, as I do not live in the UK but on the mainland that is at times a blessing as game is sparse and wild (where I go). I totally agree with Michael Skelly's excellent observations on the the nature and abilities of the Clumber in the last WCSS' newsletter, in particular with his comment on the Clumber as a "multi-purpose" animal: an excellent dog for beating (close or able to cover large distances)and picking-up, brilliant for "one man and his gun", tracking and, in my humble opinion to a lesser extent, trialing. I would like to add that I trial my Clumber bitch on the continent (Belgium) and have gained an official FCI qualification at an A/V Open trial...I believe that to be a first for a Clumber (dare I add that the different rules and distances make trialing more difficult on the continent). If nothing else that proves that the "new" Working Clumber is fit and ready to compete in an absolutely ESS and ECS biased setting (no MB FTs where I go)! Kind regards Patricia Huskins