Why does my Springer parade?

[SheilaWheeler]

I have a Springer x lab who is now 11 months old. Something that has been puzzling me since we got him is why he 'parades' with a toy in his mouth?

When he has something in his mouth, he has to parade around the room, head held high, tail held high, nudging everyone in the room - almost humming to himself.

My SILs Springer x does the same.

Any idea why? (My last dog was a BC so this is all new to me!)

ecasue it is cute. my cocker carries his blanket round in his mouth in a similar fashion, I assumed it was becasue he is a linus.

Spaniels were bred to retrieve game (ie; as gun dogs), so my best guess is this is his breeding kicking in ;)

Hah dita - Linus! Like that!

Oh and also labs are of course retrievers, so he has a double dose of the "go-fetch-the-prey-and-bring-it-back-to-human" genes.

y dogs have just been picked up by the dog sitter and she looked at me a bit when i handed over his blankie.

The gene-thing seems obvious, now you say it!

I can't really imagine him retrieving properly - there would be feathers everywhere with a muffled 'humph' from him when he's told to drop it. Either that or he'd hurtle off into the undergrowth laughing.

Maybe when he's a grown-up .....

I reckon he's a natural and you ought to try him out in August when the pheasant shooting starts... might be able to snaffle a few good roasts out from under the huntin'-shootin'-fishin' brigades noses if he plays his cards right :)

Right - I'm off to buy camo gear now, ready for the glorious 12th!

It's grouse from the 12th. You can't shoot pheasants till October unless you want to be considered a bounder.

OP - what you have there is a gun dog. He's showing you how he can carry stuff, look at me, look how hard I can work. You can have a lot of fun teaching him to retrieve. He'll probably love going in to the water to get things too. Get some dummys like this and go for it. It's what he's bred for.

That's the spirit! Start training him now: they shoot 'em, dog loots 'em.

Have the engine running for a quick getaway, get home, pluck, roast at Gas 4 'til tender and juices run clear, share with dog.

Foolproof!

Aw, mine does this with sticks. And particularly huge branches if he ever finds a fallen one. So proud!

My two do that - both springers - I guess it's cos they are just very proud of what they have. Even when it's something particularly manky.