Spaniels

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Hopefully next year when ds is 7 we will be in a position to give a loving home to a dog. I have always loved spaniels, my best friend when growing up had a show type and my cousin had a springer spaniel.

Can you tell me about your spaniel? What is he / she like, how are they with your children and as a member of your family? I'm not so much after practical advice but would rather love to hear about your spaniel.

Ours is 2 in May, he's a working cocker rather than the show variety. He's bouncy, very lively, loves people and is affection mad! He constantly wants love and attention/affection, he's relatively well behaved although still being a puppy he will chew things of his choosing I.e socks etc!

We all love him he's so loving and was very easy to house train, he picks up new tricks really easily and we wouldn't be without him now!

We have a 4 year old English/American cocker spaniel and I couldn't have picked a better dog! She is my first dog as well. She is daft, cuddly, happy to play with the toddlers but also needs quite a bit of exercise and mental stimulation. She's been pretty easy to train and is just so laid back! I think spaniels are great dogs, you can get a calm chilled one or if you prefer something more active then a working spaniel is perfect. I'm currently trying to persuade my husband we just NEED another one

I have a 14 month working cocker spaniel. He is very chilled around the house but is bouncy when we take him out.

He has a lovely personality and loves everyone but when he was teenager he was a pain in the arse because he would pick up a scent when off lead and run off but we have now got over that :)

I have no Spaniel, but we do have an office Spaniel, he's a Cocker/Springer rescue mix, his owner has had him from a puppy. He's a daft old thing, think he's 8 years old now, but a sweetie. He is territorial though and doesn't like other dogs in "his" space and aloof towards them on walks. Loves his family and people, including kids who are now early teens, lives in a glam flat with loads of walks and loves to splash in any water (you have to hang on to him when you go near the canal or he'll be straight in), dig and bork (much borking). He's vocal, loves belly rubs and whines when his people aren't in sight. Apparently also has random sleep-howls in the night as well haha! We're not entirely much goes on in his little brain other than the endless hunt for snacks (he's had a few people's lunches when their backs are turned).

Ahhh so sweet I can picture it all. Keep them coming.

My old boy was a working cocker and he was fabulous. Chilled and well behaved at home, my loyal little shadow, hard working and reliable out in the field. Lovely little dog. Miss him immensely. Have a lab now, he’s lovely but he’s very highly strung and bouncy compared to my laid back old boy. The one thing I will say is spaniels have very long fur which is a pain in the arse to keep clean this time of year. Mind you my short coated lab sheds like he’s going bald.

I have a 11 months old Springer spaniel. My first ever dog. He is absolutely amazing !! Very intelligent and so easy to train ! very eager to please and so lovable. House trained in one week, lovely walking off lead, perfect recall, friendly with children, other dogs and with everybody really. Crazy when running around in a field but so well behaved at home ! Ball obsessed. No separation anxiety and no barking. We absolutely adore him. Two only minor negatives : quite heavy shedding and terrible on lead. I would strongly recommend.

I've got a 4 yr old working cocker, and he's the most amazing dog ever! I adore him, he's my best friend and around a foot away from me 24/7. They are very much "one master" dogs, and form very strong attachments unlike say a labrador that will love anyone with food . Mine is very calm and quiet in the house but an absolute nutter on a walk and once he's got a scent, will run miles. You need to be very persistent with recall training. He's solid muscle, and gets around 2 long walks a day in the winter, 3 in the summer. He's also very fond of stagnant water and fox poo.... so has a lot of baths. My only advice would be to get one from a gamekeeper/gundog breeder as they will remove their dew claws and dock their tails - mine has both and is constantly at the vets having torn nails removed and infections treated from thorns in his tail....they love a good run through hedgerows flushing birds out.

He's amazing with our grandchildren, very soft and gentle and very good fun. He learns tricks very quickly, and they are very intelligent little souls. Mine's currently obsessed with removing the baubles from the tree with his tail .

I have a 5 month old show/bench springer.

• he loves learning and learnt the basics very quickly but can be sensitive to getting it wrong so works better for someone who is calm and can encourage him rather than put any focus on him not getting it right; telling him off in any way other than a calm 'uh oh' to indicate what he is doing isn't right (e.g. trying to get a bauble off the xmas tree) would be too much for him so he might struggle in a 'shouty' type of house

• ditto other dogs telling him off can make him nervous and when he's nervous, he's very silly indeed

• he can play like mad and can be VERY jumpy if allowed; he could easily be wound up by excited playing (thinking of kids here) and that would make him very boisterous indeed...

• ...but then sleeps for england and is bomb proof when asleep

• he is food motivated (this is both good and bad)

• he likes things in his mouth but is very gentle so no matter what he chews or mouths, it is very rarely damaged

• on this same subject, even during the chewing hands phase he was always very gentle so rarely broke skin or hurt too much

• he loves the sofa and was determined he would get up there but gets too hot to stay on it for very long; ten mins cuddle and he's off onto the floor for the rest of the evening

• he is definitely a one person dog; he is friendly to everyone but has bonded strongly to me and so doesn't like to be away from me. Useful on a walk where he is brilliant off lead (with plenty of training). Not so when I need to go out.

• the friendliness to other dogs can be a bit too full on so he needs close monitoring and control to make sure he doesn't make a pest of himself

• they need lots of grooming and he disliked it right from the start, especially his ears being handled which is important from a springer, so it has been a long, slow process to get him to sit still enough for a 10 mins grooming session

• he is DIRTY . We also have two terriers and have done for years. The house was never so filthy as it is now there is a spaniel. Hoovering, floor cleaning, washing covers etc has become a daily chore. He drips water all over the kitchen floor, walks mud in from the garden, drops fur everywhere and rips cardboard up and leaves it all over

The show version is much calmer than the working springer but he is still a full on dog. He cannot walk very far yet because of his age but requires a good 30mins plus twice a day plus at least a couple of decent play/interactive training sessions. On the odd day where I have missed that he has been a nightmare in the evening, refusing to settle down. When he is an adult I would expect him to need closer to 2 hours a day walking. And that needs to be a decent walk (lots to do and smell).

He is also loving and snuggly and funny and joyful. He makes us laugh every single day and loves nothing more than everyone being together having fun. He is the dog that tops all dogs (to me).

My good girl. She’s a working/show cocker cross and the best dog ever

I have a 6 year old English springer. My first dog as an adult. He was really, really easy to train (apart from on-lead walking - and I put that down to me having a pram/ toddler at the time so could never quite put the right effort in).
He’s amazing off lead - really energetic but instant and bomb proof recall. He will lie down or sit next to me when asked to let on-lead dogs pass. He adores balls and will ignore people, dogs, squirrels and seagulls on a walk for the sake of a ball.
He loves to swim, and bathes in every muddy puddle he passes. Adores baths and showers!
Great with kids - he was basically taught to
ignore them, which I think is the safest way. Loves a cuddle though.

Downsides: shedding, general whiffiness. Sensitive tummy and careful diet needed - but this is more him I think and not breed related.

My last dog was a working springer. We got her when I had 3 dc’s aged 2-7 years old. She was brilliant. Chilled at home, rewarding to walk and endlessly patient with children. She died aged 15 and we really missed her. We now have a collie and are just about to get a lab/Springer cross puppy.
I can highly recommend spaniels.

My last spanner was a working cocker and he was just lovely, spirited, a bit naughty, always up, but a thoughtful, loyal, companion and we all loved him. Our current spanner is a sprocker and he is just the opposite, a bit anxious and more of a loner but very obedient, loving, eager to please and we all love him too. You cannot ever tire a spanner out though, you just make them fitter!

Mine is a Brittany. I think technically they aren’t considered Spaniels any more...but he does a pretty good impression. Friendly but a bit anxious and ‘sensitive’ - his preferred position at Dog School is standing on his hind legs against my knee with his head in my lap, secretly watching all the other dogs, like a toddler at a party who actually does want to play pass the parcel but is a bit shy. If I’m there he likes to ideally be in physical contact with me AT ALL TIMES, but has no problem with being home alone for a bit. Very clever, but highly distractable - he’s either 100% with you, or you might as well not be there. Generally, about 8 miles of walking buys you a quiet evening - but he’ll still get up every time you go to make a cup of tea in case you get any ideas about sneaking off without him. Ridiculously cute, and he can walk around on his hind legs like a Meerket for bloody ages, which I find disproportionately funny.

My brother has a working cocker and he is amazing. He comes from a working home and my brother takes him to work with him.

He's great with kids, very gentle and cuddly indoors and very bouncy outdoors but ignores stranger dogs and horses when out and about and was very fast to house train. With my dogs he's perfect, sometimes playful but mainly aloof- which my dogs like.

Only downside to him is he really suffers from separation but that could be because he's with my brother ALL the time.

We have 2, a worker and a show. Both very different dogs.

Show: usually in full show coat- takes a lot of looking after, feathers on legs and ears permanently wet at this time of the year.
Loves to roll in anything and is extremely quick once that shoulder drops.
Loves kids, not so hot on adults.
Can walk for an hour and then need to go for more but also likes to sleep.
Very good motivated and extremely clever.
Very cuddly and like the breed trait is very attached to one person (me)
Loves Agility and needs a job to keep his mind active.

Worker: very loyal to my daughter.
Can work/walk all day but does have an off switch.
Very fine short coat which doesn’t take as much less oking after as the show.
Good with adults and very gentle with children.
Again needs a job to keep his little mind active- does flyball and Agility.
Very, very easy to train but needs working when offlead all the time otherwise will make his own plans and bog off to see what he can find (was a rescue/rehome and this behaviour was ingrained when he arrived) unless being worked is on a long line now for his own good.

I had an orange roan show cocker years ago. He was a rescue who’d spent the first six months of his life in a garden shed. When I got him he was filthy and starving and completely untrained. He had the sweetest nature and was a really happy-go-lucky little dog but boy was he stupid... he took ages to learn the simplest command and was never 100% reliable with toilet training.

However he was so biddable and eager to please and I took him everywhere - our local pub brought in a no dogs rule about a year after I’d got him but relaxed it for him as he was no trouble.

His coat was a pain to keep clean as he had very long feathers and loved rolling in fox poo - after a while we kept him clipped short most of the time - he didn’t look as pretty but it was much easier to maintain. We used to have to tie his ears up when he ate his tea ...

He developed quite severe epilepsy when he was four and was on phenobarbital for the rest of his life which didn’t really help his cognitive function but in the end he died at 13 of a completely unrelated cancer.

I smiled all the way through reading this thread! Spaniels are the very best! So so loving and easily trained but stupid! You will never be as loved as a spaniel loves you!

We've got a springer/cocker cross. She is very loving and adores our 5 year old DD. At this second they are both 'dancing' to Christmas songs. We had her 3 months before DD so they have grown up together though DDog regards DD as her 'puppy' and often nibbles her etc.
DDog is very vocal when DP is away from the house- she is 'on guard'.
She is very chilled and very clever. She is very bonded to me and follows me everywhere but sees DP as her 'master'.
We love her so much.

Here is my girl. 8 year old English springer from working stock. She is gorgeous, cuddly and gentle. Completely soft-mouthed - you could take food from her (I wouldn't !), very gentle with the children who adore her. My 5 year old cuddles up to her and reads her stories!

She is calm in the house and a lunatic outside! She is amazing with the ball, good at recall, runs and climbs like the wind and is a mud magnet. However, she is crap on the lead!

Good luck - you won't be sorry, they are lovely dogs.

I grew up with Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and they were great. All the best aspects of a spaniel - friendliness, easygoing personality etc etc... but without the bounciness.

I'd have another CKC spaniel in a heartbeat.

Here's my two. The Welsh Springer was sat on an empty box and that pic was taken about 5 seconds before she fell into it

OK here's the welshie

We have a wonderful 9 month old show cocker. He is fabulous, so funny and loving, kind and gentle. Loves walks but gets beyond filthy and then happily has a shower and blow dry. Equally happy to Potter around the house and garden with us.

I have a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, now 11. He has a loving, enthusiastic temperament and gets on well with my cats (I had two cats when he came as a pup; when one cat died I got another and my dog was fine both as the incomer and the resident pet).

He doesn't need lots and lots of exercise - but doesn't flag if we take him out all day either. He is incredibly docile when it comes to grooming etc. and doesn't bark to excess. I love Cavaliers - but, the breed suffers from serious genetic health problems, so careful research is needed in finding a breeder/healthy line .