English Springer Spaniel

What is an English Springer Spaniel?

A medium gundog of 18-25kg bred to flush - to "spring" - game from cover for the guns. Two quite distinct populations exist under one name: working lines, lighter, shorter-coated and enormously driven, and show lines, heavier, with more coat and a calmer engine.

Which one you are buying matters more than almost anything else on this page. A working-bred Springer in a suburban home with an hour's walking is a recipe for a miserable dog and a chewed house.

History and origins

Land spaniels were divided by size for centuries - the larger flushed, the smaller retrieved and became the Cocker. The Kennel Club recognised them as separate breeds in 1902. The split between working and show types opened up through the 20th century and is now wide enough that the two rarely interbreed.

Appearance and size

46-51cm, 18-25kg. Compact and balanced, with long pendulous ears and a medium double coat with feathering. Liver and white or black and white, with or without tan.

Docking is legal in the UK only for a working dog, done by a vet within five days and certified. A docked Springer being sold as a pet from a non-working litter is a question worth asking about.

Temperament and personality

Cheerful, biddable and relentlessly optimistic. Springers are people dogs - they want to be doing whatever you are doing, and the tail rarely stops. They are not guard dogs and are usually pleased to meet everybody.

The flip side is intensity. This is a dog bred to quarter rough ground all day, and that drive does not switch off because it lives in a house.

Intelligence and trainability

Near the top of the trainable breeds. They take to gundog work, obedience, agility, scent work and search-and-rescue, and they want the job. A Springer given training is a joy; one given none finds its own occupation, which is usually the bins.

Recall needs real work because the nose overrides everything once a scent is found.

Children and other pets

Excellent. Tolerant, gentle and enthusiastic, and sturdy enough for family life. The main hazard is sheer bounce - a wet Springer at full speed will flatten a toddler cheerfully.

Fine with other dogs and usually with cats. Prey drive is for birds more than for mammals, but a hamster is still a hamster.

Health problems

Hip dysplasia, and both parents should be hip scored against the breed mean.

cord1 PRA, a late-onset inherited blindness with a straightforward DNA test.

Fucosidosis, a fatal inherited neurological disease, and phosphofructokinase deficiency, causing episodic muscle weakness and dark urine. Both are DNA testable and both should be cleared - there is no reason to breed an affected dog in 2026.

Otitis externa. Heavy drop ears over a warm damp canal, in a dog that swims. Chronic ear infections are the commonest reason a Springer sees a vet, and routine drying and checking after every swim prevents most of them.

Idiopathic aggression, historically called rage syndrome, appears in a small number of show-line pedigrees. It is genuinely rare and much over-discussed, but it is a reason to ask about temperament in the line.

Daily care routine

Real exercise twice daily, training or scent games, and ears dried and checked - every time they get wet, not weekly. Feathering checked for burrs and grass seeds in summer, which migrate into feet and ears and need veterinary removal.

Grooming and coat care

Brush two or three times a week, more on the feathering and behind the ears where it mats. Show coats need trimming every couple of months; working coats need much less.

Check between the toes after every walk in summer. Grass seeds are the classic Springer emergency.

Exercise needs

Two hours a day, minimum, for an adult, and it needs to include off-lead running and something for the mind. This is the single thing that determines whether the breed works for you.

Scent work, retrieving games, gundog training or agility all count and are more tiring than distance. A Springer that is walked far but never made to think is still a Springer with energy left.

Feeding and diet

A good quality food matched to real activity level - a working Springer and a show-bred pet have very different needs. Two measured meals. They are food-motivated and will gain weight if the exercise drops.

Price

£800-£1,600, with working lines from proven parents often at the upper end and show lines varying widely.

Running costs are moderate. Insurance £35-£70 a month. Budget for ear treatment; most owners of this breed end up doing so.

Buying advice

Ask first: is this a working line or a show line? Then ask what the parents do. A breeder whose dogs pick up on shoots is producing working dogs, and you should want that level of exercise before you buy one.

Ask for hip scores and the DNA results for cord1, fucosidosis and PFK. All three are cheap tests and a good breeder has them.

Then be truthful about your week. This breed fills rescues not because it is difficult but because it is wonderful and needs more than people expect.