Opinions on Spaniels
 

Looking at possible new dog for hunting since my pound hound Visla is now just a pet -- but a good one at that. Probably don't want a second bigger dog around the house or another high energy dog. Wondering what everyone thinks of the English Cocker and Clumber for hunting pheasant and as far as daily exercise need and insiide energy. Thanks for your opinions!

RE: Opinions on Spaniels
 

if you are going for a spaniel i would go with a brittany

RE: Opinions on Spaniels
 

second that there great dogs and very freindly and awsome family dogs

and great hunters

RE: Opinions on Spaniels
 

Aren't the brittany's a little high strung? I need a dog that is going to be primarily a family dog and then put up and retrieve pheasants 3-4 weekends a year.

RE: Opinions on Spaniels
 

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/brittany.htm

check that website it gives a good description on the brittanys... they seem to be easy trainable, gentle dogs..

RE: Opinions on Spaniels
 

Thanks for the website, but again, I'm a little gunshy to get another dog that is described as, "energetic, likes to roam, is always on the move." That is why the English Cockers and Clumbers sounded more palitable to me. Seem to be a little calmer breed. I've heard that most spaniels are dumb-blondes and I'm sure the English Cockers and Clumbers may not cover the same ground, but that's OK. I'm not exactly super-hunter myself.

RE: Opinions on Spaniels
 

Alot of it is in the breeding. There are field trial lines where range/hyperness are wanted and there's actual hunting lines. The ones I've seen tend towards the smaller size and are great hunters. You may want to look at the french brittany. They're smaller and the breed isn't popular yet with the field trialers. That being said, I don't know much about them, how they range, etc. because they are pretty rare where I live. I did see one litter and the pups at seven weeks were small with the mother being around 35lbs or so.

BTW, any hunting dog will need to work out thier energy.

RE: Opinions on Spaniels
 

I would suggest an English Springer Spaniel. They are similar to a brittany with a very loving personality and require medium activity. Most people say they are only retrievers and flushers but you can definitely train them to point and they love to retrieve. We will be adding one to our family in Febuary and I'll let you know how she is coming along. When i was younger i had 2 brittanies and loved them, however as soon as i spent time around a springer (babysitting for a friend)I fell in love....They have the warmest most loving personality and love to please their owners. And to top it off they are beautiful.

RE: Opinions on Spaniels
 

I hunted over three cockers in the early 80's. 2 ofthem were English/American cross, the other was an American cocker. They were great flushers, and all of them retrieved without fail. As family dogs they were great around adults but they weren't very child friendly. They were more challenging to train than the Labs I have had since. I enjoyed hunting over them but they moved under brush at a quick pace and if a bird would run close all three of them would sometimes break and run the bird a bit far ahead of the gun. Not that they did it all the time but every now and again. An English Springer would probably be a better choice because, they are a little larger than a cocker, yet they are not as large as your visla, andthey wouldn't be able to run under the brush quite as quickly wich helps to keep them in range. I have also hunted over a few Brittany spaniels. To the best of my knowledge they are the only pointing spaniels. They have the natural instinct to point game, this is not a trait of any of the other spaniels. I've never hunted over a cumberland spaniel but I have read that they are slower moving in the field and more mild mannered than the others. Alot of what you get is going to depend on the bloodlines your pup comes from, as well as your particular training program, and how you interact with the pup. I hope I have been of some help to you and I wish you well with whatever dog you choose.

RE: Opinions on Spaniels
 

I like the English Springer Spaniel. Great hunting dogs, and great family dogs. I'll be getting another. As for the English Cocker, there are not many breeders breeding them for the field. and as for Clumbers even less. Get a dog that's breed to hunt. You can train a field bred dog into a great house dog, but you can't train a house/ bench dog into a great field dog. Sometimes not even a decent field dog. (There are rareexceptions, don't want to hear about them)

As for the Brittany; a good little compact pointing dog, but not a Spaniel as suggested. This dog was once classified as a Spaniel, but removed about 10 years ago because it is a ponting dog. Spaniels aren't supposed to point, they're flushing dogs.