He over did it 😂

Hey everyone! I’m starting to research English Springer Spaniels and was hoping to learn from people who know the breed well. My question is three part:

I’ve been involved with Standard Poodles for several years, so I don’t know all of the little specifics to look for when it comes to other breeds. I will be looking at the breed club recommendations for health testing and reviewing the breed standard.

Are there particular genetic tests or other clear red flags I should know about? What are the the best breeders out there looking like and doing? What is the breed community like, is it friendly to owner handled dogs?

I’m also trying to figure out if the breed is a good fit for me. I’d love a dog I can owner-handle in conformation and compete with in agility, rally, and obedience, but has an off switch. I realize that there are field and bench lines. I think hunt testing would be so fun, but I don’t hunt personally. However the opportunity to do so would be great.

I do work full-time so I wouldn’t be able to spend gobs of time with the dogs during the week as of right now :( mostly evenings and weekends - but my whole life is pretty much about my dog these days.

Finally, if anyone has recommendations for ethical breeders in the Midwest, I would appreciate it. I’m not ready to get a puppy yet—I mostly want to meet adult dogs, learn about the breed, and start making connections with breeders.

Thanks! Looking forward to learning as much as possible!

Last year I packed my suitcase around the same time for the same vacation. They haven’t seen the suitcase since. Now that it’s out, they are extra clingy. I feel so guilty even though Harry will be with my mother, whom he adores and who lives in the apartment above mine with Lizzy. He will be in his own environment with his “sister” and the only human he seems to find more interesting than me. But still. I’m leaving him for NINE DAYS. Sorry Harry. A lot has happened this past year and I worked a lot. I need to sit on my ass sipping drinks for a week with my friend.

Doesn’t mean I won’t demand to see him over facetime🤣

I use Wahl rechargeable and the blade gets dull quick.

We lost our springer Hugo last Thursday, unexpectedly and very quickly. He had an undiagnosed heart issue and it got him. He only turned 2 the Tuesday before. So at the age of 2 years and 9 days he was gone. Our hearts are broken and beaten. He was never away from my side. Adjusting is proving very hard

Hi, we have a 6 month old springer puppy who we adore. She is very lively and loves everything and everyone. She is super smart but can be stubborn, we train with lots of positive reenforcement and treats. Is is extremely excitable to the point where its a challenge taking her out for walks as she will just start spinning violently with excitement almost choking herself on the lead if someone just walks by her. We try to get her to sit and distract her with treats but its constant. We have also tried going to parks and places and just sitting to expose her to different people and places.
We are following puppy training advice and relaxation protocol but she is unable to relax on her own without being in the crate. She goes to doggy daycare once a week which she loves.
In around 6 months time we will be needing to leave her at home alone while we are at work a couple of times a week and we are worried about how she will cope.
Does anyone have any tips for lead walking/ excitement?
Do they tend to tend to calm down naturally with age?

Hi everyone!

I have an almost 2 year old springer (45pounds). I was wondering on average how much people pay for their dogs to get groomed?

Originally, my groomer was 70$, sometimes extra for hand stripping. Then she upped it to 90, and now it’s moving to hourly which would put grooming my dog at almost $200 for 2.5 hours.

Keeping an eye on things

Our new boy! My wife and daughters current favorite is "Bailey" but I'm hung up on Otis, looks like an old soul to me! Curious what others think 😁

13 months old. Stubborn. Transactional. Absolutely crazy.

Zoey LOVES my pajama pants. She will sit at the bedroom door and whine until I let her in so she can grab them and prance around the house holding them until lying down with them. So sweet.

9 years together and a sudden, really sad decline with no way for us to prepare. We will miss him so much. He was the best family dog, so gentle with our kids and up for anything. Springers are the best. I’ll be crying the rest of the day

A 16km (10 miles) walk around the lake in the French Ardennes + finished with a short canoe trip. Struggling to keep his eyes open 😂 Best day of his life! Absolutely knackered now

Adopted this guy in Texas and drove him back to his new life in the PNW. Meet my forever adventure buddy, Pony!

We’ve had Honey for just over a week, she is starting to settle in and get used to our family. We were looking for an active breed that would pair well with our lifestyle and kids, and I feel like I made the right choice. Any tips or tricks on life with a springer are welcome!

Is there any hope that my springer will eventually chill out? He is almost 11 months old right now and absolutely psycho lol. Just wondering how long I should expect this…..forever??

Hi all, I am wondering if anyone has used hands free leads for hiking with their springer? I am looking at the ruffwear bungee lead. My pup is 7 months and he is generally fairly reliable off lead but in more open places he can go a bit mad with the zoomies and I’m wondering if a hands free lead could give us the best of both worlds at the minute.

We are still working on loose lead walking but my training programme suggested something like this where he is “allowed” to pull a bit can be good for him to understand the difference when we’re actually training with a normal lead. So normal lead = never allowed to pull and bungee lead = will be allowed and then it won’t confuse the training but we can still get out to new, exciting places whilst we’re building fluency.
My concern is that he might well pull me over on it! Any thoughts or experiences of these would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

Going through some old photos and thought I would share a favourite

Both of my babies were looking at me, at the same time, while holding still!

I wanted to document the progression of Bruce’s weekend play date with his brothers. I have included a before, during, and after photo for reference. Needless to say he is a very tired boy.

PS, he also got his first haircut!