The Field Spaniel is a medium-sized

dog breed A dog breed is a particular strain of dog that was purposefully bred by humans to perform specific tasks, such as herding, hunting, and guarding. Dogs are the most variable mammal on Earth, with artificial selection producing around 450 globall ...

spaniel A spaniel is a type of gun dog. Spaniels were especially bred to flush game out of denser brush. By the late 17th century, spaniels had been specialized into water and land breeds. The extinct English Water Spaniel was used to retrieve water ...

type. They were originally developed to be all-black show dogs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and were unpopular for work as a

hunting dog A hunting dog is a canine that hunts with or for hunters. There are several different types of hunting dog developed for various tasks and purposes. The major categories of hunting dog include hounds, terriers, dachshunds, cur type dogs, and g ...

. However, during the mid-20th century they were redeveloped as a longer-legged dog that was more suitable to be used for field work. They are now considered to be a rare breed, and are registered as a

Vulnerable Native Breed There were only 37 Skye Terrier puppies registered with the Kennel Club in 2010 Vulnerable Native Breeds are a group of dog breeds originating in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and identified by The Kennel Club (KC) as having annual registration ...

The Kennel Club The Kennel Club ("KC") is the official kennel club of the United Kingdom. It is the oldest recognised kennel club in the world. Its role is to oversee various canine activities including dog shows, dog agility and working trials. It also oper ...

. Their fur is darker than other spaniels and they have no undercoat like most of the other field type

s. Their coats come mostly in solid colours with some occasional markings on the chest. They can make good family dogs and are patient with children, but can require some sort of purpose, be it hunting or agility work in order to prevent them from becoming bored and destructive.

History

The Field Spaniel was originally developed for the show ring by competitors who were attempting to develop an all-black Spaniel. Some of the breeding methods of those early developers were criticised; one of the first breeders of the Field Spaniel, Thomas Jacobs, said of the origin; "Much has been written and said on the purity of the breed; deprecating the means I have adopted to produce them as calculated to alter a presumed type, and frequent missiles have been hurled at me and my dogs from behind the hedge. But where is the pure bred black spaniel we hear so much about? Proof of the existence of the pure bred one (if there ever was one!) has not been forthcoming. Like most sporting dogs, they are the result of different crosses." They were unpopular with sportsmen as the dark colours of the breed did not show up in hunting conditions, and the elongated and short shape of the early breed was not very practical for moving easily through cover. The low-slung variety of Field Spaniel were developed by Phineas Bullock from dogs previously owned by Sir

Francis Burdett Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet (25 January 1770 – 23 January 1844) was a British politician and Member of Parliament who gained notoriety as a proponent (in advance of the Chartists) of universal male suffrage, equal electoral districts, vo ...

, the secretary of the Birmingham Dog Show. Burdett was said to have owned a variety of black

Cocker Spaniel Cocker Spaniels are dogs belonging to two breeds of the spaniel dog type: the American Cocker Spaniel and the English Cocker Spaniel of which are commonly called simply Cocker Spaniel in their countries of origin. In the early 20th century, Cock ...

s. Bullock crossed the Field Spaniel with the

Sussex Spaniel The Sussex Spaniel is a breed of dog native to Sussex in southern England. It is a low, compact spaniel and is as old a breed as and similar in appearance to the Clumber Spaniel. They can be slow-paced, but can have a clownish and energetic te ...

and the

English Water Spaniel The English Water Spaniel is a breed of dog that has been extinct since the first part of the 20th century, with the last specimen seen in the 1930s. It was best known for its use in hunting waterfowl and for being able to dive as well as a duck. ...

. In the 1870s he was very successful in the show ring with his variety of Field Spaniel; however, it resulted in a dog that was almost exactly like a Sussex Spaniel with the exception of the head itself. The dog who is considered to be the father of the modern

English Cocker Spaniel The English Cocker Spaniel is a breed of gun dog. It is noteworthy for producing one of the most varied numbers of pups in a litter among all dog breeds. The English Cocker Spaniel is an active, good-natured, sporting dog standing well up a ...

is Ch. Obo, who was born in 1879 to a Sussex Spaniel father and a Field Spaniel mother. Obo's son Ch. Obo II is considered to be the father of the modern

American Cocker Spaniel The American Cocker Spaniel is a breed of sporting dog. It is a spaniel type dog that is closely related to the English Cocker Spaniel; the two breeds diverged during the 20th century due to differing breed standards in the US and the UK. In th ...

, who was described as being only ten inches high with quite a long body. By 1909, the average weight of a Field Spaniel was . Further mixing of the breed occurred with elements of the

Basset Hound The Basset Hound is a short-legged breed of dog in the hound family. The Basset is a scent hound that was originally bred for the purpose of hunting hare. Their sense of smell and ability to ''ground-scent'' is second only to the Bloodhound.Har ...

introduced. Various genetic health issues arose and action was taken in order to correct the problems within the breed.

English Springer Spaniel The English Springer is a breed of gun dog in the Spaniel group traditionally used for flushing and retrieving game. It is an affectionate, excitable breed with a typical lifespan of twelve to fourteen years. They are very similar to the Wels ...

s were used to introduce healthier elements into the breed and resulted in the longer legged spaniel that we know today. Most of the modern breed can be traced to four dogs from the 1950s; Colombina of Teffont, Elmbury Morwena of Rhiwlas, Gormac Teal, and Ronayne Regal. The Field Spaniel remains a rare breed, even in the UK. In 2009, a total of 51 dogs were registered with

and has been in steady decline since 2000. Out of all the Spaniel breeds registered with The Kennel Club, the Field Spaniel has the lowest numbered registered year on year, with only the

coming a close second with 60 registrations in 2009. This is compared to the

with 12,700 and the

with 22,211 registrations in 2009 alone. In order to promote the breed, they have been registered as a

by The Kennel Club.

Description

Appearance

The standard size for a Field Spaniel is tall at the

withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle a ...

, and a weight of between . This places it roughly between the

and the

in size. Its coat comes in solid colours of black and liver, or in roan. Tan points, white markings on the throat and the chest can be ticked or the same colour as the rest of the body. They have a moderately long single coat with no undercoat. Feathering of the fur appears on the chest, belly, ears and on the back of the legs. The coat is not as heavy as that of a

but requires grooming in order to prevent mats from appearing in the fur. Docking of tails has been banned in a number of countries, including the UK, however, an exemption is made for working animals.

Temperament

The Field Spaniel is an active and inquisitive breed, and makes a good companion. However, if left alone and unoccupied for long periods of time, they may become bored and destructive. They are suitable for

dog agility Dog agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs run off leash with no food or toys as incentives, and the handler can touch neither dog nor obstacles. The handler ...

and hunting. They are also patient with children and like to stay close to their family. When socialised, they are good with other dogs. They are generally docile and independent, and are not as excitable as Cocker Spaniels.

Stanley Coren Stanley Coren (born 1942) is a psychology professor, neuropsychological researcher and writer on the intelligence, mental abilities and history of dogs. He works in research and instructs in psychology at the University of British Columbia in V ...

's ''

The Intelligence of Dogs ''The Intelligence of Dogs'' is a 1994 book on dog intelligence by Stanley Coren, a professor of canine psychology at the University of British Columbia. The book explains Coren's theories about the differences in intelligence between various ...

'' lists the breed as being above average in working intelligence.

Health

There are a few ocular conditions to which the Field Spaniel has a predisposition. These include

cataract A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble ...

s, retinal atrophy and

retinal dysplasia Retinal dysplasia is an eye disease affecting the retina of animals and, less commonly, humans. It is usually a nonprogressive disease and can be caused by viral infections, drugs, vitamin A deficiency, or genetic defects. Retinal dysplasia i ...

Hip dysplasia Hip dysplasia is an abnormality of the hip joint where the socket portion does not fully cover the ball portion, resulting in an increased risk for joint dislocation. Hip dysplasia may occur at birth or develop in early life. Regardless, it doe ...

has appeared in British lines of Field Spaniels. The Kennel Club and

British Veterinary Association The British Veterinary Association (BVA) is the national body for veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom and is a not-for-profit organisation. Its purpose is that of knowledge dissemination, and not professional validation or academic compete ...

highly recommend eye testing and hip scoring be carried out by Field Spaniel breeders. In a health survey conducted by the Kennel Club (UK), the primary cause of death in Field Spaniels was

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, with the second most frequent cause being old age. The median lifespan for the breed was found to be eleven years and eight months, which is five months higher than the median age for all dog breeds. However, as the authors noted, a response rate of only 24% may have resulted in reduced accuracy.

References

External links

* {{English dogs Dog breeds originating in England FCI breeds Rare dog breeds Spaniels Gundogs Vulnerable Native Breeds