Welsh Springer Spaniel

AKC Group: Sporting

Club: Welsh Springer Spaniel Club of America, Inc.

Corresponding Secretary : Carla Vooris
Address: 783 ELLINGTON FARM RD, MANSON, NC , 27553-9200
Website: www.wssca.com
Email: mysticacres783@aol.com
Club Type: Specialty

General Apperance:

The Welsh Springer Spaniel is a dog of distinct variety and ancient origin, who derives his name from his hunting style and not his relationship to other breeds. He is an attractive dog of handy size, exhibiting substance without coarseness. He is compact, not leggy, obviously built for hard work and endurance. The Welsh Springer Spaniel gives the impression of length due to obliquely angled forequarters and well developed hindquarters. Being a hunting dog, he should be shown in hard muscled working condition. His coat should not be so excessive as to hinder his work as an active flushing spaniel, but should be thick enough to protect him from heavy cover and weather.

Size:

A dog is ideally 18-19 inches in height at the withers and a bitch is 17-18 inches at the withers. Any animal above or below the ideal to be proportionately penalized. Weight should be in proportion to height and overall balance. Length of body from the withers to the base of the tail is very slightly greater than the distance from the withers to the ground. This body length may be the same as the height but never shorter, thus preserving the rectangular silhouette of the Welsh Springer Spaniel.

Coat:

The coat is naturally straight flat and soft to the touch, never wiry or wavy. It is sufficiently dense to be waterproof, thornproof, and weatherproof. The back of the forelegs, the hind legs above the hocks, chest and underside of the body are moderately feathered. The ears and tail are lightly feathered. Coat so excessive as to be a hindrance in the field is to be discouraged. Obvious barbering is to be avoided as well.

Temperament:

The Welsh Springer Spaniel is an active dog displaying a loyal and affectionate disposition. Although reserved with strangers, he is not timid, shy nor unfriendly. To this day he remains a devoted family member and hunting companion.

History:

The history of the Welsh Springer begins as far back as 7000 BC, when the first hunting dogs were employed by man. The likely ancestors of most of today's domestic hunting dogs, these canines accompanied man on his hunting sojourns on the coastlines of Brittany, Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland during the Mesolithic Age. By approximately 250 BC, the ancestors of the Welsh Springer had developed into the Agassian hunting dog, belonging to the wild tribes of Roman-occupied Briton. During the Renaissance, the "Land Spaniel," a Welsh Springer-type dog with red and white markings, was used for retrieving, and tapestries of the time depict a dog very similar to the Welsh.

After rising to great popularity in the 1700s and becoming a favorite hunting dog of the noble class, the breed lost its niche in the 1800s, replaced by the English Springer and other spaniels. However, a trend in selective breeding, spurred on by the newly popularized Darwinian theory, eventually brought back the breed to Victorian England, and the breed competed in the same class with the English Springer, the only difference at that time being color.

Imported to America in the late 1800s, the breed gained popularity and was recognized by the AKC in 1906. After rough times following the World Wars, it was believed that no Welsh Springers existed in the US, but importing revived the breed, and the Welsh Springer parent club was found in 1961.