English Springer Spaniel 1 year

General Appearance
Symmetrically built, compact, strong, merry, active. Highest on leg and raciest in build of all British land Spaniels.

Characteristics
Breed is of ancient and pure origins, oldest of sporting gundogs; original purpose was finding and springing game for net, falcon or greyhound. Now used to find, flush and retrieve game for gun.

Temperament
Friendly, happy disposition, biddable. Timidity or aggression highly undesirable.

Head and Skull
Skull of medium length, fairly broad, slightly rounded, rising from foreface, making a brow or stop, divided by fluting between eyes, dying away along forehead towards occipital bone which should not be prominent. Cheeks flat. Foreface of proportionate length to skull, fairly broad and deep, well chiselled below eyes, fairly deep and square in flew. Nostrils well developed.

Eyes
Medium size, almond-shaped, not prominent nor sunken, well set in (not showing haw), alert, kind expression. Dark hazel. Light eyes undesirable.

Ears
Lobular, good length and width, fairly close to head, set in line with eye. Nicely feathered.

Mouth
Jaws strong, with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth and set square to the jaws.

Neck
Good length, strong and muscular, free from throatiness, slightly arched, tapering towards head.

Forequarters
Forelegs straight and well boned. Shoulders sloping and well laid. Elbows set well to body. Strong flexible pasterns.

Body
Strong, neither too long nor too short. Chest deep, well developed. Well sprung ribs. Loin muscular, strong with slight arch and well coupled.

Hindquarters
Hindlegs well let down. Stifles and hocks moderately bent. Thighs broad, muscular, well developed. Coarse hocks undesirable.

Feet
Tight, compact, well rounded, with strong, full pads.

Tail
Previously customarily docked.
Docked: Set low, never carried above level of back. Well feathered with lively action.
Undocked: Set low, never carried above level of back. Well feathered with lively action. In balance with the rest of the dog.

Gait/Movement
Strictly his own. Forelegs swing straight forward from shoulder, throwing feet well forward in an easy free manner. Hocks driving well under body, following in line with forelegs. At slow movement may have a pacing stride typical of this breed.

Coat
Close, straight and weather resisting, never coarse. Moderate feathering on ears, forelegs, body and hindquarters.

Colour
Liver and white, black and white, or either of these colours with tan markings.

Size
Approximate height: 51 cms (20 ins).

Faults
Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.

Note
Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.







Thanks for looking.

Lovely

Sweet little dog, difficult to critique due to the pics but I'll have a pop!

Nice foreface, not sure if eye shape is correct or not, but he has a nice expression. Good fluting between the eyes and has a decent stop, foreface should be deeper and flew more square and deep. Ears moderately feathered as required but perhaps a tad too short?

Looks a little upright in shoulder and possibly lacking in depth of forechest - but again could be the pic?

Front feet look a little large but rear pads look nice and tight.

Tail set appears correct and hock + stifle look to be correct, but again difficult to see in the pics.

Overall he looks to be a lovely little chap, with nice moderate feathering as the standard asks for. However being working type he may fall short of the height asked for in the breed standard.

Thanks - he's definitely on the wee side Think it's cos he's working type, was hoping he'd grow longer lugs tho! He's def more of a fun show 'slobberiest dog' or something kinda dog!

p.s. I'm not very good at taking photos!

No I think he's lovely, it's just difficult for me as I'm used to looking at the Show type.

He's a very nice example of a working type imo and one I'd be proud to own!

And trust me you don't want longer lugs, they collect everything!

I'll second that, food and everything and constantly soggy. Your dog looks lovely