English Springer Spaniel

Right, I'll give it a whirl.
English Springer Spaniel.
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 the eyes, dying away along forehead towards occiputal 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 Set low, never carried above level of back. Well feathered with lively action. 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 the shoulder, throwing the 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

Sorry they aren't amazing pictures. He's about 20 months or so now, not kept in show trim. He's from mixed field trialling and show type stock so comes somewhere in between!

Ralph.
Get a side on pic of him up Luke! I know you have some!
Lovely head, I prefer this type of head personally to the wee dainty ones you sometimes see out, dogs looking more like bitches. ANYWAY!

Nicely set ears. Topline looks good from what I can see. Can't see his tail! Nice straight forelegs, looks well up on pasterns, looks to have nice feet if a little fluffy! Can't really comment on hindquaters from the pics.

He's due to be trimmed up tomorrow, will take some side pictures then in showstance.
Tis such a shame, he's a lovely animal..yet put him in a ringcraft environment and he HATED it, shrunk up and moved like a nightmare. Have him out in a field offlead and he moves like a dream. He just never took too it, and was advised not to force him.
Shame really!

Make sure his feet are tided up so I can see them properly!
Becky

Like his head, maybe a bit strong for some, but definately a male! Looks to have a good body shape from what I can see. Good bone, nice feet. I think a dog capable of going all day, more show than working type, a nice dog. Would like to see him trimmed.
Dawn.

Ahh he's lovely! Agree with Kel though, we need some side on pics.

From what I can see he's got nice eye shape, eyes also not too light. Ears set level with the eye, good length too - looks like they'd reach the end of his nose!
Feet look fairly tight from underneath all that fluff (I'm just dying to take to him with my finger cots and scissors - in a nice way, obviously! :smt043).
His flew isn't quite as deep as they seem to like in the show ring these days, but then I prefer the "Ralph" look when it comes to flew anyway! Less slobber

Have you considered trying to train him yourself and then entering some outdoor open shows in the summer? Perhaps it's the indoor venue he doesn't like, I know a few dogs that dislike indoor events!

You know Rips you could be onto something, he won't focus on anything inside the house..let alone somewhere else. I may give it a go, it's just he looses his focus so quickly..and i'm just not sure he enjoys the whole "environment".

I must admit I really dislike the indoor open shows myself, they're so cramped and generally being in leisure centres means they feel far to "healthy" for me!

Perhaps just try entering him into an outdoor Champ show as NFC and see how he behaves? Not the cheapest way to do mind you!

Hi Luke & the Fab Ralph (Re the PM..hope you two are getting on OK)

I hate the idea of this thread LOL but here goes.....

Good ears - bigger than mine (well my dogs) but more akin to the standard than Fingal's.
Head - perhaps a bit on the high side?.
Height - looks tall ? but obviously can't say without knowing
Colour - spot on
Chest - Perhaps it's the pics - doesn't look that deep
Eyes - to die for - good shape
Front legs - good and straight - perhaps slightly close together - has he a narrow chest ?- seems so in pic 2 but not 5
The biggest flattest cheeks - I love this on Springers and Ralph has perhaps the best. I can imagine how silky they are. Could stroke them all day long.
As per others - love to snip the foot hair!

Not the best photos, but best I could do from the help of someone to take the pictures. And these were the only half decent ones.
He did have a slight trim up, not nearly enough though looking at the photos..



Hmmn they really aren't that good, taken at a bit of an odd angle really Mhm will see if I can do any better.