Fabulous family pet for those with energetic lifestyles. (English Springer Spaniel)

Member Name: Devonbunny

Product:	English Springer Spaniel
Date:	20/06/09 (99 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun loving, energetic, good with children, great training potential.

Disadvantages: very energetic, on lead walking can be difficult, chases everything in sight.

Before I continue with this review, I should just point out that I may be a little biased (but still totally honest) about Springer Spaniels as I have a real soft spot in my heart for them. Growing up I was surrounded by the breed. My best friends family had 2, my auntie had 1, and they were scattered around the neighbours like they were going out of fashion. I loved watching their curiousity, their energy, their love of life.

I have always had a love of Springers, but when the time was right for us to look around for a new member of the family - I still did the research.
I wanted to make sure that we got the right the right sort of dog to fit in with our lifestyle. So what is our lifestyle? We are a very energetic family - loving the outdoors - plenty of long countryside and moorland walks, camping holidays and park visits. We needed a breed that would accept and get on well with children. Ideally, with lots of energy so the children and the dog could happily tear around the garden and wear each other out.

After reading various books, checking the internet, and generally having chats with people we saw around the place with Springers, we decided to take the plunge and find ourselves a springer! To double check, we joined a fabulous forum called "It's a Spring Thing" which is full to the brim with Springer loving people who will help, advise, give their honest opinions and share their experiences. There are also a number of Springer rehoming charities on the site, so if you wish to rehome a springer it's an ideal place to visit.

So, what have we got?
We have got the most gorgeous, stupidest, mad maniac animal you could imagine - but oh boy, how we love her. Kira is now almost 3 years old, and is still boisterous, energetic, and loving. She is extremely obedient, has excellent recall, walks fantastically off the lead, and is wonderful with the children.
The one problem that we do have with Kira is her on-lead walking. Kira doesn't walk on the lead - she pulls, she jumps, she hops, she walks on her hind legs, she dances and she jerks. She certainly doesn't walk or look like she does anything resembling a walk. We have tried all sorts - obviously training - but also all kinds of "miracle" contraptions - none of which have worked, and some of which have actually made the walking worse as she battles to get them off. We have more or less resigned ourselves to the fact that this is the one little imperfection of her character that we are just going to have to live with. It's the sheer excitement and enjoyment that she gets from her walk experiences that makes her do it. It doesn't matter how many walks she gets, how tired she is, how long the walk is, or where we walk to - she is as excited to walk around the block as she is to walk en route to the park. From what I can gather though, this is a pretty common problem with our Springer pals.

Our springer fits in with our life perfectly. She behaves wonderfully in the house - and is full of energy when out in the garden and on walks. She is a fully fledged member of the family - coming with us on our camping trips, swimming in the sea, paddling in the stream (most springers adore water!)
and basically our life wouldn't be the same without her. The only time she doesn't come with us is when we go shopping, then she has full run of the house in our absence. She doesn't seem to suffer any anxiety when left alone, although when she was a puppy she did seem to have a thing about chewing wicker baskets! Now we can leave her alone with no problems, she doesn't chew anything and the neighbours have never complained about her howling or barking - so presumingly she is quiet (our neighbours would certainly let us know otherwise!)

She is definitely protective of her family members, and is a good dog to have around the house to warn of strangers.

All in all, I would recommend the English Springer Spaniel to anyone who has an energetic lifestyle where they can provide the dog with lots of exercise, mind stimulation, and attention. They aren't the kind of dogs that you can ignore all day and expect to behave.

Summary: the best dogs in the right home - but must be in the right sort of home for a happy life :o)