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The English Springer is one of the oldest of the
British spaniels, with the exception of the Clumber.
The land spaniel written about in 1570 by the
historian Dr Caius was obviously a forerunner
of the Springer. It was originally used for flushing
or springing game from cover before shotguns were
in use. For a time it was known as the Norfolk
Spaniel, named after either a Norfolk family that
kept a strain of "springing" spaniels prior to
1900 or the breed's place of origin in the
county of Norfolk in England.
Sir Thomas Boughey, who helped
establish the modern breed, had Springers
with a pedigree traceable to a bitch that
whelped in 1812. Sir Thomas's family
retained an interest in the breed until
the 1930s and many of today's field
trials champions are descendants
of his strain. The English Springer
Spaniel Club was formed in the
UK in 1921, but the breed had
found fame as a "bird dog" in
the United States long before.
The English Springer Spaniel is
an intelligent, loyal, and popular
gundog that also makes a reliable
housepet and is good with children.
The breed needs plenty of exercise,
a daily brushing, and regular
checks to ensure that mud does
not become lodged in its paws
or its ears. The Springer may
not be a good choice for the
house proud because it tends
to have a good shake when it
comes indoors out of the rain.
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