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Spaniel Secretsby David Krassler David Krassler For many of us enthusiasts, the enjoyment of watching our sporting dogs seek out and locate game is truly what the sport is all about. Have you ever watched a good dog track down and force a running cock pheasant into flight? The "dog work" is more exciting than the actual shooting end of things during small game hunting. Many of us that have been hunting small game over good dogs become more and more memorized by the exceptional dog work that occurs during an average day in the field. There are more than 35 different breed types in the sporting dog group today. One of which is the Spaniel or flushing dog group. The Spaniel is the 2nd oldest hunting breed known to mankind today. The earliest written record of the Spaniel was logged in the year 948! The early gamekeepers used the Spaniel in the role of today’s “beaters”. During the shoot, the Spaniels were also used to flush game on the Europe estates. Working in teams as small as 4 and up to as many as 10. Spaniels forced game into flight from the thick undergrowth of brambles, thorns and rough grass for the tenants and syndicate shooters. European countries, where the Spaniel originated, called them the land or flushing Spaniel. Many feel the Carrihagean word "Span" meaning rabbit, seems to have proper meaning for this breed! Even to this day in Europe the Spaniel, when tested during field events, must work both fur and feather. Whiling working, all flushed game, whether it is rabbit, hare, pheasant or partridge, shall be shot. It is required that the Spaniel finds and retrieves all the different sorts of game. Thus, maintaining the Spaniel as a versatile all-around breed for small game hunting. Among the Spaniel group there are ten different types of Spaniels with the English springer and English cockers, being two of the most popular amongst small game enthusiasts. Authorities such as Henry Davis, David Michael Duffy, and others, (these people who have a world of experience with all types of gun dogs), have concluded that the English springer spaniel is a leading contender for the title of "all-around gun dog" for the one dog-sporting enthusiast!  English springer spaniels have always been known as GREAT pheasant dogs. Photo by: R. Michael DiLullo The Spaniel is a beater who covers all the ground to either side in front of the hunter, never leaving any game undiscovered. He always stays within shotgun range for the on foot hunter to take his quarry at his own pace. When a Spaniel is making game he will quickly drop his head and put his nose to the ground in a hound-like fashion. He will stubbornly "nose" the foot scent of the quarry, increasing his speed while closing the gap on a bird or rabbit as the scent trail gets "hotter." | ||
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