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Let's talk about English Springer Spaniel dogs! Please share you experiences, thoughts and feelings about the English Springer Spaniel dog and English Springer Spaniel puppies.

I rented a cottage in Dorset for a week and the owners had 2 Springer Spaniels. We were advised not to play with them as they were actually working dogs (on the farm).

However, one of the dogs - Molly used to drop pine cones and stones at our feet and wanted to play fetch! She would not take no for an answer and somehow we managed to wear out the poor dog! They seem to be very friendly dogs (if a little daft).

My brother's springer is brilliant, if a little useless as a guard dog. They were burgled once and the dog barked at the burglar who then took sausages out of the fridge to feed him. That kept Jerry quiet whilst the burglar pinched a few handy things and left without waking anybody.

The first time they realised that they had been burgled was when the police came around after the guy confessed to a string of other burglaries. It also solved the mystery of who ate the sausages.

That's a great story. It sounds as though I need to get two dogs then - a spaniel as a pet and then another breed of dog to guard the house !

Our springer spaniel, Mudge, is hysterical; he has a great loving, and very funny personality, but was certainly the dog from hell as a puppy; (we were unsure of who was the alpha at the time and certainly gave him mixed messages as he grew up, so it wasn't entirely his fault; we finally did go for some good training). And, we didn't know what the springer part meant until we had him a while: yes, lots of energy... He's 10 and is finally acting like an adult dog.
Springers make wonderful pets, if given the choice to play with people or other dogs, they'll choose people.They're very smart, but also the ADD of dog breeds, since they are bred to have all senses on alert while hunting; so Mudge might bark at a leaf falling, or hear, smell, see anything out of the ordinary and react to it. Because they're so people oriented, separation anxiety is a given. They just expect to be included in everything the family does, and the worst punishment for him is to not be with us. This makes if very difficult if we go out of town now and then. I claim his middle name is 'never enough'; you pet him a little and he always wants more; never just walks away after awhile like some dogs do.
I do have a problem I need help with, aside from all of his great qualities.
He neurotically chews on his back foot! Prednisone heals it up, but then he starts in again after the meds end. I have tried bitter apple, dog band-aid spray, elizabethan collars (he finds ways to bend it and still get to his foot), cortisone with a stick-to-self gauze wrap; have pumped him with st. john's wort, and benedryl, hoping to subdue the itching, if that's the attraction. I'm too embarrassed to go back to the vet again for this, and I'm not sure going back on prednisone is good for him. He's allergic to beef, so that eliminates rawhides, and he's no longer interested in booda-velvets.. Sorry this is so long. I really do need help and don't know anymore avenues to explore.
thanks,