The breeds · gun dog · flushing
AKC Sporting · UKC Gun Dog · FCI standard 125
English Springer Spaniel.
Flushing spaniel: finds and flushes ("springs") game within gun range.
Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.
The lines
Within one breed the line can matter more than the breed. Where the lines differ, the page says which one a value belongs to.
Field-trial and hunting bred. Bred apart from the show line for most of a century; the last dual champion was Green Valley Punch, 1938.
Conformation (bench) bred. Heavier, stockier, longer coat.
The body
What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.
Height at the shoulder
Weight
Four editorial sources agree and no registry or study publishes field-line numbers: Vetstreet 2011 (35-45 lb), Gun Dog Magazine 2018 ("smaller", a 45 lb dog), Project Upland 2024 (35-50 lb), ESS Club of Canada 2004 ("a bit lighter"). No primary source.
Coat
Three editorial sources agree (Gun Dog Magazine 2018, Vetstreet 2011, Project Upland 2024). No registry describes the field coat.
Shedding
AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.
Heat tolerance
Derived from the standard's coat description (medium double coat = 3). Field-bred dogs carry less coat (see the field coat row) and may run a little cooler; no measured data.
How long they live, and what they costSources differ
Two numbers, two measures. Median lifespan: in a large sample of this breed, the age by which half had died; read it as the typical lifespan (UK, 2024, 584,734 dogs). Life expectancy at birth: how many years a newborn of this breed is expected to live, worked from the death rates at every age in UK veterinary records, the same life-table method used for people (VetCompass, 2022). It runs lower because every early death pulls the average down and because it comes from clinics, not registries. KENAI leads with the median and shows the other beside it. Neither is averaged.
Median lifespan
UK dogs. n = 17,905 (6,221 deceased); 95% CI 13.4 to 13.6. Via the Dogs Trust 2024 breed table.
Life expectancy at birth
UK VetCompass, dogs that died 2016-2020, n = 785; the paper labels the breed "Springer Spaniel". Sources differ from the median-lifespan study because they measure different things on different samples; both are shown, never averaged.
The dog at home
What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.
Exercise need
RKC exercise band 'More than 2 hours per day' = 150 min by the ruled mapping.
Exercise need
Energy
Grooming load
RKC grooming band 'More than once a week' = 3 on the 1-5 scale.
Grooming
The work
What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.
Role
Primary game
Also used on
Range
The ESSFTA Hunting Committee's hunting-style statement for AKC spaniel hunting tests; the ESSFTA field-trial page says the same ('hunts within gun range').
Search pattern
Field trial standard
Water work
Cold water
Derived: the standard calls the combined outer coat and undercoat 'substantially waterproof, weatherproof and thorn proof'; water is a retrieve, not the breed's main job (a water series is optional in ESSFTA trials). Field-bred dogs carry less coat.
How common the problems are
Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.
Hip dysplasia
OFA's own current breed statistics (disease statistics data service). Cross-checks: Oberbauer et al. 2017, summed from its S3 Table, gives 15,165 evaluations 1973 to 2014 and 12.2% dysplastic borderline through severe (the sum re-run by the second key reproduces 12.2 exactly); the OFA table for Jan 1974 to Dec 2013 as reproduced by K9 Carts gives 15,165 and 12.8%. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock.
Elbow dysplasia
OFA's own current breed statistics (disease statistics data service). Cross-check: Oberbauer et al. 2017 Table 1 prints 'English Springer' 12.5% (2,520 evaluations 1986 to 2014 per its S3 Table); the prevalence has risen in the decade of evaluations since. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock.
Most common disorders
Additional file 4 of the paper, English Springer Spaniel column (one of nine breeds with more than 1,000 unique live dogs in the survey). Owner-reported, median dog age 4.5 years across the survey, so late-life disorders are under-counted; the authors say so.
What the studies found
Population-level findings, shown as a spread. Breed sets the odds; the parents set the dog.
Aggression, as studied
A population difference between two groups of club-member dogs (187 field-bred, 300 show-bred questionnaires), not a prediction for any one dog. The same paper found the opposite pattern in Labradors for owner-directed aggression, so the authors do not call show breeding the cause.
More
akc bands
Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.
What to ask a breeder for
The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.
- USOptional, recommended: fucosidosis, PFK deficiency, degenerative myelopathy, autoimmune thyroiditis, cardiac evaluationDNA / OFA · English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association, ESSFTA Health Statement, approved by the Board of Governors June 26 2024, issued Aug 31 2024
- USPRA DNA test (crd4 / cord1)DNA · English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association, ESSFTA Health Statement, approved by the Board of Governors June 26 2024, issued Aug 31 2024
- USEye examination within 12 months of breedingACVO (DACVO), registered with OFA CAER · English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association, ESSFTA Health Statement, approved by the Board of Governors June 26 2024, issued Aug 31 2024
- USElbow evaluationOFA, 24 months or older · English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association, ESSFTA Health Statement, approved by the Board of Governors June 26 2024, issued Aug 31 2024
- USHip evaluationOFA or PennHIP, 24 months or older · English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association, ESSFTA Health Statement, approved by the Board of Governors June 26 2024, issued Aug 31 2024
- USDNA repository sampleOFA / CHIC DNA bank · American Kennel Club, Sporting Group health testing requirements (CHIC)
- UKDNA, recommended: fucosidosis, PFK deficiency, PRA (cord1), acral mutilation syndrome, DAMSDNA · The Royal Kennel Club, Breeds A to Z: Spaniel (English Springer)
- UKHip and elbow scoring; eye testing including gonioscopyBVA/KC · The Royal Kennel Club, Breeds A to Z: Spaniel (English Springer)
How to read this page
Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.
Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 17 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.
- Also called
- Springer, ESS, English Springer
Every breed, read the same way.
The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.
All published breedsYour english springer spaniel, on the record.
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