English Springer Spaniel

Friendly and busy; thrives when it has work to do.
An English Springer Spaniel
Photo: Kruming
Adult male
22–25 kg
49–55 lb
Adult female
18–22 kg
40–49 lb
Lifespan
13.5 yrs
Class · Field
also Family, Sport

What it's like

The Springer is a compact, upstanding spaniel with a kindly expression, long ears and a close, weather-resistant coat. The coat is feathered on the ears, chest, legs and underside. It is usually liver and white or black and white, sometimes with tan markings. In temperament it is friendly, eager to please and busy, and it thrives when it has work to do.

Day to day
Activity
Needs lots of exercise
Intelligence
Needs daily brain work
Handler demand
Needs steady training
With people
Affection
A lap or leaning dog
Loyalty
Bonded to its family
Independence
Keen to work with you
Around the home
Sensitivity
Average
Voice
Barks to alert, then settles
Prey drive
Chases; needs managing
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
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Living with one

A Springer's feathered coat sheds through the year rather than in seasonal moults, and wants brushing a few times a week. Bred to work the field all day, it needs plenty of exercise compared with other breeds. Heat is a real risk, so on hot days keep its exercise to the cool of the morning or evening.

Size and growth

An English Springer Spaniel is a medium dog, heavier than a Border Collie and lighter than a Golden Retriever. Males end up clearly heavier than females.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 3 months, a male English Springer Spaniel puppy is already as heavy as a grown Pug. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old. The chart follows English Springer Spaniels themselves, not a general size band.
Fully grown
10 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight8
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
01020302m4m6m9m12m18m
01020302m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
5.8–6.6 kg 12.8–14.6 lb
4.8–5.8 kg 10.6–12.8 lb
3 months
9.7–11.1 kg 21.4–24.5 lb
8.0–9.7 kg 17.6–21.4 lb
4 months
14.0–15.9 kg 30.9–35.1 lb
11.5–14.0 kg 25.4–30.9 lb
5 months
17.5–19.9 kg 38.6–43.9 lb
14.3–17.5 kg 31.5–38.6 lb
6 months
19.7–22.4 kg 43.4–49.4 lb
16.1–19.7 kg 35.5–43.4 lb
7 months
20.9–23.8 kg 46.1–52.5 lb
17.1–20.9 kg 37.7–46.1 lb
8 months
21.5–24.4 kg 47.4–53.8 lb
17.6–21.5 kg 38.8–47.4 lb
9 months
21.8–24.7 kg 48.1–54.5 lb
17.8–21.8 kg 39.2–48.1 lb
10 months
21.9–24.9 kg 48.3–54.9 lb
17.9–21.9 kg 39.5–48.3 lb
11 months
22.0–24.9 kg 48.5–54.9 lb
18–22 kg 40–49 lb
12 months
22–25 kg 49–55 lb
18–22 kg 40–49 lb

Health and lifespan

Vets record these more often in Springers than in crossbreeds, each rated more likely. Insulin-secreting pancreatic tumour is life-limiting, elbow joint disease serious and balance disorder moderate. Fatty lumps and tail injury are minor. These are figures for the breed as a whole, not a prediction for your dog.
Listed by likelihood level, highest first, then by how serious it is, then by name. These are the first 5 of 8 measured.
  • Insulin-secreting pancreatic tumour
    More likely
    Impact: life-limiting
  • Elbow joint disease
    More likely
    Impact: serious
  • Balance disorder
    More likely
    Impact: moderate
  • Fatty lumps
    More likely
    Impact: minor
  • Tail injury
    More likely
    Impact: minor

Lifespan

In UK vet records, the typical English Springer Spaniel lived to about 13 and a half years, about average for a medium breed.

Where it comes from

The English Springer Spaniel comes from spaniels that found and flushed game for hunters working with nets, falcons or greyhounds, a job it now does for the gun. By the 19th century spaniels were split by size, and in Shropshire the Boughey family of Aqualate kept a pure springer strain from around 1812 for more than a century. The Kennel Club recognised the breed in 19024,16.

In its early years the English Springer Spaniel was not sharply separated from its relatives: spaniels of different sizes could appear in the same litter, and the smaller ones were called cockers. After recognition the breed was shaped in large part through field trials. During the twentieth century it divided into two distinct types. Show dogs are heavier in bone, with longer ears and more coat. Working dogs are lighter and quicker, and often carry more white. The Springer's job is to quarter the ground ahead of the shooter, push game into the air or out of cover, and retrieve it once shot. Its keen nose and stamina have also brought it into work with the police, customs and the armed forces as a detection dog. A Springer called Buster received the Dickin Medal for finding hidden weapons in Iraq.

Breed standard

The English Springer Spaniel is judged against standard no. 125, in group 8, Retrievers, Flushing Dogs and Water Dogs4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured English Springer Spaniel figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a medium-sized breed is most likely somewhere in the middle.

Compare with related

English Cocker Spaniel
Retrievers & water dogs · Medium
Brittany
Pointing dogs · Medium
Boykin Spaniel
Sporting · Medium
English Setter
Pointing dogs · Large
Or compare the English Springer Spaniel with any breed you choose
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Sources

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