Welsh Springer Spaniel

Affectionate at home, energetic and persistent at work.
A Welsh Springer Spaniel
Photo: Udo Tjalsma
Adult male
18–25 kg
40–55 lb
Adult female
16–23 kg
35–50 lb
Lifespan
14 yrs
Class · Field
also Family, Sport

What it's like

In temperament it is loyal and affectionate, closely attached to its own people and sometimes reserved with strangers. It is an energetic, persistent worker that tends to stay near its handler in the field.

Day to day
Activity
Needs lots of exercise
Intelligence
Learns readily, likes games
Handler demand
Needs steady training
With people
Affection
Affectionate on its own terms
Loyalty
Sticks close to its people
Independence
Cooperative, with its own ideas
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

It has a coat with feathering. It sheds through the year rather than in big seasonal moults. Plan on brushing a few times a week. It needs plenty of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

A Welsh Springer Spaniel is a medium dog, heavier than a Border Collie and lighter than a Golden Retriever. Males end up a little heavier than females.

It is compact and sturdy, slightly longer than it is tall, and a little smaller and lighter in build than the English Springer Spaniel. The coat is straight, flat and silky, a rich red in patches or flecks on white, with moderate feathering on the chest, legs and ears. Its ears are comparatively small and are often likened to the shape of a vine leaf.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 3 months, a male Welsh Springer Spaniel puppy is already as heavy as a grown Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
11 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight7
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
01020302m4m6m9m12m18m
01020302m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
3.9–5.4 kg 8.6–11.9 lb
3.8–5.5 kg 8.4–12.1 lb
3 months
5.8–8.0 kg 12.8–17.6 lb
5.4–7.7 kg 11.9–17.0 lb
4 months
8.4–11.6 kg 18.5–25.6 lb
7.7–11.1 kg 17.0–24.5 lb
5 months
10.8–14.9 kg 23.8–32.8 lb
9.8–14.0 kg 21.6–30.9 lb
6 months
12.9–17.8 kg 28.4–39.2 lb
11.5–16.4 kg 25.4–36.2 lb
7 months
14.5–19.9 kg 32.0–43.9 lb
12.7–18.2 kg 28.0–40.1 lb
8 months
15.6–21.5 kg 34.4–47.4 lb
13.6–19.4 kg 30.0–42.8 lb
9 months
16.4–22.6 kg 36.2–49.8 lb
14.2–20.3 kg 31.3–44.8 lb
10 months
16.9–23.3 kg 37.3–51.4 lb
14.7–21.0 kg 32.4–46.3 lb
11 months
17.3–23.8 kg 38.1–52.5 lb
15.0–21.4 kg 33.1–47.2 lb
12 months
17.5–24.1 kg 38.6–53.1 lb
15.2–21.7 kg 33.5–47.8 lb
15 months
18.0–24.7 kg 39.7–54.5 lb
15.7–22.4 kg 34.6–49.4 lb

Lifespan

In UK vet records, the typical Welsh Springer Spaniel lived to about 14 years, longer than the typical medium breed.

Where it comes from

The Welsh Springer Spaniel, a flushing gundog, is thought to descend from the red and white hunting dogs of Wales described in medieval Welsh literature, and it is still bred only in that colouring. Once known simply as the Welsh Spaniel, it helped establish the parti-coloured Cocker and gained Kennel Club recognition in 19024,9.

The Welsh Springer Spaniel took its modern form in the late nineteenth century, when sporting families in South Wales, particularly around Neath, began breeding the local red and white spaniels to a consistent type and showing them. The breed reached the United States early in the twentieth century. Numbers fell sharply during the Second World War, and the breed was rebuilt afterwards from relatively few dogs. It was bred to work through hedgerows and dense cover, flush game birds into the air for the gun and retrieve them, and it is valued for its stamina on rough ground and in wet weather.

Breed standard

The Welsh Springer Spaniel is judged against standard no. 126, in group 8, Retrievers, Flushing Dogs and Water Dogs4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Welsh 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
Golden Retriever
Retrievers & water dogs · Large
Portuguese Water Dog
Retrievers & water dogs · Medium
Or compare the Welsh Springer Spaniel with any breed you choose
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Sources

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Parts of this page were written by AI ·