That’s why I suggested the field-bred ESS. They usually don’t have docked tails, specifically so that they can be seen when hunting.
Athyrn - one of my books has a listing for a “Field Spaniel”. Is that what you mean? The book says the tail of these can be docked or undocked, but the one picture that shows a tail appears to show a docked tail, as does the illustrated standard.
Buddy (French Bulldog) is on pins and needles awaiting your choice of a new pet Phil. I would pimp my dog’s breed, but you’ve been given so many wonderful suggestions already. Buddy and I are hoping you get one soon though!
A lot of breeders started to breed short tail versions of some specific variations a while ago when docked tails started to lose favor in the contemporary (non-dog) culture.
So, just cause it looks like it has a docked tail, doesn’t mean it is actually docked. It most likely is, but check with the breeder before ruling it out based on the tail.
This site might help. The English Springer Spaniel breed is one of the few breeds that has two distinct variants:
This is the “show” (or “bench”) version of the breed, with the feathered coat, bobbed tail, and longer ears. It is bred specifically for showing.
This is the “field bred” version of the breed, considered the exact same breed, but is bred for hunting and field trial competitions. It has a generally shorter coat, and slightly shorter ears, and usually doesn’t (but sometimes does) have a docked tail.
Both varieties of the breed make excellent companion pets, having almost the same temperament. I knew both varieties growing up and they’re both great dogs.
Hope that helps :)
Hmm - interesting. The “Field Spaniel” in my book is a solid dark brown - quite different from the coloration of either of these.
I’ll poke around a bit. As I mentioned upthread, it’s surprisingly difficult to search for pups.
There’s also a separate breed called a Field Spaniel (and a Welsh Springer Spaniel, too!) so yeah it can get understandably confusing.
One of the reasons there are two distinct varieties is to keep the heritage of the ESS as a gundog and hunting compainion alive. So many dog breeds (like Poodles) no longer are considered working dogs, and keeping the field variety going helps keep the breed going for the purpose it was designed for, springing game. :)
You aren’t buying a car or a PC Phil, if you want a medium dog status symbol continue on your current path, if you want a dog for your family to love go to a pound, or contact a local “rescue” placement facility. It really isn’t as hard as you are making this, I’ve got two awesome dogs thanks to seeing them in person and falling in love with them. Unless you want to train a dog for a task, like hunting, retrieving, etc, what you are doing here makes no sense. My little Mini-Pinscher defies all of the stuff I read about on the internet on her temperament, need for exercise, health problems, etc, I saw her at a soccer game and adopted her a few days later because she was awesome. And she is curled up in my lap as I type this. You are trying to make a calculated decision without factoring in the emotional, and gut instinct, part of the equation. Please just go look at some dogs in person, and see what happens.
I think putting a little research and planning into a decision that will significantly affect the next 12 years or so of my life is not such a bad thing. Frankly, it’s a more important decision, IMO, than the average car or computer purchase.
Yes, I’m aware that there will likely be bonding with whatever puppy we end up with. But I’ve seen a number of family dog choices end badly. I’d prefer to reduce the chances of that.
Okay man, good luck. I still think you need some face time with dogs, not internet research, but if you prefer to do this the Risk Analysis way that’s your call.
I really do wish you the best in this, dogs (and cats!) are awesome.
Even if you don’t think you’d be interested in a dog from the pound, it’s worth taking a kid or two to go see what’s there – you might just find a puppy your family falls in love with that needs a home. And will be way cheaper than a purebred. And probably healthier, too.
If you don’t, well, you spent an hour going to the pound, no great loss :)
A mutt. Preferably an older one from the pound.
With a scar across its eye and tangled fur.
But a heart full of love.
That wasn’t dumping on you. That was wondering why you ask for advice & then ignore it. It was a question. That’s all. I’m sorry if you feel attacked by questions.
You must be reading my mind about shedding, because I don’t think I posted anything in the thread about that.
You did. In your initial post, one of your downsides was “hair all over the house”. That’s called shedding.
Also, I didn’t have a criteria of small to medium, but rather, medium (40 pounds).
You said 30-50 pounds. Which is “small to medium”.
It’s true that I posted that I preferred a dog that doesn’t require a ton of exercise, but, shockingly perhaps, the process of looking at dogs and talking to my family has caused me to ease up on that criteria.
So you agree… your primary criteria is what your wife & kids thinks looks nice. Why get all bent out of shape when somebody calls a spade a spade? But at the same time, when your primary criteria is the aesthetic preferences of your family… why bother asking about information about breeds? All dog breeds are great for the right family.
And yes, I appreciate the input from the thread. But a lot of it was just, “Here’s the dog I have and I like it.” without really meeting the criteria I’m looking for.
And a lot of it was useful advice with a concrete discussion of breed characteristics that did meet your stated criteria.
Anyways, we’ve got a couple books on various dog breeds now and have a better handle on that end of things. Now I’ve moved on to complaining about the difficulty of finding a specific breed from a good breeder who doesn’t chop off the dog’s tail. Feel free to tell me what I’m doing wrong on that score in this thread or in my general search for a dog.
What would be the point? When you react this badly to a simple question, just imagine how badly you’d react to criticism.
Forgive my ignorance, but is there any valid reason to cut off a puppy’s tail?
The main reason that dogs have docked tails was in the case of working dogs: to prevent them from getting broken tails, either by livestock or underbrush. If it’s purely a companion dog, not really. Many show dogs will still have a docked tail as part of the conformation though.
Man, I want a french bulldog so bad!!
Gah, I’m having a conflict of interest here. A friend’s ex-husband has a little dappled wiener dog named Bob that he wants to get rid of fo whatever reason. Then a co-worker has a three legged boxer mix that’s adorable, I want to take them both in, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to afford all the food and health care, this is the downside to divorce and child support.
Embrace your feelings Luke. You know the awesomeness of French Bulldogs to be true.