This article is educational and is not a substitute for veterinary diagnosis or treatment. Population-level breed risks do not diagnose an individual dog.

Springer Spaniel Guide: English and Welsh Care, Temperament, and Health

Quick Answer

“Springer Spaniel” usually means the English Springer Spaniel, a medium-sized sporting dog developed to find and flush game. It can also mean the Welsh Springer Spaniel, a separate red-and-white breed with its own standard, ancestry, and parent club. Neither is a larger version of a Cocker Spaniel, and a Welsh Springer is not a color variety of the English breed [1][2].

Both breeds need daily activity, scent-based enrichment, reward-based training, coat and ear care, and close human involvement. English Springers show substantial field-versus-bench variation. A field-bred puppy may be lighter, less feathered, and selected for working intensity; a bench or show-bred puppy may have more coat and substance. Line does not guarantee energy, temperament, or health.

Prospective owners should verify current parent-club health screening for the exact breed and country, review actual public results, and ask about health and behavior in close relatives. English Springer planning commonly includes hips, elbows, annual ophthalmic examination, and selected DNA tests such as PRA-prcd and phosphofructokinase deficiency, depending on current recommendations [3][4]. Welsh Springer requirements are separate [5][6].

At a Glance

English and Welsh Springers Are Different Breeds

The English Springer standard describes a balanced, medium-sized sporting dog built for power, endurance, and agility under difficult hunting conditions [1]. The Welsh Springer standard describes a distinct breed of ancient origin whose “Springer” name comes from hunting style rather than a claimed relationship to other Springer breeds [2]. Responsible discussion preserves this distinction.

How to Tell Them Apart

Color is the simplest starting point. A Welsh Springer is rich red and white. English Springers are commonly liver and white or black and white, with accepted combinations and markings defined by their standard. Welsh dogs generally have a more tapered head, smaller vine-leaf-shaped ears, and less coat than a heavily furnished bench English Springer. Build and movement also differ.

Appearance cannot prove ancestry in an unknown dog. Mixed breeds, atypical markings, clipping, age, and poor photographs can mislead. Registration records or a carefully interpreted DNA ancestry test provide more information, although commercial ancestry algorithms are not infallible.

English Springer Field and Bench Lines

English Springer breeding has diverged in some populations between dogs selected primarily for field performance and those selected primarily for conformation. Field-bred dogs are often lighter, more athletic in outline, shorter-coated, and highly motivated by searching and retrieving. Bench dogs tend to have more coat, bone, and the head and proportions emphasized in the written standard. The English Springer Spaniel Club also notes visible working-versus-show differences [7].

These are overlapping populations, not two formally recognized breeds. Field ancestry does not automatically mean an uncontrollable pet, and bench ancestry does not mean a low-energy dog. Ask what the parents actually do, how they recover after excitement, how they behave indoors, and how puppies are raised.

Springer Spaniel Temperament

Breed standards describe ideals. The English standard penalizes timidity and aggression and seeks a friendly, willing dog [1]. The Welsh standard describes an active, loyal, affectionate dog that may be reserved with strangers without being timid or unfriendly [2]. Individual behavior still depends on genetics, maternal and early environment, socialization, learning, health, pain, and current context.

Many Springers are people-oriented and eager to explore. They may carry objects, search cover, follow scent, enter water, chase birds, or work in broad arcs ahead of a handler. Those traits can be enjoyable outlets in nose work, field training, tracking, and retrieving. They can also produce pulling, wildlife pursuit, mud, wet ears, and difficulty settling if the owner provides only physical arousal without training and rest.

Family Life and Children

An appropriately matched Springer can live well with children, but no breed is automatically child-safe. Adults must supervise. Children should not climb on, hug tightly, corner, take food or toys, wake, or disturb a dog in a crate or bed.

Teach the dog a protected rest station and teach children that the station is off-limits. Watch for lip licking, turning away, lowering the body, freezing, whale eye, leaving, growling, or snapping. A growl is information. Punishing it may remove warning without resolving fear or pain.

Other Dogs and Cats

Some Springers enjoy dog company; some prefer selected individuals. Neutral parallel walks and gradual introductions are safer than forced face-to-face greetings. Dog parks are optional and can be a poor fit for a dog that is easily overwhelmed or intensely chase-oriented.

Cat compatibility varies. A puppy raised calmly with a confident cat may learn household rules, but movement can trigger pursuit. Use gates, leashes, vertical cat escape routes, separate feeding, and supervision. Birds, rabbits, and small mammals require complete physical separation because hunting behavior can occur without aggression toward humans.

Attachment and Separation

Close working history can produce a dog that follows people from room to room. Teach comfortable independence early through brief, successful absences. Video the dog when alone. Barking, panting, drooling, destruction at exits, escape attempts, or house soiling can indicate separation-related distress.

Do not assume another dog will cure it. Treatment may require gradual behavior modification, environmental planning, and veterinary assessment. Pain, noise sensitivity, cognitive decline, and urinary or gastrointestinal disease can complicate the pattern.

Training a Springer Spaniel

Reinforcement Builds Reliable Behavior

Use food, toys, access to sniffing, retrieving, and movement as rewards. Short sessions prevent frustration. Teach name response, recall, hand target, loose-leash walking, settle, leave it, drop, waiting at doors, cooperative handling, and comfortable confinement.

Avoid alpha rolls, leash jerks, intimidation, shock collars, and punishment for fear. High arousal plus coercion can create conflict or suppress signals. Management prevents rehearsal: a long line prevents wildlife pursuit while recall develops, and a gate prevents door rushing.

Recall Around Scent and Birds

Begin indoors, then a fenced area, then low-distraction outdoor locations. Reward voluntary check-ins and rapid responses. Use a long line attached to a harness, not a retractable leash or a line on a neck collar. Let sniffing resume as a reward after recall.

Do not call when you cannot safely enforce or reward the response. Walk closer, reduce distance, and train at an easier level. A microchip and identification tag are essential backups, not substitutes for control.

Teaching an Off Switch

Constant ball throwing can create a fitter dog with higher arousal rather than a calm one. Alternate active work with sniffing, chewing, scatter feeding, mat relaxation, and sleep. Reward the dog for lying quietly while ordinary life continues.

Young Springers may appear “wild” when overtired. Puppies need substantial sleep. If biting, zooming, and barking increase after long activity, reduce stimulation and offer a predictable rest period rather than adding harder exercise.

Gundog and Field Training

Owners do not need to hunt to meet behavioral needs. Structured retrieving, scent searches, tracking, and directional games can channel inherited interests. If pursuing field work, use a qualified reward-based instructor who prioritizes welfare, gun-sound conditioning, recall, livestock safety, and legal access.

Never test a dog by exposing it suddenly to gunfire. Noise fear can generalize. Introduce sound at low intensity paired with positive outcomes and stop at any sign of concern.

Exercise Without Overuse

There is no validated universal hour requirement for every Springer. A healthy conditioned adult generally needs meaningful daily activity, but age, line, body condition, orthopedic status, weather, surface, and training history matter.

Combine walking, free movement in secure areas, sniffing, training, and varied low-impact activity. Weekend endurance cannot compensate for five sedentary days. Build distance and intensity gradually. Warm up before sprinting and allow recovery.

Puppies

Puppies need exploration, play, sleep, and gentle skill building. Avoid forced distance running, repeated high jumps, slippery-floor chasing, and endless stair work. The “five minutes per month of age” formula is not a scientific law. Observe gait, enthusiasm, fatigue, and recovery.

Socialization means safe, positive exposure with choice. It does not require greeting every dog or person. Coordinate puppy classes and outdoor exposure with the veterinarian's infectious-disease advice.

Heat, Water, and Field Hazards

Springers may continue working despite heat or minor injury. Schedule activity during cooler periods, carry water, and stop for excessive panting, slowing, shade seeking, drooling, weakness, vomiting, incoordination, or collapse. Heatstroke is an emergency.

After field or woodland activity, inspect ears, eyes, nose, mouth, feet, armpits, and coat for grass awns, burrs, ticks, cuts, and seeds. Sudden sneezing, head shaking, squinting, paw licking, or a draining tract can indicate a migrating foreign body.

Swimming requires safe water quality, gradual entry, and an exit the dog can find. Blue-green algae, cold shock, currents, thin ice, and water intoxication can be dangerous. Dry ears and coat afterward without inserting swabs into the canal.

Grooming and Ear Care

Brushing and Combing

English bench coats can mat behind the ears, in armpits, at the groin, under equipment, and through leg feathering. Field coats may collect seeds despite less feathering. Welsh coats are moderately feathered and should retain functional texture [2].

Brush in sections, then use a metal comb to check to the skin. Surface brushing can hide a tight mat. Never use scissors against a mat because skin folds into it. Severe matting is most humanely clipped.

Bathing, Trimming, and Feet

Use dog shampoo, rinse thoroughly, and dry fully. Practical trimming around feet, ears, and feathering can reduce debris while preserving skin protection. The English standard permits functional tidying [1]. The Welsh standard discourages excessive barbering [2], a conformation consideration that does not override welfare care for a pet.

Trim nails so they do not alter stance or traction. Check dewclaws and pads. Foot hair may hide seeds, dermatitis, or interdigital cyst-like lesions.

Otitis Prevention

Pendulous ears and moisture contribute to the ear environment, but recurrent otitis is often driven by allergy, foreign material, microorganisms, masses, endocrine disease, or chronic tissue change. Look for redness, odor, discharge, head shaking, scratching, pain, hearing change, and reluctance to have the head handled.

Do not use cotton swabs deep in the canal, peroxide, alcohol, essential oils, or leftover drops. A ruptured eardrum changes what is safe. Veterinary cytology and otoscopy guide treatment. Routine cleaning frequency should be individualized; overcleaning can inflame a healthy ear.

Preventive Care

Nutrition and Weight

Feed a complete and balanced life-stage diet, measure portions, and count training rewards. Assess body condition by touch under the coat. A waist, abdominal tuck, and easily palpable ribs with a light covering are more useful than a generic target weight.

Excess weight increases orthopedic burden and heat load. Weight loss should be planned rather than achieved through abrupt restriction, especially in a working dog. Recheck portions after neutering, injury, season, or activity changes.

Dental Care

Brush with pet toothpaste daily or as often as practical. Human toothpaste may be unsafe when swallowed. Dental chews with credible evidence can supplement brushing but cannot treat periodontal pockets, fractured teeth, or retained roots.

Bad breath, bleeding, drooling, facial swelling, dropping food, or chewing on one side warrants examination. Professional dental treatment requires anesthesia for complete assessment, radiographs, and therapy below the gumline.

Routine Veterinary Assessment

Preventive visits cover vaccines based on risk, parasite control, diet, weight, skin, ears, eyes, mouth, heart, lungs, abdomen, joints, behavior, and reproductive planning. Seniors and dogs with chronic disease need more frequent review.

Bring video of intermittent gait, coughing, tremor, collapse, or behavior change. Note appetite, thirst, urination, stool, exercise tolerance, medications, supplements, and travel.

Springer Spaniel Health Problems

Breed association means a condition occurs more often or has particular importance in a population. It does not mean a healthy dog has the disease. English and Welsh Springers have different evidence bases and screening programs, so do not transfer every risk from one to the other.

Hip and Elbow Dysplasia

Hip dysplasia involves abnormal joint development, laxity, and variable osteoarthritis. Elbow dysplasia includes several developmental disorders that can lead to forelimb pain and arthritis. Affected dogs may show stiffness, shortened stride, reluctance to jump, lameness, or reduced performance, but some have radiographic change without obvious signs.

Breeding-dog screening reduces uncertainty but cannot guarantee offspring. Verify permanent hip and elbow results where recommended. Maintain a lean body condition, condition gradually, and investigate gait change. Treatment can include weight management, rehabilitation, analgesia, activity modification, and selected surgery.

Eye Disease

Parent-club programs recommend ophthalmic evaluation because inherited and acquired eye disease can be present before owners notice vision change [3-6]. Progressive retinal atrophy causes retinal degeneration and typically affects vision over time. A DNA test identifies a specified variant, not every possible retinal disease. A genetically clear result does not replace eye examinations.

Squinting, redness, cloudiness, unequal pupils, rubbing, sudden vision change, or a bulging eye is urgent. Retinal degeneration may be painless, while glaucoma, corneal ulceration, and uveitis can be intensely painful.

Phosphofructokinase Deficiency

Phosphofructokinase deficiency is an autosomal recessive metabolic disorder documented in English Springers. The enzyme defect affects red blood cells and muscle. Early family studies described chronic hemolysis, episodes of red-cell destruction, muscle wasting, and altered exercise physiology [10].

DNA screening can identify the known variant in breeding stock. A carrier is generally not clinically affected and can sometimes remain in a carefully managed breeding program if paired only with a clear dog and offspring are tested. Automatically removing every carrier can unnecessarily narrow genetic diversity. Owners should discuss results with the breed club, testing laboratory, and veterinary genetic counselor.

Pale or yellow gums, dark urine, weakness, fever, rapid breathing, collapse, or exercise-related illness needs immediate assessment. Do not attempt treatment based on breed and color of urine alone.

Fucosidosis

Canine fucosidosis is a progressive autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disease described in English Springers. The underlying defect causes alpha-L-fucosidase deficiency; affected dogs can develop progressive neurologic deterioration and other systemic signs [11][12]. DNA testing has allowed risk-directed breeding in populations where the variant occurs.

Ataxia, weakness, altered behavior, swallowing difficulty, vision problems, or loss of learned ability has many differentials. A dog needs neurologic examination and diagnostic testing rather than an ancestry-based conclusion.

Chronic Hepatitis

English Springers have been overrepresented in UK chronic-hepatitis studies. One genetic-association study compared 66 affected English Springers with 84 controls and identified DLA class II haplotypes associated with increased or reduced risk [13]. A broader demographic study also identified the breed among those with increased risk and noted younger diagnosis in affected English Springers than in several comparison breeds [14].

These findings do not support screening a healthy pet with a consumer DNA panel or assuming every liver-enzyme increase is inherited hepatitis. Chronic hepatitis is a histologic diagnosis. Poor appetite, vomiting, weight loss, jaundice, increased thirst, abdominal fluid, or neurologic signs warrant care. Persistent liver abnormalities may require imaging, infectious and metabolic testing, and biopsy.

Idiopathic Pyogranulomatous Lymphadenitis

A UK multicenter retrospective study described 64 English Springers with idiopathic pyogranulomatous lymphadenitis [15]. Common findings included fever, enlarged peripheral lymph nodes, skin lesions, lethargy, and reduced appetite. Infectious testing in evaluated cases was negative, and the response pattern suggested an immune-mediated process, but relapse occurred in some dogs.

Enlarged nodes and fever have many causes, including infection, cancer, and other inflammation. Never start leftover corticosteroids before sampling because immunosuppression can worsen infection and alter diagnostic results. Cytology, biopsy, imaging, and targeted infectious testing guide diagnosis.

Sebaceous Adenitis

A Swedish retrospective study of 104 dogs implicated English Springers as predisposed to sebaceous adenitis and described substantial disease severity in the breed [16]. Sebaceous adenitis damages oil glands and can cause scaling, hair loss, coat change, follicular casts, odor, and secondary infection.

Allergy, infection, endocrine disease, parasites, and other immune-mediated conditions can look similar. Diagnosis generally requires skin biopsies from carefully selected sites. Treatment and prognosis vary; internet oil soaks alone can delay diagnosis.

Ear, Skin, and Foreign-Body Disease

Spaniel ears and field exposure make otitis, allergy, grass awns, burrs, and wet dermatitis practical concerns. Sudden violent head shaking after a walk can indicate a foreign body. Chronic bilateral ear inflammation more often suggests allergy or another primary disease. Repeated drops without cytology and otoscopy can allow canal remodeling and resistant infection.

Exercise-Induced Hyperthermia Syndrome

A report described presumptive exercise-induced hyperthermia, sometimes called canine stress syndrome, in four related male English Springers [17]. This small family report describes a rare inherited concern, not ordinary overheating and not a prevalence estimate. Collapse with extreme temperature, rigidity, bleeding tendency, or severe weakness after exercise is an emergency.

Any dog can develop heatstroke. Stop activity at early heat-distress signs, cool with water and airflow while traveling, and contact emergency care. Do not use ice immersion unless directed by a veterinary team.

Health Testing and Responsible Breeder Selection

English Springer Screening

The ESSFTA health statement and parent-club resources should be checked for current US recommendations [3][4]. Commonly discussed components include hips, elbows, annual eye examination, PRA-prcd DNA testing, and PFK testing, with other tests considered based on line and evolving evidence. UK and other national schemes differ.

Ask for registered names and database links. A claim that parents were “DNA tested” is incomplete because a panel does not replace radiographic joint assessment or an ophthalmologist's examination. A CHIC number means required results were completed and public, not necessarily normal.

Welsh Springer Screening

Use the Welsh Springer Spaniel Club of America health statement and current OFA listing rather than an English Springer checklist [5][6]. Verify results under both parents' registered names. Ask about hips, elbows, eyes, thyroid or other current program elements, and health patterns in siblings and older relatives.

Questions That Reveal More Than a Sales Pitch

• What were the actual results and dates for every current parent-club test?
• What health issues and ages at death occur in parents, siblings, and grandparents?
• Are these primarily field, bench, dual-purpose, or companion lines?
• How do the parents behave indoors after activity?
• How are puppies introduced to grooming, handling, household sound, crates, vehicles, and different people?
• How are puppies matched to homes?
• What lifetime return and support provisions are in the contract?
• Which behaviors would make this litter a poor match for my household?

A responsible breeder discusses limitations, not only awards. Registration proves recorded ancestry; it does not certify health, temperament, or ethics.

Seller Red Flags

Avoid sellers who refuse database verification, market “rare” color outside the standard as the main value, always have many litters, will not show the dam, or send puppies before an appropriate developmental age. A generic veterinary check does not replace breed screening. A guarantee that a puppy will never develop disease is not credible.

Springer Spaniel Lifespan and Senior Care

There is no single validated lifespan that predicts an individual English or Welsh Springer. Online ranges mix insurance data, registries, surveys, and anecdotes. Line, body condition, accidents, cancer, liver and immune disease, access to care, and random events affect outcome.

Plan for a commitment that may extend well into the teen years without promising a number. Senior assessment should review weight and muscle, oral health, skin masses, ears, vision, hearing, heart and lungs, liver and kidney markers, mobility, continence, sleep, cognition, and social behavior.

Adapt activities rather than removing them. Shorter sniff walks, nonslip flooring, ramps, orthopedic bedding, lower vehicle entry, and controlled swimming may preserve engagement. A senior that slows suddenly needs assessment; aging is not a diagnosis.

Daily and Weekly Care Checklist

Daily

• Provide walking, sniffing, training, play, and rest appropriate to the individual.
• Observe appetite, thirst, stool, urine, breathing, gait, and behavior.
• Check ears visually after water or field exposure.
• Remove burrs and inspect feet, eyes, and coat.
• Brush teeth with dog toothpaste.
• Measure food and training rewards.

Weekly

• Comb feathering to the skin.
• Examine all nails, pads, armpits, groin, and collar or harness areas.
• Feel ribs and waist under the coat.
• Clean ears only according to the veterinary plan.
• Wash and dry bedding and equipment.

Periodically

• Arrange professional grooming before mats form.
• Maintain vaccines and parasite prevention based on exposure risk.
• Keep identification and microchip registration current.
• Reassess activity after illness, injury, weight change, or aging.
• Attend preventive examinations at the interval the veterinarian recommends.

Is a Springer Spaniel Right for You?

A Good Match

A Springer can suit an owner who enjoys training and outdoor activity, wants close companionship, accepts mud and coat care, can protect wildlife and small pets, and will provide structured mental work. A secure garden helps but does not replace engagement.

A Difficult Match

This may be a poor choice for someone wanting a low-interaction dog, reliable off-leash behavior without training, minimal grooming, or automatic compatibility with children and cats. Some field-bred dogs are especially demanding in homes that provide neither work nor a practiced settle routine.

Choose Breed and Line, Not Just the Look

Someone attracted to Welsh red-and-white color should still assess availability, reserve with strangers, health program, and breeder support. Someone choosing an English field line for a short coat must evaluate drive and recovery. Someone choosing a bench line for appearance must plan for grooming and activity. Meet adult relatives when possible.

Home Setup, Travel, and Realistic Costs

Secure the Environment

A physical fence should be high, well maintained, and checked at gates and ground level. Electronic boundary systems do not stop wildlife, loose dogs, or theft and may fail when pursuit motivation is high. Indoors, use gates during deliveries and a double-door routine when visitors enter. Store food, medications, fishing gear, ammunition, rodent poison, and hunting equipment securely.

Create a quiet bed or open crate away from household traffic. Confinement should be trained positively and should not substitute for exercise or social contact. Use washable covers because wet coats, mud, plant material, and ear discharge are practical realities. Nonslip runners protect developing and senior joints on smooth floors.

Vehicle and Travel Safety

Condition a crash-tested restraint or secured crate before a long journey. A loose dog can distract the driver and become a projectile in a collision. Never tether a dog by the neck inside a moving vehicle. Bring water, measured food, medication, identification, vaccination records, and a recent photograph.

Research veterinary access, parasite risk, heat, water hazards, and local leash or wildlife rules at the destination. International and interstate travel may require certificates or parasite treatment on a fixed timeline. Do not leave a Springer in a parked vehicle, even with windows partly open.

Boarding and Daycare

High-arousal group play is not suitable for every Springer. Ask how dogs are grouped, whether rest periods are enforced, how staff read body language, what vaccine and illness policies apply, and how emergencies are handled. A home sitter or individual boarding arrangement may suit a dog with separation distress, resource guarding, medical needs, or selective dog sociability.

Budget Beyond the Purchase Price

Ongoing costs include complete food, preventive examinations, vaccines selected by risk, parasite control, grooming tools or professional appointments, training, dental treatment, identification, insurance or emergency savings, and replacement of outdoor equipment. A working coat may cost less to trim but can generate foreign-body and injury expenses. A bench coat may require more professional grooming.

Health screening lowers uncertainty but does not eliminate specialty care. Eye emergencies, chronic ear disease, orthopedic imaging, liver biopsy, immune-mediated disease, rehabilitation, or emergency heat treatment can be expensive. Compare insurance exclusions and waiting periods before a problem is documented, or establish a dedicated reserve. Choosing a dog whose likely needs fit the household budget is part of welfare planning.

Plan for Adolescence, Not Only Puppyhood

Adolescent Springers can become faster, stronger, more interested in wildlife, and less responsive around distraction even when early puppy training went well. This is a developmental stage, not evidence that the dog is dominant or intentionally disobedient. Return temporarily to a long line, easier training environments, higher-value reinforcement, and shorter successful sessions. Prevent access to livestock, roads, and nesting wildlife while recall is unreliable.

Continue cooperative ear, foot, mouth, and coat handling through adolescence. Skills practiced only during the first weeks at home can fade. Schedule calm grooming rehearsals when no mat or painful ear requires urgent treatment, and continue reinforcing quiet time after activity. If behavior changes abruptly or handling tolerance declines, investigate pain before increasing training pressure. A predictable adolescent plan protects both welfare and the long-term human-dog relationship.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a Springer Spaniel an English or Welsh breed?

“Springer Spaniel” usually means English Springer Spaniel, but the Welsh Springer Spaniel is a separate breed with a red-and-white standard [1][2].

Are field and show English Springers different breeds?

No. They are populations within the English Springer breed selected for different priorities, with overlapping but often visible differences in build, coat, and working intensity.

Are Springer Spaniels good family dogs?

Many can be good family companions, but safety and fit depend on the individual dog, supervision, health, training, and the household. No breed guarantees child compatibility.

Do Springer Spaniels need a lot of exercise?

They generally need meaningful daily activity and mental work, but there is no universal hour target. Age, line, conditioning, weather, and health determine the plan.

Do Springer Spaniels shed?

Yes. Both English and Welsh Springers shed, and feathering can trap loose hair, debris, and mats. Brushing and combing manage the coat but do not make it non-shedding.

Why do Springer Spaniels get ear infections?

Pendulous ears and moisture affect the canal environment, while allergy, foreign bodies, microorganisms, masses, and chronic change can initiate or perpetuate otitis.

What health tests should Springer breeders perform?

Use the current parent-club requirements for the exact English or Welsh breed and country, then verify public results. The two breeds do not have an interchangeable checklist [3-6].

Can a Springer Spaniel live in an apartment?

Yes, selected individuals can live in an apartment when exercise, sniffing, training, toileting, noise, and separation needs are met. Floor area does not compensate for an unsuitable daily routine.

Related Veterinary Guides

• English Cocker Spaniel care and health
• American Cocker Spaniel grooming and health
• Dog ear scratching and mouth rubbing
• Why a dog shakes its head
• Cold-weather safety for dogs and cats

References

[1] English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association. AKC Breed Standard. https://englishspringerspaniels.org/akc-breed-standard/

[2] Welsh Springer Spaniel Club of America. Official Breed Standard. https://welshspringerspanielclubofamerica.org/the-welsh-springer/breed-standard/

[3] English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association. Breed Health Statement. https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn-origin-etr.akc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/20081544/ESSFTA-Health-Statement-2024-Final.pdf

[4] English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association. Health and Genetics. https://englishspringerspaniels.org/health-and-genetics/

[5] Welsh Springer Spaniel Club of America. Breed Health Statement. https://cdn.akc.org/Marketplace/Health-Statement/Welsh-Springer-Spaniel.pdf

[6] American Kennel Club. Sporting Group Health Testing Requirements. https://www.akc.org/breeder-programs/breed-health-testing-requirements/sporting-group-health-testing-requirements/

[7] English Springer Spaniel Club. About the Breed. https://englishspringer.org/about-the-breed-new/

[8] English Springer Spaniel Club. Breed Health. https://englishspringer.org/health/

[9] Welsh Springer Spaniel Club. Health and Welfare. https://www.wssc.org.uk/health-and-welfare/

[10] Giger U, Reilly MP, Asakura T, Baldwin CJ, Harvey JW. Autosomal recessive inherited phosphofructokinase deficiency in English Springer Spaniel dogs. Animal Genetics. 1986. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2940948/

[11] Occhiodoro T, Anson DS. The molecular defect underlying canine fucosidosis. Journal of Medical Genetics. 1996. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8730282/

[12] Smith MO, Wenger DA, et al. Inherited lysosomal storage disease in an English Springer Spaniel. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 1992. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1559875/

[13] Bexfield NH, Watson PJ, Aguirre-Hernandez J, et al. DLA class II alleles and haplotypes are associated with risk for and protection from chronic hepatitis in the English Springer Spaniel. PLOS ONE. 2012. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22870335/

[14] Bexfield NH, Buxton RJ, Vicek TJ, et al. Breed, age and gender distribution of dogs with chronic hepatitis in the United Kingdom. Veterinary Journal. 2012. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22225827/

[15] Dor C, Gajanayake I, Kortum A, et al. Characterisation and outcome of idiopathic pyogranulomatous lymphadenitis in 64 English Springer Spaniel dogs. Journal of Small Animal Practice. 2019. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31317549/

[16] Hernblad Tevell E, Bergvall K, Egenvall A. Sebaceous adenitis in Swedish dogs, a retrospective study of 104 cases. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica. 2008. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18501018/

[17] Bruchim Y, et al. Exercise-induced hyperthermia syndrome in four related male English Springer Spaniels. Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care. 2018. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30050857/