Why did Spaniels split into different breeds? Why are their Cockers,springers,clumbers,fields and cavaliers?(and any other I have forgoten ?
I know nothing about Spaniels but my explanation would be that it is according to the job they are bred to do.
That would be my guess too though I wonder if their other reasons for the split considering as each have show and working lines.
I would have said that there are different spaniels to do different jobs. Once they were established as a working breed, the show folk then started to show said breeds and the split occurred between working and show.
I am sat here beaming at the thought of that one too! Work? What is this strange thing you call work??
Their are two kinds of King Charles Spaniels the King Charles and the Cavalier, the Cavalier is a toy breed but the King Charles arn't I believe the King Charles is also much more rare then Cavalier.
Pretty sure there is only one type of King Charles Spaniel, as far as I'm aware the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is considered a separate breed.
It seems a combination of different jobs for the dogs and also people whanting their own kennels of their own 'type' of dog, some types became popular over time, some will have died out on the way
Back in 1800,s Springers and Cockers came from same litters. Big Springer ,smaller Cockers then they went their seperate ways. Cavs can retrieve small game birds,usually Woodcock. I think show breeders have taken the size down. All 3 of my cavs too big for show standard. Lovely tricolour comes to my agliity class who is bigger than my 17kg Cocker. Owner assures me pedigree Cav , just very big. He could retrieve most things if trained.
This. I think a lot of people miss out "personal taste" when thinking about why certain breeds look like they do.
I had to laugh when I read this thread because the immediate question that came to mind was .... "When is a spaniel NOT a spaniel"????? Answer .... "When its a Tibetan Spaniel"! I've no idea why they are called spaniels because Tibbies are not and never have been genetically related to spaniels as we know and understand them. They're a totally different breed and closely related to the Pekinese. They're now classified as Utility Dogs but were originally bred as watchdogs ... a job they're still very good at ..... nothing and nobody passes my gate without my Tibbie letting me know.
I have had 2 springers called trixy and pepe , 1 clumber called bambam, 1 cavi called toby, and my latest was megan my field spaniel , i do like the spaniels
I knew some people when I was at college whose family pet Cavs used to pick up on their shoot too I think people do underestimate the stamina of small dogs sometimes: we've just had our 1st day on the grouse moor and a Bichon x Shih Tzu joined the beating line and bounced around merrily all day. He had a whale of a time and won everyone over: one cool little dude
Spaniel (Spanish) I think there's about 25 breeds that come under the Spaniel umbrella. In terms of just a couple: When they all split depends on what you read. There's also some loose use in terms of naming. Some people use the word 'Field' when refering to Working Springer Spaniels. Field as in 'Field Trial' Springer. A Field Spaniel is obviously a different type of Spaniel to a Springer Spaniel. Cocker Spaniels beacame split from the Field Spaniel and the Springer Spaniel when a 'smaller' dog was required to specialise in hunting Woodcock. Unlike larger 'Show' Springers - working bred Springers are normally of smaller size. Working Cockers can appear very similar to some of the smaller slighter Working Springer Spaniels.
I think you will find there is a difference between the cavalier king charles and the king charles have a look at the link below http://www.cavaliers.co.uk/articles/difference kcs v ckcs.htm