GUNDOG BREEDS

Clumber Spaniels

• Barbet

• Clumber Spaniel

• Irish Red and White Setter

We would like to thank Debbie Zurick of the Working Clumber Spaniel Society for the following  article on this lovely breed.

The Clumber spaniel is not a common breed. Clumbers have been part of the British sporting scene as a pure breed, for more than 200 years.  By repute, a kennel of them was sent over to the Duke of Newcastle at Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire by a French Duke facing the guillotine. In time they spread to other estates, and became a favourite of the King Edward VII and George V. Happily they are established in Royal kennels again.

There has been a move to restore this ancient breed of spaniel back into the shooting field. This has been led by the Working Clumber spaniel society formed in 1984 by a group of passionate people only interested in working their dogs. Their aims are to promote selective breeding, from work proven dogs, training events, mock field trials, shooting days, and field trials, to get these dogs back in the right working homes.

JOIN

 TODAY

THE

GUNDOG CLUB

SETTING NEW STANDARDS

FOR GUNDOGS

IN TRAINING

Articles

Lottie's diary

News reports

BACK TO THE

REFERENCE LIBRARY

The future

We are looking for dogs with low hip scores; tighter eyes with less haw showing, and lean well muscled bodies. But a dog that still remains the largest of the spaniel breeds. An active dog with a busy style and pleasing tail action.

These dogs are either white & lemon or white & orange. Dogs weigh in at 55lb to 65 lb, and the bitches  are 45lbs to 55 lbs in weight.

This is the kind of Clumber our Victorian forefathers respected. We need to draw on the past for our future, but increasingly adapt to the different needs of the 21^st Century.

Clumber Spaniels have been called vulnerable breeds by the kennel Club along with some other minor breed spaniels. But the only way to carefully restore this vulnerable breed is to breed from the healthiest with the least faults, not doubling up on faults. 

In addition we need to breed from the dogs that have proven themselves in the field to be good retrievers, strong hunters, and most important of all a biddable temperament. A dog that you can train.

It is no good just breeding numbers; they must be of the right type.

Variety is the spice of life

It is nice to have choices in the spaniel world whether it be a Springer or Cocker. But sometimes, it is nice to have something a little different, a little bit more of a challenge, (for example a Clumber may take longer to train and mature).

 Some people prefer to shoot with  hammer guns, some with an over & under, some with a side by side. Some people prefer a Classic car others a new Japanese sporty number. That is what makes life interesting.  ”Variety is the spice of Life”.

It makes all your training worthwhile, when occasionally the heads of a few guns are turned. They may come up and say to you that, they have been reading about these “funny white dogs”. However they are impressed by their pace and style, their stamina and the way that their large pink nose dictates scent from a difficult bird that could have been missed. So whether you are a rough shooter, beater or picker up or looking for a dog on the peg or possibly for competition. Maybe next time you are looking for a Spaniel you will consider a Working Clumber spaniel.