Natural History

Posted in dog health | Tagged Sussex spaniel | 16 Comments

16 Responses

1. on March 27, 2012 at 6:15 pm Bill

   Nice Boykin.

   Kidding. I’m sure you’re right, but i couldn’t find it in the source document.

   
   
   • on March 27, 2012 at 6:17 pm retrieverman

     The coat is too straight. The legs are too short. And only Sussex spaniels are that golden shade of liver. It’s their trademark color. I’d love to know the genetics behind it, because it’s clearly different from other liver dogs. They are born that color, too. It doesn’t come from bleaching in the sun.

     
     
     • on March 27, 2012 at 6:23 pm Bill

       No way – Boykins, esp ones that are worth a darn, are all over the place on coat color, length, and leg (alot of long and low E. Cockers in the woodpile). Also the topknot is sort of a trademark of Boykins.

       
       
       • on March 27, 2012 at 6:28 pm retrieverman

         I’ve seen Boykins in their native habitat in the Carolinas. They do vary in size, but they aren’t nearly this short-legged. The ones I’ve seen are fairly dark liver, like AWS with docked tails.

         
         
       • on March 27, 2012 at 6:34 pm retrieverman

         http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=136167 Sussex doing duck retrieves with a Boykin.

         
         
       • on March 27, 2012 at 8:52 pm kym

         Any unkempt liver coated spaniel is going to have a bleached out topknot. This trait appears in the Cocker, the Field, the Boykin, and the Sussex.

         
         
2. on March 27, 2012 at 6:56 pm Bill

   Suspect Sussex.

   That particular photo Crackered’s 27 lb. dog: He is all over gun dog and retriever forums: Its not a Sussex

   http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/52678-olie-sussex-spaniel-bitch/

   Although according to my book, in 2005, there had been exactly one Master Hunter Sussex Spanel: CH Sundowners Swing that Music, MH – “Satch”

   
   
3. on March 27, 2012 at 7:00 pm Bill

   Crap. i may be wrong. I’ll let myself out.

   
   
   • on March 27, 2012 at 7:01 pm retrieverman

     LOL

     I was about to say the photo of him with the squirrel in his mouth looks like the same dog…

     
     
   • on March 27, 2012 at 7:02 pm retrieverman

     I’m trying to give the Sussex spaniel people a bone.

     I know that they are not surging in popularity for a variety of reasons, but it’s wrong to say that none of them are used for anything.

     
     
4. on March 27, 2012 at 7:12 pm Bill

   As a penalty, here are more pics of that same Sussex with all sorts of waterfowl:

   http://gundogforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=30478&start=0&hilit=sussex

   
   
   • on March 28, 2012 at 12:03 pm retrieverman

     LOL

     I accept the penalty.

     
     
5. on March 28, 2012 at 11:00 am Sengimage

   

   

   

   

   

   

   Just sayin…. ;-)

   I like Spaniels.

   
   
6. on March 28, 2012 at 11:33 am Ann McGloon

   She is a Sussex Spaniel. Her name is Clemmie (Arundel’s Clementine Churchill, MH). She is the only bitch to have achieved a MH title. I have seen this girl work and she is fabulous! While born in the US, her lines are heavily UK. She is not atypical of the breed…there are many Sussex that are used extensively to hunt in the US or on the beating line in the UK. I have two Sussex that are Search & Rescue dogs and despite some of the earlier comments that laugh at that prospect, until you have run behind my dogs, I wouldn’t be too quick to judge.

   
   
   • on March 28, 2012 at 12:02 pm retrieverman

     If they would correct the hip dysplasia and disc problems in this breed, they would stand a chance.

     The problem is that to do that, you’d have to breed these dogs to look very much like your dog– and they don’t all look like her.

     The one that won Westminster a few years ago was a tootsie roll.

     
     
     • on March 28, 2012 at 12:44 pm Ann McGloon

       You are correct in that (and particularly in the US where the height standard is only 13-15″ as compared to the UK where it is 14-16″) there are still many Sussex that are too short, too heavy, and w/structural problems making them not viable as a working dog. I have seen plenty and cringe. Hip dysplasia is a problem but more and more breeders are testing and that is a positive development. With such a small numbered breed (and the genetics behind HD yet to be fully understood) it is a balance that breeders must work with..I did not breed my bitch “Beryl” (incredibly phenom. SAR and performance dog) because her hips did not pass muster..her sister’s did thankfully. All that said, there are many excellent examples of the breed out there that are structurally sound (both in temperament and physically) and still retain the drives to hunt. And when you put it all together, all I can say is wow. Keen workers, determined, methodical, go all day and the next, and focused. I do joke that in many aspects they are really “hounds that wear spaniel clothes.” Wouldn’t trade my four in for the world. Cheers

       
       

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