Several years ago, when I was training professionally, I had an opportunity to spend some time in Wales working beside the renowned UK breeder Talbot Radcliffe. At the time, Radcliffe was unequivocally the authority on English springers; his Saighton dogs would go on to inform the bloodlines of many great English and American lines that persist to this day. In springer circles, Radcliffe remains something of an icon, particularly for those who are committed to the type of hunting spaniels that represent the breed’s origins in the UK.

I spent four shooting seasons with Talbot at his Presaddfed Estate in Anglesey, Wales. In that time, I learned an incredible amount about the UK style of spaniel, and how UK dogs differ from American dogs. In this installment of “The Flush,” I’d like to share some of my findings and explore in detail why I admire the UK approach, and the UK dogs, so much.

Differences in UK and US Gun Dogs

To my way of thinking, the UK approach differs from the U.S. approach in two primary ways. The first is pretty concrete: UK breeders and handlers want a dog that differs physically from those preferred in the U.S. Additionally, the UK spaniel folks undertake the development of their dogs differently, and they aim for a slightly different standard of excellence in the field. As you might expect, the physical attributes of a British dog serve the field performance standard that the Brits aspire to, just as the conformation of an American dog serves the American ideal. But let me dig into these differences a bit.

Conformation Differences

Generally, the UK dogs are smaller and shorter-legged than American dogs. They are compact and blocky, in large part due to the demands of the cover encountered in the UK. Bear in mind that though UK spaniels are used a bit for rough shooting (or what we Americans would call walked-up mixed-bag shooting), they find more frequent work beating and picking up on driven shoots. On a driven shoot, these dogs need to be able to work close, work thoroughly, and navigate tight, thick, and brambly cover. For this reason, it is beneficial to have a tough, compact dog that can get in and under cover easily, and bust through the heavy stuff. The dogs don’t need to range much, particularly ahead of the beating line, and they don’t need to run with a high head, as much of the game is being pushed on the ground toward a barrier and then toward a shooting line. In the UK, this cover and hunt style is replicated in field trials, so champion dogs have proven to effectively hunt close in thick cover, a fact that again serves that short, blocky body. For this reason, breedings in the UK represent combinations of dogs that have performed well under UK conditions, further reinforcing the body type that is successful in the UK field.

Physically, American dogs are a bit different, as the American handler’s wants for hunt and trial performance are different too. Talbot Radcliffe, in his wisdom, spent a good deal of time in the U.S. studying U.S. hunting and trialing. Eventually, he bred dogs that would specifically serve the U.S. market. American dogs are generally taller, leggier, and faster than UK dogs. They are used to hunt more open cropland and edges, and almost exclusively in a walk-up scenario. Trial-wise, they run more open and navigable cover and are judged on speed to a large degree. Additionally, unlike in the UK, U.S. dogs are not encouraged to chase ground game like rabbits and hares, so they need not run with a nose to the ground like a UK dog. For that reason, they can stand taller and run with a more upright head, as they are expected to wind game, cover ground quickly, and stretch out a bit more so each cast can be seen by trial judges.

The UK Gun Dog Breeding Approach

Aside from the physical, the whole approach to UK breeding and training is different than that embraced in the U.S. I have always been impressed by the restraint with which the UK breeders approach their breedings. In the UK, breedings are undertaken with far less emotion—and far more strategery— than in the U.S.; it is very rare to see a “backyard” breeding take place, especially one motivated by the sentiment “I love my dog, so I want it to have a litter of puppies.” Spaniels in the UK are bred largely to work, and couplings are based on proven performance in the field. Because the country is small, the pool of breeders and viable sires/dams is also quite small, and it is common for breeders to travel extensively within the country to watch potential sires and dams perform at shoots or trials. Breeding choices are made based on bloodlines, pedigrees, and a great deal of personal observation, and they do not take place without great consideration. American breeding is often approached more as an enterprise; we see this extensively in the English cocker space these days. If a would-be breeder sees a market for cocker pups, they are motivated to produce lots of puppies, perhaps to the detriment of the breed. In the UK, where Spaniels are still used widely in true hunting environments, the dogs NEED to perform; there is no place for emotion, or obvious greed, in the UK breeding protocol.

Differences in Training and Breeding

Once pups are on the ground in the UK they begin a formal education in hunting. Remember, the UK shooting culture requires that many, many birds are reared on estates to provide for a long driven season. Also, wild birds like woodcock and pigeon are plentiful, and rabbits are everywhere. For this reason, it is easy to get young dogs in contact with game early and often providing a dog with an incredible number of bird contacts. By virtue of the shooting culture in the UK, having a working gun dog is an all-or-nothing proposition; if you have a working spaniel, it is generally getting extensive work from early in its life. In the U.S., spaniels can be more generalists; they may hunt the odd weekend and be a house pet, or they may trial and test a bit around the edges of the season. Some see lots of work on walk-ups but only contact a handful of birds each hunt. I’d argue that most UK spaniels get more bird contacts than most U.S. dogs.

Remember too that e-collars are not allowed in the UK, as they are in the U.S. This means that training in the UK is done in a traditional fashion, and dogs are bred more for biddability than for drive. At the same time, British breeders and handlers cannot get away with the “sloppiness” that I think e-collar reliance can foster in some U.S. trainers. There is no invisible, mile-long lead on a UK spaniel; they have to know their stuff, and they have to perform. Moreover, because driven shooting is such a formal production, and there is so much social status built into the experience, poorly mannered dogs just aren’t an option. The stakes are very high for UK spaniels and their handlers, and both are on display in a big way every shoot day.

Conclusion

In closing, I don’t mean to say that UK spaniels, as well as UK breeders and handlers, are in all ways superior to those found in the U.S. The cultures of dogs are different in each place, and the standards of performance, as well as the hunt environments, are different too. I will say, however, that the UK spaniel breeders are more exacting, both in their breeding philosophies and in their standards of excellence. The Brits also have a high degree of confidence that their spaniels are better. They may be right...after all, in this era you see a lot of dogs coming over from the UK and performing well as breeding stock and trial competitors in the U.S. The flow of dogs, and totals, doesn’t generally go the other way. The Brits recognize this; when Talbot Radcliffe saw a pup that just wasn’t performing, or didn’t have the raw material he desired, he used to say without hesitation, “better send that dog over to America.”