Ebony Empire

  Race's origin:

  Dogs similar to spaniels, they were accompany on a hunting fields for over 1000 years.

  Their beginnings disappear in the darkness of history,
  but the name “spaniel” suggests the origin from the Iberian Peninsula.
  Spaniels type known today were breed over 100 years ago.

  The oldest times:

  The oldest record in which the word “spaniel” was used comes from year 914. In XVI
  century Geoffrey Chaucer in Great Britain and Gaston de Foix in France were describing spaniels with
  a character and attitude similar to contemporary spaniels.
  In XVI century spaniels’ ancestors gained a popularity in the entire Europe.

  Hunting with firearms:

  When the firearms came into general use, hunters needed spaniels
  with shorter legs than those known today water spaniels and that was
  a first step to the creation of contemporary spaniels.

  Breeders by hybrid of different types of spaniels, gained a dog for scaring away
  the fowl – “rooster’s” spaniel which accompany hunters who hunt for snipes.

  Hunting with falcons:

  Falcons made the escape of fowl impossible, and spaniels were tracking them
  so as the hunter could cast a net.

  Contemporary spaniels:

  Although spaniels were known in the entire Europe, they had their greatest successes
  in Great Britain as hunting dogs as well as housedogs.

  Land spaniels were classified according to their weight; bigger ones were called springers,
  a those below 11,3 kg are today known as cockers.

  Race's development:

  Water and land spaniels:

  At the beginning all the dogs which accompanied hunters were classified in England as water or land spaniels,
  according to the filed they were working on. Water spaniels included Irish spaniels
  and English water spaniels which do not exist anymore.

  Gradually many races were made from the group of land spaniels.
  From those bigger ones seter retrievers were introduced, the smaller ones kept their original name – spaniels.

  Cockers and springers:

  For the first time the name “cocker” was used in reference to dogs which were shown on
  a show in Birmingham in 1859, but till 1892 cockers that is “skittish” were presented as field spaniels.

  In 1982 a division for cockers and springers was made.

  The first contemporary cocker was born in 1879. OBO – black cocker.

  British cousins:

  Cocker’s British cousins are much different in size from the tiny,
  delicate king charleses to the heavy dogs similar to clumbers.

  All of them have similar origin and character.

  CLUMBER SPANIEL - named after prince’s state - Newcastle -Clumber Park.

  SPRINGER SPANIEL - bigger and heavier than cocker with a similar cheerful nature.

  CAVALIER KING CHARLES SPANIEL - this race resembles dogs Van Dyck’s paintings,
  but it was created an the beginning of this century.

  SUSSEX SPANIEL - relatively rare race, saved from a total distinction in this century.

  KING CHARLES SPANIEL - favourite dogs of King Charles II who was ruling at the end of XVII century.

  FIELD SPANIEL - rare race of field spaniels with shorter legs
  and more lengthened body than cockers and springers.

  WELSH SPRINGER SPANIEL - the closest to cocker in his size and character,
  nowadays it is used by customs officers to track smugglings.

  Descriptions taken from “cocker spaniel” book by dr Bruce Fogle.

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