Hello
everyone! I almost forgot to learn something today, so even though
it's late, here it is! I sometimes wonder what I should learn about
for a day so if anyone has any suggeestions, I'm open to them!
Anyway, today I learned about English Springer Spaniels! My mom has a
Springer Spaniel named Daisy and she is so much fun! So I decided to
learn about where she came from and I found some really interesting
things!
Firstly,
Springer Spaniels are named for the way they hunt. When they would
rush out a bird, or spring on it! For a long time the AKC didn't
recognize English Springer Spaniels and Cocker Spaniels as different
breeds! They became separate somewhere in the 20th
century. Now they have two types of Springer Spaniels, like the two
types of corgi, although the AKC doesn't recognize them as different.
There are bench dogs for show with thicker and longer coats. The
field is built for hunting with a lighter coat and a docked tail.
They are very good at being show dogs and have in fact won six best
in show titles over all the years the AKC has been around.
Springer
Spaniels have a place in history, going way back. It's believed that
William Wallace, defender of Scotland and called Braveheart had a
Springer Spaniel named Merlin, but it's not a positve fact. They
definitely did appear in 16th century art. They weren't
yet called English Springer Spaniels, but they clearly are the same
dog.
My
favorite thing I learned was when the Puritans first sailed to the
New World two dogs came along. There was a Springer Spaniel and a
Mastiff. The dogs belonged to a man named John Goodman and though he
died in the first winter, the rest of the people took care of his
dogs. So there was likely two dogs at the first Thanksgiving. A
French artist depicted the Springer Spaniel at the first Thanksgiving
as you can see here.
Because
of their excellent sense in smell, English Springer Spaniels are
often employed today as police and military dogs. There is even a
famous Springer Spaniel from the UK named Buster who served with his
trainer in Afghanistan, Iraq and Bosnia. They did five tours of duty
together! Later Buster received the Dickin Medal which is an award
the UK give out for animals who served in wars.
Lastly,
there are several famous people who own English Springer Spaniels.
Namely Princess Grace, Oprah Winfrey, George W Bush and George W.
Bush Sr. It was really fun to learn about the English Springer
Spaniel today and I'm hoping to get some feedback on what to learn
about tomorrow!
Sources:
Ciampanelli, Paul 2015 April, 23 10 Cool Facts About English Springer Spaniels
Ripley, Katherine 2017 May 3 7 Things You Didn't Know About the English Springer Spaniel
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