Field Spaniel Is an Individual and Hallmark of The Breed

The Field Spaniel is a noble upstanding sporting spaniel built for speed and endurance and therefore should not resemble any of those breeds used to keep him in existence. He should not be short in leg and long in body like the many Sussex Spaniel crosses in the establishment of this breed. He should not remind you of a Cocker, short in leg and square in body. The last cross with the English Springer left us with Fields that are long in leg with thin or under- developed bodies, that leave the dog unbalanced for his size.

He is an individual and should look like a Field. He needs to be slightly off square, his body length slightly
longer than his leg length. This breed has well developed chest and prosternum, both in depth and width. We require a moderate spring of rib with a strong and level topline, and a strong short loin. Well-developed second thighs in conjunction with well let down hocks give great strength to the hind quarters. A cut up to the thighs is totally incorrect for this breed, as are long loins that afford the dog no drive from the hindquarters.

His tail should be set on below the level of the back and carried no higher than the back. He requires substantial drive from the hindquarters to move correctly, he is a well developed and heavy dog for his size. He is not a small spaniel, being approximately 18 inches in height and weighing up to 50 pounds. The lay of the shoulder needs to be balanced at the other end with the turn of stifle. I would expect as judges/breeders, you would understand that the hardest thing on any breed to achieve is the correct lay of shoulder and length of upper arm.

I don’t think that as trainee judges a comment like “it’s short in upper arm” is in any way constructive to understanding this breed, let alone to judge it. Look at the dog and see what it does have that the breed requires. Yes, it could have a better length of upper arm, but it has good bone, nice size, and is balanced. The front is only a part of the overall dog and I see plenty of other breeds winning day in day out that are not exactly correct in the shoulder. The lay of the shoulder needs to be balanced at the other end with the turn of stifle and our standard calls for a moderate turn of stifle.

Heads are the hallmark of this breed and to some enthusiasts, set them apart. The foreface should be slightly longer than from the stop to occiput, pronounced eyebrows, and the chiselling beneath the eyes finish the
picture. Without this chiselling, the head is rather plain. Almond-shaped eyes with colouring that matches the coat are correct. Remember that a liver Field’s eye colour will darken as it gets older and a black’s will lighten. Light eyes are a throwback to the Sussex in our lines.

When judging was done on a point score system the whole head was only 20 points out of a possible 100, so
please take this into consideration when judging this breed. I would much rather a dog with a plain head be
placed first than one with a long loin going up. I would not penalise a dog with missing or misplaced teeth.
You can see that the jaw is correct when you look into a mouth, this is a working breed and in my opinion
should not be penalised.

He has a long unhurried stride, or an effortless gait, that gives the appearance of great stamina, straight and true as seen from the front and rear. To judge correct movement the dog needs to be shown on a loose lead. The dog needs to be able to lower its head as it moves into its gait and should not be “strung up” as the dog then cannot move as it would if it was working. To see the reach in the front the head will move out and the front paws will extend and a line could be drawn from the tip of the dog’s muzzle to its feet as it moves around the ring. Rear movement should be judged from the dog’s pads as it moves, rather than watching their legs. Fields are very slow maturers and the hindquarters may take time to tighten up.

This does not mean that a dog should have cow hocks or move closely behind. They must be wide and square when viewed from behind, and it is near impossible to have a dog with the correct turn of stifle, thick well-muscled loin, and well let down hocks to be close behind. This breed needs to be in good hard working condition he is, after all, a Gundog.