Gundog Training Forum

So who are the top Springer trainers and kennels in the UK these days?
The game seems to have changed quite a bit since I last checked about 5 years ago. Very few of the names look familiar.
Rytex was popular then, I see now most breeders advertising their litters as Rytex free?
I only ask just to be curious who is sending dogs to the US?
The subject gets a bit deep but I have been thinking of bringing a nice bitch over and was wondering who is popular these days ?
Keep in mind our hunting and trialing styles are a bit different.

I would say the difference in spaniels from area to area (cover and styles) over there are just the same as here. I dont have flashy types for grassland more heavy cover dogs simply because i dont have that type of ground to train on so no point trying to compete against those that do.

Well allow me to rephrase that a bit
Which kennels or breeders would have Spaniels that would do well in the US?
I am looking to do some outcross breeding, as the gene pool here is getting a bit shallow

I have also noticed a bit of a disturbing trend here in the US. Seems as though just about all of the professional trainer / Breeders are retiring from the game. The last trial I went to I noticed how many of them looked old and tired. Several years ago there were 15 or more professional trainers and handlers. Today you would be hard pressed to find 5 and of those almost none would take a new dog.
I'm not sure what will happen here, but it will change. it may be good for some of the old school to retire. it may actually be nice to see some new faces running the trials and winning. Then again it also seems the wheels may have come off the cart.

Change is inevitable but as one door closes another one opens. If there's a market for it others will step up and fill the void, it may mean styles change a little over the years and what's fashionable now may not be soon. It doesn't have to be bad for the sport just as long as it doesn't stop altogether.

Blanco wrote:Well allow me to rephrase that a bit
Which kennels or breeders would have Spaniels that would do well in the US?
I am looking to do some outcross breeding, as the gene pool here is getting a bit shallow

At a guess , you would be better looking at the ones already performing and producing in the US?
I'm sure that gene pool is not shallow,but may be further a field from you ?

There do seem to be quite a few imports coming over right now. Buccleuch Springers seem to be the Fave.
Among the Field lines here, I seem to keep seeing the same names over and over when looking at pedigrees. There are some that are outcrosses, but again those seem to be recently imported dogs.

I guess it depends what you are intending to do with it. Unless the stamp of dog being bred for your field trials has changed markedly over the years it is different to what we produce in this country. Talbot Radcliffe bred his Saightons dogs purely for the American market but they didn't suit the British scene. But for general purpose roughshooting I can't see why a British bred dog wouldn't fit in well. Roughshooting is roughshooting, whichever country you live in.

Naj

The fascinating trend here in the US has for several years been to breed for much larger Springers. My own Dog (Gator) is quite the big boy at 62Lb.
That trend seems to have reversed course about 2 years ago, I strongly believe that is because of the importation of so many dogs from the UK. The last trial I attended I saw no less than 6 Springers that were in the 25~30Lb. range. Surprisingly they appear to be doing a smashing job and they seem to be exceptionally smart. Most of them were from breedings of or with UK Springers, or direct imports.

Yeh, we send all our smart ones over to you.