Spaniel breeds    German version

Concerning the spaniel, the well known cynologist Richard Strebel wrote at the beginning of the 20th century in his classic work on the German dog and its origins, that the question of the emergence of this breed is a very difficult one, but that we may be certain it is one of the oldest kinds of dog.

Representations of the spaniels or of dogs very similar to the spaniel are to be found very early on in the pictures of Old Masters.

Diana and Her Companions Johannes Vermeer, Painted 1655-56		Samuel van Hoogstraten's Peep Show Box, c.1660
Anthony Bailey in "Vermeer: A View From Delft", 2001, A John Macrae Book, an imprint of Henry Holt and Company: New York, identifies the dog in Vermeer's Diana and Her Companions, as a springer spaniel.		He also identifies a dog in Samuel van Hoogstraten's "peep show" (1655-60) as a springer spaniel.

The earliest picture of a spaniel that Richard Strebel is aware of is in a depiction of Philip II of Macedonia (359-336 B.C.), the father of Alexander the Great.

This takes us a long way back through the centuries, a way which cannot be traced exactly or without gaps, as Dr. Beyersdorf makes clear in his interesting book "Spaniel", (Kynos Verlag, Mürlenbach/Eifel).

What is certain is that the spaniel, even if it was not recognised as a breed in its own right, was widespread in the northern countries of Europe.

What we do know is that John Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland, was one of the first to train spaniels for the hunt, and that there was a "Robin the King's Spaniel Keeper" in the household of King Henry VIII.

In 1570 John Caius (pronounced "Keys") described 22 existing breeds of dog in his book Of English Dogs, including the Land Spaniel and the Water Spaniel (Aquaticus). Caius writes that these retrieving dogs were named according to the use to which they were put, thus falcon dog, pheasant dog, partridge dog and so on. The common people called these dogs "spaniels", because they ultimately originated from Spain.

Caius' attribution of the origin of the name is disputed. Another theory, which seems to be just as plausible, is that the name spaniel derives from the Celtic word "spain", meaning rabbit, underlining one of the very first uses to which the spaniel was put.

From the 17th Century onwards the word spaniel was widely accepted, especially in England. Since the end of the 19th Century the spaniel has been considered a specifically English breed of dog.

Dr. Peter Beyersdorf, President of the Jagdspaniel-Klub and a passionate spaniel lover, writes in his book SPANIEL:
"It may be useful for some people to learn more of the origin and defining qualities of the spaniel and maybe an increased knowledge in this respect would lead to a better understanding and to a greater appreciation of the entire breed. That is something the spaniel would deserve. It is a breed of dog which combines so many qualities: kindness, enthusiasm, will, loyalty, friendliness but also when necessary, hardness and tenacity. Once won over to spaniels nobody is ever "cured" of them, all the less the more they learn about them."